Corporate Social Responsibility
Oct
4 Startups In Cambodia Driving Social Change Through Innovation
4 Startups In Cambodia Driving Social Change Through Innovation At Mad Monkey, our goal from day one has been to help the local community develop and grow along with us. We’re currently running a number of initiatives to help bring this vision to light, which we’ll talk you through later. First, let’s take you through these 4 other amazing startups that are changing Cambodia for the better… Startups In Cambodia #1: Cleanbodia Of these 4 startups in Cambodia, Cleanbodia is one of two that are focused on helping to rid the country of its treacherous rubbish problem. This startup was pioneered and founded by Kai Kuramoto, a “clean freak” who envisaged the grimey hole that the country would end up in if someone didn’t introduce a solution to the increasing waste problem. His ethical baby, Cleanbodia, is combating this problem by creating biodegradable bags made from the Southeast Asian root vegetable cassava. So fresh, and so clean… As opposed to plastic bags which seem to linger for eternity, Cleanbodia’s cassava bags disintegrate within 5 years. Still 1,852 days to many, but they are on the right track to a clean and shiny future. A few words shared with us from the squeaky clean founder, Kai… “Born out of a concern for the damage we’ve done to our one and only Earth, Cleanbodia was started as a way to bring eco-friendly ideas and solutions to Cambodia. We realize the amazing potential that Cambodians have to be a force of change for the environment not only in Southeast Asia but across the globe. We aim to help foster that change in a creative, dynamic, and sustainable way.” Startups In Cambodia #2: EcoSense Cambodia Fighting the trash wars side by side with Cleanbodia is EcoSense Cambodia. EcoSense was set up by two French expats, Maxime Lescouer and Pierre Faiyre, who migrated over to Cambodia to help rid the nation of its mountains of trash. EcoSense Cambodia was set up in 2015 and utilities natural resources, such as sugar cane, to create biodegradable food packaging. The startup is specifically targeting restaurants and other food suppliers, with the aim of defusing the waste war right at the the source. Here, Maxime explains to us EcoSense’s vision for a cleaner Cambodia… “With the strength of our commitment for Cambodia and its people, we aim, through the EcoSense Cambodia project, to provide a high quality biodegradable and compostable packaging alternative tailored to local needs and designed for professionals in the takeaway food industry.” Startups In Cambodia #3: Lucky Iron Fish Above is a brief TEDx talk (in the grand scheme of things) which deep dives into the medicinal magic that Lucky Iron Fish are bringing to Cambodia. Lucky Iron Fish was initially launched just in Cambodia, but has gone on to deliver its message at a global level. These little guys are swimming their way around the world to battle iron deficiency – a deficiency that can lead to the likes of anemia, impaired cognitive ability, and negative impacts on the physical development of children. So so good, yet so simple… One Lucky Fish can provide a family with up to 90% of its recommended daily iron intake for five years! And all you have to do to reap these rewards is make sure that the Lucky Fish is inside the pot, bowl, or pan that you are cooking in. Simple. Startups In Cambodia #4: My Dream Home Another one of our favourite startups in Cambodia, My Dream Home has been putting roofs over the heads of…
Jul
Mad Monkey CSR: 2nd Quarter Report, 2017
We Put 20 Primary Students Through School For 1 Year Mad Monkey has a longstanding relationship with the Cambodian Children’s Fund. This energetic organization delivers education, family support, and community development programs in Steung Meanchey, one of Phnom Penh and Cambodia’s most impoverished communities. The Mad Monkey Education Fund sponsors one of CCF’s primary school classes. Each year we make a donation that provides our cohort of students with classroom materials, art supplies, sports equipment, and access to the highest standards of education possible. This year we were able to donate $5586.42 to our classroom in Kampong Cham! The funds for this annual donation are raised through a weekly event at our Phnom Penh hostel called the “Crawl 4 School.” The entire fee that our guests pay to join in this pub crawl is donated to CCF. Our service staff work tirelessly to make this event a success week after week. In May we took them to CCF to present our donation in person, and to meet the students benefiting from their efforts. We got to visit the students during their computer class. While we chatted about the animals they were drawing on screen, we got a real feel for the impact of our donation. The visit was a rewarding morning for everyone. Some of our staff grew up in Steung Meanchey and were regular visitors to CCF’s community centre, and they were touched by this opportunity to visit again and pay forward the opportunities that they had been given. We Got the Ball Rolling on Community Initiatives in Thailand We’ve just opened Mad Monkey Bangkok, our first hostel in Thailand! As we ventured into our third country in Southeast Asia, meaningful engagement with the local community was our first priority. We are committed to being a part of positive change in all of our communities, and we’re excited to extend this philosophy to our Thai operations. As we assembled our new team in Bangkok, all of our recruitment and hiring decisions were guided by our Company Values and our principles of equal opportunity employment. We are committed to our high standards of fair employment, and to advancing and empowering local employees whenever possible. Last quarter we announced our new partnership with the ChildSafe Movement. ChildSafe is a global movement to protect children at risk in our societies. This cause is especially relevant to the travel industry, which can unfortunately foster child exploitation through orphanage tourism, “voluntourism”, etc. ChildSafe’s campaigns, like ‘7 Tips for Travelers,’ help tourists find constructive ways to give back to the countries they visit. Mad Monkey is one of ChildSafe’s official Supporter Businesses. We’ve had a very productive meeting with ChildSafe Thailand about how we can extend this relationship in this new country, and we can’t wait to see where it goes. To begin with, all of our staff at Mad Monkey Bangkok will be taking part in ChildSafe Awareness Training in the coming months. We’ll also be appointing some key team members to become ChildSafe Certified Agents. The things we learn in these workshops will help us to have better dialogues with our guests about these issues. We also have exciting plans to collaborate on awareness-raising events in the Khao San Road area of Bangkok. We’ll tell you more as soon as the details are sorted! For now, just know that it’s going to be awesome and eye-opening. We Provided Clean Water for 28 Families in Rural Cambodia Unclean drinking water leads to a plethora of health and social risks, which makes it the single greatest mortality threat to children under 5 in Cambodia. Many…
Mar
Mad Monkey CSR: 1st Quarter Report, 2017
Mad Monkey CSR Updates Partnership: ChildSafe Movement & Mad Monkey ChildSafe is a global movement protecting children and youth around the world. Unfortunately, as many as one billion children in the world today are living in the margins of society, without basic rights and at risk of abuse. The tourism industry often contributes to situations that put children at risk, like orphanage tourism. ChildSafe addresses these issues in many ways. They run behaviour change campaigns to educate travelers – check out one called “Children Are Not Tourist Attractions.” They also work with businesses and organizations to spread knowledge and perspective about how we can all help to keep children safe. Mad Monkey Hostels officially became a ChildSafe Supporter business in March 2017. We’re very excited about this new partnership. We think it will be a great opportunity to enrich our guests’ experience in our hostels and pass on valuable new training to our staff teams, all with the ultimate goal of keeping children safe in Cambodia, the Philippines, and Thailand. You can learn more about ChildSafe at thinkchildsafe.org or friends-international.org. Seeking: Mad Monkey CSR Partners in the Philippines As Mad Monkey expands our operations in the Philippines, we are also looking for more partners in the country to further our impact in our hostels’ communities. We are looking to build long-term working relationships with accountable organizations that are addressing local challenges with lasting solutions. Basically, we don’t just want to hand over donations, we want to get involved in sustainable and effective projects. If you think you might know just the thing, please email [email protected] with details. Mad Monkey Education Fund Update Helmets for Journeys Within Our Community Journeys Within Our Community (JWOC) is a non-profit organization based in Siem Reap, Cambodia that works to improve living conditions of local communities. JWOC’s four main areas of focus are a Scholarship Program, Free Classes at its community centre, Community Support outreach programs, and Education Programs. The scholarship recipients stay involved in the organization throughout and after their studies, working as volunteers to run its other branches. JWOC and Mad Monkey have established a relationship over the last several months, and we collaborated on our first project in January. Mad Monkey funded a new set of helmets for JWOC’s student volunteers. This sharp-looking gear is vital to keeping the young volunteers safe while they travel out to rural villages to run workshops. You can learn more about Journeys Within Our Community at journeyswithinourcommunity.org. Handwoven Bracelets by Life Project Cambodia Life Project Cambodia (LPC) empowers disadvantaged students and their families to create their own solutions to poverty. They provide access to high-quality education, extracurricular activities, vocational training, and more. LPC works throughout Siem Reap and the surrounding area. Life Project Cambodia’s model centres on sustainability and empowerment. One initiative that showcases this is their handwoven bracelets. The parents of some of LPC’s students were searching for regular income. LPC worked with them to create a sustainable solution: the parents have learned to weave beautiful, colourful bracelets, and LPC pays them a regular wage for the bracelets and facilitates outlets to sell them at. The bracelets are sold throughout Cambodia, across Australia, and now – at Mad Monkey Hostels! Look for them at our front desks in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. You can learn more about Life Project Cambodia at lifeprojectcambodia.org. See what else we’ve been up to with the Mad Monkey Education Fund here. Mad Monkey Arts Fund Update Partnership: Epic Arts & Mad Monkey Kampot Epic Arts is an inclusive arts organization based in Cambodia. They use the arts as…
Jan
Battling Disability and Winning in Cambodia
Educating children with disability in Phnom Penh Et Action, a Cambodian NGO Aide, and the Rabbit School Organization, a school for kids with intellectual disabilities in Phnom Penh, work tirelessly to provide access to a quality education. Both organizations work with potential employers to help educate those in the workforce about the talent and value people with disabilities can bring in the workplace. Veasna had the opportunity to find a job at The Mad Monkey—one of the best hostels in Phnom Penh— after having attended vocational training where he worked along side people without a disability. Work and vocational placements for those with disabilities Veasna now works as one of the managers in the laundry department at The Mad Monkey. “I am responsible for washing the customers clothes and the bed covers, drying and ironing the sheets and brining them to the clients rooms,” Veasna said. “I like this job very much.” Veasna has now become a good team member and part of the Mad Monkey family. “At first I though that working with Veasna was going to be difficult, but later on after I had taught and advised him, he was able to follow me,” said Ms. Kunthea, head of laundry at The Mad Monkey. Employment Developing Self Confidence When Veasna realized that he could do many things independently, he quickly began to gain self-confidence, and said it was important for him to get his first job at The Mad Monkey. The support and encouragement from the Rabbit School and Veasna’s family has allowed him to develop skills at a faster rate. Their expectations and trust fostered Veasna’s independence and self-sufficiency. Now he can live his life and be independent just like everyone else. “We [had a discussion] with Veasna’s parents and explained that he could attend the vocational training program that we have implemented at the Rabbit School,” said Mr. Vuthy, head of The Rabbit School Organization. “We then found him a placement at The Mad Monkey Hostel, and now we can see that Veasna works very well, and has become a permanent and valuable member of the team.” “We employ people with disabilities because we believe that they have the same rights and ability to work as everyone else,” said Mrs. Raksmey, General Manager at The Mad Monkey. This is part of The Mad Monkey core values. While Veasna had some problems when he went to work for the first time, his persistence lead him to try harder, and overtime he better understood his work. “When he would make a mistake we would explain it to him, and he quickly found his feet and followed our instructions,” Raksmey said. “Now he works smoothly and has become an important member of our team.” Family impact of disability work placements Leakena – Veasna’s Sister “My family and I are very happy that Veasna now has a good job, which allows him not to be discriminated against anymore,” said Veasna’s sister Leakena. “Before [working at The Mad Monkey] we did not have any hope for him,” she added. “[And] now we always save the money that Veasna sends home every month, and later on we want to run a small business at home for him.” Personal impact of earning a wage Veasna has worked at The Mad Monkey for over a year now and makes $140 monthly, which is far more than what an un-skilled worker in Cambodia makes, which can be between $60-$90 per month. By comparison, if Veasna were working in Chicago, Illinois with a minimum wage of $10 per hour, he would…
Dec
The Mad Monkey Clean Water Project Update 2015 Cambodia
Cambodia Clean Water Project Update 2015 We would like to thank all of our guests and donors whom together have helped fund 138 built and working water wells. With your gracious support, we’ve been able to give 3,000 poor, rural people access to clean water—which wasn’t possible for them just less than 12 months ago. Last year I visited the villages before we delivered the first water wells, and it was during that visit where I met a number of families. But there has always been one family that really stood out to me. Here is a short video we made during that trip. Project Update Video The Background to the video When I first met them the rice crop had just ended. The kids had extended bellies and were clearly sick. The family lived in poverty, and if you had seen them on the street you may have mistakenly thought them destitute. But five months later when I returned, the water well had been delivered to the family, and I saw some significantly, visible improvements. The kids that once looked sullen-eyed and malnourished, now looked healthy—with their extended stomachs getting better, but not completely back to normal. The family is now implementing a crop cycle that provides them with food between rice seasons; and raises a vegetable crop that not only feeds them, but also provides excess produce that they can sell at the local market. In addition, the family now has water available to raise their crops during the dry season because deep well water does not dry out. The small profit that was made from the extra crop grown during the dry season is now being invested into the children’s schooling. This life-changing gift is due to the well that was donated, and without the well water the family would have had to find another source to drink from, such as a water-holding ditch contaminated with crop run off, chemicals and dust. It is the contamination, coupled with poor nutrition that often starts off a downward spiral to a fatal illness, as life expectancy in Cambodia is not great and the infant mortality rate is even more shocking. One common, but serious symptom the villagers face is diarrhoea. Because the illness is mainly waterborne, it is usually found near areas without any clean water; however, after the water well was implemented the family back at the village had not reported any cases of diarrhoea for over two months. Additionally, the number of cases reported has also dropped significantly thanks to the clean water, and the health and sanitary training implemented by the CBAVC. It is important to remember the large impact that has been made, considering diarrhoea is one of the main causes of death for children under five in rural Cambodia. While it may be crazy to think that something as simple as clean water could have this effect, the truth is that it does. In fact, it’s pretty well documented that investing in clean water is the most impact investment that can be made in these communities. Our Plan For Water Well Projects and Donations for 2016 Even though the number of wells we raised was far more than we had expected, we still have a great deal to do. There is still a need for 400 more wells in this one province alone, and we are hoping to build 100 more this year. I can’t promise you that every experience has resulted in the same levels of success, but I can say that reports back from our team at the Mad…