In the villages of rural area, the opportunity of getting income for village women is very limited.  Weaving is the traditional house industry for a long time. Village women can weave at home while they do house works, farming and childcare.  And it is also important to preserve and transfer traditional weaving culture to the young generation, too.  In order to support village women to get more income and improve their quality of life, the training course was opened for them.

CYK started weaving skills training in 1993 in the village where we support community childcare center in Kandal.  Since 2003 it is operated in Trapeang Krasang community learning center,  Bati district in Takeo province.

The traditional skills of silk ikat weaving are trained for the village women. The skills of whole process of weaving;  warping, weft tye-die  patterns, natural dyeing, weaving and cost calculation  are trained on both theory and practice during one year course.

In 2011, advanced short courses are implemented for skilled weavers to improve weaving skills further to produce  qualified products.

Objectives
1．To preserve and restore the traditional art of weaving in Cambodia
2．To empower village women through income generation for upgrading the quality of life
3．To help them acquire skills of traditional Khmer Ikat weaving and natural dyeing
4．To strengthen the effective network among village weavers to increase their knowledge on   business   management
5．To provide market support for display and sale of their products and aid to increase their income.

Among 139 graduates, 47 percents of them can manage to sell their products and get income from their acquired skills.  CYK monitors them regularly to improve their weaving skills and knowledge of business as well.

Graduation Ceremony