Social enterprise success stories from Cambodia

Lonely Tree Café

One of the social enterprises Catholic Mission has supported is the Lonely Tree Café in Battambang, Cambodia, which employs 16 staff from disadvantaged backgrounds, three of whom have physical disabilities. As well as serving delicious meals, snacks and drinks, the café includes a gift shop that sells handicrafts, produced by people with disability through social initiatives supported of the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang (APB). Frequented by both locals and internationals, the café and retail space is highly rated on TripAdvisor.

The Lonely Tree Café has been a big success financially, having only been established in 2013. In the last quarter of 2019, the café brought in US$7,780 profit. These funds will be invested back into the social works of the APB to multiply their impact and support their sustainability.

As an example, the Lonely Tree Café and its profits, financed another initiative in the Prefecture of Battambang, the Yeiy Ath Café, which provides vocational training to individuals with intellectual disability, thereby increasing their inclusion in society and improving their wellbeing. Thanks to the Lonely Tree Café, the Yeiy Ath Café is now self-sustainable and has paid back the original investment.

Oh Battambang Boutique Hotel

Located in the heart of Battambang and close to the tourist attractions of the UNESCO heritage city, Oh Battambang Hotel is a private and peaceful oasis. A social enterprise of the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang, with a soft opening to friends and family in 2019, it is fast building a reputation for its attentive and friendly service, artful Cambodian décor and comfortable facilities.

The Hotel provides employment and training opportunities to local people with disability or from disadvantaged backgrounds, giving them the skills and the confidence to secure sustainable livelihoods. In this way, it is raising awareness around the value and importance of people with disability participating fully in society and challenging harmful stereotypes. The hotel serves to spread the message of the mission and impact of the APB and its social initiatives (some of which are profiled in this booklet). Profits from the hotel are redirected back to support these initiatives. Hotel guests are encouraged to patronise the nearby Lonely Tree Café. The hotel will also offer tours to visit communities that are part of the Outreach Program.

La Paloma Textile Centre

Meaning "dove" in Spanish, La Paloma is an appropriate name for a business that has given so many people hope and peace. Another social enterprise of the APB, the centre employs people with disability and people from vulnerable backgrounds to manufacture textiles and garments, which are primarily exported to European fashion brands.

Over the last two years, to secure its self-sustainability into the future, the centre has been reviewing and implementing new processes, as well as looking to expand its operations and building new relationships with factories across Cambodia. For this reason, its outcomes (yearly income and number of employees) over 2017-2019 have been lower than previous years. However, throughout 2020, centre management anticipates a return to the strong trajectory shown in the graphs below.

To finance these new processes and expansion, the textile centre was granted a loan from the Lonely Tree Café of US$45,000. With this money, the centre was able to invest in training staff and installing new machines. Thanks to their dedication and strong performance as a business, the centre has just paid back all its debts to the café.

This is just one story of the many that show what is possible with social enterprise. Thanks to this model, individuals are growing in confidence everyday as they learn new skills, earn an income and see firsthand the value they have to offer, leading to improved wellbeing and health outcomes. At the same time, families and communities benefit from increased household income, greater education levels and local economic development. Catholic Mission needs your support to help build on this success, extending it to more people across Cambodia and making sure the projects we support can support themselves and become fully self-sustainable.