The Importance of a Learning Spirit

My husband, Charlie, and I recently met with two social entrepreneurs from Australia. They are interested in replicating their social enterprise cafés in Cambodia, as a transitional employment and training venture for survivors of trafficking and exploitation. So much of our conversation was inspiring and interesting that I thought it was important to share it with the community.


Their original idea was to run a four-story center, including a large café, a training center, and housing for their employees. As we discussed the implications of sustainability for their business in Cambodia, adaptation to the original plan was already in effect. 

Although the lead person on this project works for an NGO, he is first and foremost a businessman. He identifies greatly with Chab Dai’s ethos on collaboration and the idea of sticking to one’s expertise. When he heard that we already have a number of aftercare programs in the area, whose competencies lie in counseling, trauma recovery, and survivor reintegration, he quickly started to re-evaluate his plan and think about how to build a business that supports pre-existing organizations.

He was also told by a number of people that sit-down, higher-end cafés are already saturated in Phnom Penh, but when he visited a centrally located gas station / coffee hub, and saw a long line of customers waiting for coffee at 8:00 a.m., he knew this model could be successful in other key areas of the city. 

They also recognized that Cambodia has the largest number of NGOs of almost any country in the world and prefers to join the cause as a socially minded business, rather than an NGO doing business. One of their top priorities is financial sustainability and they want to  use their business principals to prepare young survivors for integration into mainstream economic activity.

This new social business idea is still in its nascent stages, but what I loved about meeting these two visionaries was their flexibility and willingness to learn in a new environment. They are excellent at what they do in Australia, but recognizing that they need to adapt their model, marketing, and strategic plan to accommodate the needs of both the Cambodian market and survivors, makes this business a compelling site for innovation, cultural adaptation and success. 

This is the type of collaboration and open-mindedness we need in order to create effective change and to equip Cambodian people with the essential tools needed for success.