Increase capacity and commitment of factory and vendor management at multiple levels to worker health and well-being is the third part of the Health and Nutrition Initiative objective which is supported by VF Corporation.
Lai Heang, 36 year olds filled with dream and hope for a better future. She was married with two children. Move from her home province to Cambodia’s capital city and has been running her business in garment factory three years ago.
Before starting business as food vendor at Carlington factory, she is a farmer and her husband migration to city as construction workers but they earned a very low income. In addition, her life faced to debt because no money for daily expense.
Luckily, Carlington factory need many food vendor to sell food in their factory, she decided to apply and she pass the criteria and her husband got opportunity work as security in the same factory, then she start her new journey as a food vendor.
In 2018, CARE has partnership with VF Corporation to implement the project in factory to improve workers wellbeing in their target factories with focus on health and nutrition awareness to workers including improving knowledge and food hygiene practice to food vendors who sell food to workers, to give a choice to workers.
At the time, CARE conducted food assessment to recruit food vendor participate in program while The food vendor committee selected food vendor to join the CARE’s project. Heang strive to always do better so they joined and learn how to improve the quality of their food through better hygiene practices and more nutritious diets.
This opportunity has been an important step in Heang and her husband’s personal behaviors and hygiene improvement. After she joined with the food vendor training, she always think about the quality of food and hygiene and pay attention with every step during preparation, cooking and packing. After picking the best raw material form the market, her husband has been very supportive of Heang’s business. He helps preparing and cleaning by keeping separate raw meat and vegetable and she start to cook a well-balanced and nutritious meal for the day.
Thanks to CARE’s food vendor program, “Now I have more competitive and my food is healthier and it shows on my sales after I joined CARE’s training and the factory workers know my food is safer.” Says Heang.
Learn more about the Health and Nutrition Initiative project >