Planing a life and the start of a company in a country you’ve never been in is a tricky thing, and with the large lack of information flow on the internet regarding everything from housing to medical, we set out fairly shorthanded, and we arrived in Cambodia with a fresh set of ideas, and a little money.

We touristed around for a while, and the most important part of this season started, the learning curve. We went from being fairly clueless to knowing a lot more about this country, this town, these people and their culture than we could ever hope, and this is the largest asset when I plan the foreseeable future.

So, what exactly will the future hold? As the end of the season comes ever so close, the last preparations for closing down are being set in motion, and everything is getting packed up, and shipped to Sweden (even though we actually sent and order for our customers in Japan). Myself, I will fly back to the reality that the world imposes on us, and will spend a few months talking about the vision that we set out with, and try to find one or a couple of new business partners, to re-rethink how this can all be made possible-er.

We managed the guesthouse, we created products and we helped the people and area around us, even though the original plan was to do it the other way round, and one lesson learned is that the guesthouse takes a lot of time and effort, so someone will have to look after it for me when I get back.

So, with love, This will be the last post from my beloved home in Cambodia this season.

- Samuel

With only a week left of our stay on Otres Beach at Done Right’s cozy guest house, we are already making plans to return. It’s very hard to describe this place to anyone who hasn’t been here but we are going to try over the next few lines.

This is certainly no sad place, but there are definitely several small scale and large scale projects that need to be created or contributed to. Creativity and relaxation come unforced for the ‘barangs’ (us Westerners) living here, along with the spontaneous desire to contribute to the community. The Khmer people have this admirable capacity to give you a smile no matter what the situation and this makes you want to give something back.

From our experience of the last two weeks, it seems the worst form of desperation and poverty is not very evident here. However, this is clearly a developing country and what is needed now is improvements. And because of the positive and practical nature of the locals, these improvements seem to need not much more than some initiative to actually happen.

One of the main things we’ve been working with here is the so-called “can-kids”. Srenu, Da, Kumli and Nang are four of them. These kids run along the beach every day with huge rice sacks which are about the same size as them, collecting cans for which they get about 1 US cent per can. If they don’t collect enough cans in a day, they are likely to face consequences from home – exactly what, they don’t talk much about.

Clare from next door started this admirable endeavor with these kids spontaneously and we have been joining her. While us living here on Otres might not be able to bring about enormous change for all the children in Cambodia in a similar situation, we do what we can with the ones who are here. We teach a little english or any other useful skills we can and  we try to create a space in which they can be the children they actually are for a few hours a day. Dreamworks animations are a particularly effective way for us to bribe them to learn their ABCs.

So in our small way, we try to do something right; helping around the guesthouse and anywhere we can in the community. it is a comfortable chaos, down to earth and real.

Below is our workforce (OR not, thats kind of the point, Done Right, Red. anm)

- Felicia & Filippa

We are proud to announce that the first three lines of products from our beloved Done Right have come to existents! We have been working with local tailors, that own their own little shops, and with them designed the products using local materials, so to leave a as small carbon footprint as we currently can.

The first product is simply a Wick Cover, a product designed for Salza Fire Gear. Not only do we now have a product quite superior then before, we can produce it at a reasonable cost, and we know the materials are made in the area, and we know that the workers are getting treated well, as we live among them, first hand, because honestly, do you know how made the computer your reading on, the t-shirt your wearing or the chair your in?

The second two products are Skins, or computer bags if you wish, in two different designs, both being quite different from the ones generally sold in stores. The colors and materials have been chosen as prototypes, to see how different textiles can stand wear and tare, and to see how people react to them.

The first one of the two is made in a white outer textile with black flowers, with a blue lining, and closes with a flap, connected to the base by two buttons. on the flap there is a large pocket with a zipper, this is made to hold USB memories, modems, bank devices and so on (I know that I’m sick and tired of those things scratching my macbook).

The second one is made from a black outer textile with red stripes, and is more “hand bag” like, as it moves along from the actual case into a handle, so that its a bit easier to carry, and this model also has the same kind of pocket as on the first white model.

So, what now? Well, Im going to select the best models and textiles, together with my designer friend Ida (she’s also the one planning the shelter project as seen below, if you follow our blog) and soon we will have a line of products, that will be brought back to Sweden, and hopefully sold in a store close to you!

These are big times for us, as all the things we set out to do so many months ago are falling in to place, one by one, we are slowly proving that a life outside the western world can be productive, and not only so, but more productive, with a heightened sense of enjoyment of life. Work Done Right.

-Sam

So, what are we up to more specifically? We are producing a line of products for one of or sister companies – Salza Fire Gear, by employing local women from a makeshift village close by. We are planning and designing the first Done Right product, namely ipod and macbook skins, which also will be produced in Sihanoukville.

So thats fine, but what about helping? Our friend and colleague Ida is starting a project to get power and new roofs for the above mentioned village. We will help her in any way that we can, not only by donating money but also contribute our time and personal effort. It is important for us to follow this project to see that the people in the village gets a better shot at life, and basically won’t drown during the rainy season.

Our crew has changed a little, So the skeleton crew is now based on Anders, Sander, Rani, Mom and I. We’re a small group, but in about two weeks we’ll be joined by two more friends from back home.

Also, we were hit by rather high waters after a tsunami near India, which led to sea levels rising to about two meters higher than normal. Thanks to our lovely staff and friends, we managed to get a good crew together to save our place; digging up and moving about 100 sandbags from a nearby location to our place. Right now the building of a brick wall is in the final stages, hopefully we will be done in a couple of days.

-Sam

We’ve been preoccupied facing our first big setback since we came to Cambodia; in the beginning of January, we were notified that the Governor of Sihanoukville had decided to demolish a number of buildings on Otres beach, including ours, to make room for a public park. Since then we’ve received information from many different sources, which has been contradictive and to large extent based on hearsay and rumors. One day we are told that everything is ok and nothing will happen, the next day someone tells us we have three weeks until the bulldozers come.

Needless to say, this has affected our ability to move forward with our venture, for practical reasons as well as emotional. As of today, we still don’t know for sure what’s going to happen, though we believe that most likely we will be allowed to stay at least for the duration of this season. Either way, there are other suitable locations available, relocating is not the end of the world.

I arrived in Sweden yesterday to take care of some business, I’ll be staying for three weeks before going back to Cambodia. One of my main priorities will be recruiting a textile designer to help us in prototyping.

Meanwhile, Sammy has began to set up production of Salza Fire Gear equipment, which will be the first products to ship from the Done Right eco-factory.

- T

Times they are a-changing, though, new year or not. We’ve been in Cambodia for about two months, and so far it has been a fascinating journey of the mind, body and soul.

Life here is so relaxed I sometimes get the feeling we’re not getting anywhere at all. Then as I sit down to summarize our experiences, there is so much to tell I don’t know where to begin. Isn’t that odd?

Cambodia being one of the most corrupt countries in the world, we were prepared for a lot of bureaucracy, long negotiations, bribes and a generally difficult business climate. As it turns out, it’s far easier than in Sweden. Pay your business license and flat tax every month, stay below the radar, and the government leaves you alone. Suits us perfectly!

Finding qualified labor has turned out to be a challenge, for a number of reasons. Most of the English speaking Cambodians work in the tourism sector, and their lifestyle has been heavily influenced by western backpackers. Drinking, partying and slacking is often more important than showing up at work.

We’ve also found that Cambodians in general don’t care and plan for the future in the way we are accustomed to. Saving money for difficult times is almost unheard of. The work-reward model that western society is built upon isn’t understood here, instead people regard income and fortune as gifts from Buddha. This is fascinating as it calls for vastly different incentive models, a subject I will get back to later.

Our current employment strategy is to take on young individuals from small villages. These are poor people who we believe will benefit greatly from education, experience and income that we can provide. The language and cultural barriers are overcome by teaching English, with help from interpreters and some creative use of body language!

Currently, we have two full time employees from a nearby village, and an interpreter working part-time. We plan to employ 2-3 more people within the next few months, as we get started on production.

Speaking of production – we are looking forward to get started on what we actually came here to do – making some kick-ass products for you guys! This will be our focus for the upcoming weeks.

Anyways, arbitrary or not:

From all of us to all of you, Happy New Year!

Toby, Rani, Ana, Mom and Sammy

Now we’re just taking it easy, enjoying another night on the beach with a glass of chilled white wine. Tomorrow, burger barbecue and preparations for another week of challenges!

Oh, by the way: we’re now officially hiring! If you want to help us make a difference, and have experience in product design, textile design, handicraft, construction or engineering, let us know! Perks include living on the beach, amazing food every day, all in a relaxed, creative environment. Work – Done Right.

-T

This lead to the renting of two of our three rooms, and the hireing of our second employee – Mom. Mom is a very common Khmer name, but Mom is a rather extraordinary person! She helps us to fix and clean the rooms up, and we are no longer alowed into the kitchen

A problem with running the guesthouse is that it has taken our time of our origional project, but that’s over now, and I have set out to recover parts and materials for production – for the two lines of products that we are going to pursue to begin with.

Other than that there is not much more to report on now, we have sunny weather an 31 degrees in the shade.

So, when are you coming for a visit? We k ow you want to – want to visit paradise done right

-S

The first thing I started was a can wall, which is made up of cans and a mix of sand and cement. The principle behind this is that when the cement settles, it creates arches, which in turn holds up the weight of the above cement.

Can walls have a number of advantages compared to a regular brick wall. the first one being that regular bricks cost money – cans cost nothing. If we can teach the locals how do do this it will mean an increased level of living. They are also very good isolators, seeing as the cans are full of air, who are in turn covered with cement and plaster, which also means that sound travels badly through the wall.

During the making of the wall many o khmer came by and looked, all thinking i was a crazy barang, and i tried to explain it to them, and they agreed that it might be a good idea.

The second thing we’ve been building is a solar oven. The basics of the oven are simple, but a metal box in bricks and cement (isolators) paint the whole thing black and smack a big piece of glass on it. what happens is that the rays from the sun hit go through the glass, hitting the black metal, which in turns gets warm, and warms up the air around it, this is why we’re trying to get it compact and airtight. The oven should reach temperatures on between 100 and 200 degrees Celsius.

You can use the solar oven for a number of things, you can bake bread and cook food, and with a small modification you can use it as a solar distiller, this is a good way to get foolproof safe drinking water, but you could also technically use it to distill alcohol, should you which to. (You can make lesser alcohol from bamboo and yeast, which you then distill, which means you could make your own fuel to power generators or vehicles).

You could also combine the solar oven with a toilet, crazy huh? well, what you basically do is make a separate solar oven, build a toilet above it, and the produce drops down in the oven, which is then heated up, becoming a sterile, odorless, energy rich powder, perfect food for plants.

The above are only tests of what we intend to build, strongly inspired by the Earthship concept of living – to live with the earth, not on or against it. Our hope is to be able to build schools and factories in this manner, and teach the locals how to do the same.

- S

In a few days we’re going to Phnom Penh again, among other things we’ll be looking at solar and wind power solutions. We’ve also started construction of a solar oven and hired our first full-time employee.

More info shortly!

- T