to cambodia

i thought id be somewhat cut off from the world cause im going to cambodia. 20% of the population lives in poverty (under$1/day). but here i am with wifi pretty much where i go. it is truly a connected world. therefore i decided to keep you a bit updated with some posts on my blog.

my internship at the garment factory is what i would call 21st century economy in a cost-efficient country for products made for quality aware customers. meaning low costs in production but high margin for brands which hire subcontractors to produce. but the garment factory (i work at the office but thats another topic) i work at is not a sweatshop where forced labor, violating human rights and dangerous working conditions are a daily thing but quite the contrary. the production site is located on the ground floor, its clean (cleaning ladies do a good job), everything seems transparent so far (im allowed to take pictures and videos without the need to sign an agreement, i was allowed to have a look at the books) and its possible to earn a decent wage for cambodian circumstances which means the following:in addition to $80 guranteed wage, if you dont miss calling in leave days (its supposed to be an incentive that workers act according to cambodian labor law), the workers receive $7 living allowance/month (cut to half if they work less than 13 days/month), $10 attendance allowance/month (100% deduction if no noticr absence) and rate per piece
ive seen payckecks as high as $300. i cant judge yet whether thats enough to live on but i will find out asap.

there are 1200 workers in two different halls: one is shirts and one is bottoms. only 39 men.

last info for this entry: its chinese management and local workers. the chinese live in a dorm on the compound and rarely leave the compound i have the feeling. if so they alwaya go to places run by chinese. they seldomly have contact to locals and therefore dont speak the language well or understand the language even after years in cambodia.