Tag Archives: Thien Le

Toronto Stars!

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Senhoa| Leave a comment

There are some who take initiatives. Kelly Le from Toronto is one of them.

On May 7, 2011, the Vietnamese Association of Toronto (VAT) hosted the VIVA Gala. Kelly saw the advertisement for this event in the newspapers and took initiatives. She lobbied the organizers of VIVA to allow Senhoa a table at the event so that we could sell jewelry and promote the organization. Kelly wrote:

“It was a beautiful night, many people came and learned about Senhoa. I recruited three other volunteers to help me and we had a great time that night. We also organized for Thien Le’s models to wear our jewelry for the fashion show. And I must say, on stage, our jewelry shines like stars!”

On behalf of the team at Senhoa, thank you Kelly and Team Senhoa Toronto for dazzlingenthusiasm!

Yours sen-cerely,

Head Office

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Sustainable Sewing

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Senhoa| Leave a comment

Suhr-so-dai! Hello again from Cambodia! Even though it’s meant to be Head Office’s turn at reporting the goings-on, too much is happening over here to wait another whole 2 weeks! A month ago now, we have a special visitor scheduled for Senhoa. Leading up to his arrival, I received a bombardment of emails from management encouraging and reassuring me that I’d do a fantastic job at hosting THE Thien Le. I was scratching my head: who?

Thien Le is one of Toronto, Canada’s most prominent designers, specializing in exclusive couture for the individual woman and man. As I read up on him and clicked through his runway shows and collections, I started laughing at my ignorance when I finally Googled him; I, the most un-savvy label fashionista, was hosting, punching and joking around with a fashion celebrity.

Senhoa Head Quarters had used its connections and charm to rope in the Canadian/Vietnamese designer to train the girls in Battambang branch of our partner shelter to make bags and kimonos as merchandise. The Battambang branch of our partner shelter has a sewing vocational training program. Senhoa proposed this small project to provide the girls with training in sewing and pattern making, as well as design good quality merchandise to make and sell in the United States and abroad, and to promote the work of both organizations.

Thien was a bundle of enthusiasm, squealing with delight (‘Oh My God, this is so COOL!!) from the airport in the open air tuk-tuk on which we picked him up. He was so excited to be in a new country to offer his talents to those who can benefit so significantly.

Our special guest was welcomed warmly with songs and dance by the girls which he received both shyly and graciously. Thien was given the tour of the shelter, our office and the classrooms, and see the Senhoa Program in action. I beamed with pride as they animatedly chatted to him about what they’ve learnt so far and how hopeful they are about their futures.

When training commenced the next day in Battambang, Thien dove straight in and showed the girls how to silk screen, how to cut fabric with accuracy, how to utilize fabric sparingly, how to adjust machine tension according to fabric thickness and other tricks of the trade. Thien was deeply impressed by the girls’ keenness to learn and how quickly they picked up his lessons. By the end of the 4-days, the girls had worked together in teams of four to make samples of the reversible Love Rescue Heal tote, and sophisticated kimono wrap.

Everyone cooperated so promptly that Thien even had time to cut and restyle most of the girls’ hair! (‘Wow, seriously, I need to bring over a TEAM to deal with this.’) Even mine! (‘You look like a girl, again!’)

 

We are so privileged to have Thien generously give his time, pro bono, to share his knowledge with us in Cambodia. This newly developed relationship between Thien and Senhoa has great implications for future merchandising and fundraising to create wider awareness of the Anti-Human Trafficking movement.

Thank you, Thien Le, our Fashionable Friend! We hope to see you again in the Kingdom of Wonder to work some more Wondrous Magic.

Check Thien out at www.thienle.com

With Hugs and Kisses from the Field.

Posted in The Field

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“Glamourizing” the Anti-Slavery Movement

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Senhoa| 9 Comments

Greetings from Head Office!

It seems like life is constantly exciting here at Senhoa and that is how it should be! To kick off, the glamorous, exciting stuff first. On the 8th November 2010, Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards 2010 was held at Carnegie Hall, New York. The guest list boasted figures like Oprah, Julia Roberts, Hilary Swank, Chelsea Clinton, Cher and Janet Jackson. But most importantly, among them was Supermodel Coco Rocha in Senhoa jewelry! We want to send a big THANK YOU to Coco and her hubby, James Conran, for their support.


And then over and across the border, the Gemini Awards honors the best in Canadian television as determined by members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television and other industry professionals (similar to the Emmy’s here in the US). Actress Krystin Pellerin attended the event wearing… Senhoa Jewelry of course! Thanks to our dear friend and Fashion Designer, Thien Le, who conspired to make this happen.

Finally, Jenny Van, Senhoa’s Creative Director, has been cooped up designing a top-secret couture collection for Senhoa which we hope to debut on the big screen early December. We can’t tell you where and how just yet, but stay tuned!

AND NOW! Down to business!

I am excited to report to you, our dear followers, on the progress of a new project called the CCPCR Lotus House. A partnership agreement was officially signed with the Cambodian Center for the Protection of Children’s Rights on 21 October 2010 to launch this project, providing up to 15 young women with temporary accommodations. At the heart of this project are the provision of safe housing, gradual reintegration and the attainment of “sustainable freedom”. Our Lotus House aims to teach women the skills needed for independent living, help them find safe and secure employment and provide other needed life skills. To date, we have completed the following:

  • Located a property in Cambodia for the project.
  • Obtained permission from the local authorities for its operation. We are working with the Village Leader, Commune Leader and District Governor to not only operate the project, but to work in tandem with these government departments to make this project a success.
  • Developed the CCPCR Lotus House policy;
  • Completed job descriptions for our shelter manager and house mother;
  • Developed annual work plan for our project;
  • Hired a fabulous Project Manager;
  • Networked with companies and local businesses for job placement programs for our girls;
  • Received application from girls in need of our service. Our Social Worker is currently assessing their suitability for the program.

Our project partner, Mr Thy is to be thanked profusely for his hard work in jumpstarting this new endeavor!

That’s it from Head Office for this week. Have a beautiful thanksgiving weekend and we look forward to connecting with you again!

Sen-cerely yours,

The Team at Head Office


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