A social enterprise in Cambodia is promoting fair trade practices while helping recovering drug addicts overcome their afflictions. Justees, a portmanteau of "just" and "tees", is providing young men with jobs printing t-shirts that display positive messages. The organization also gives its staff the flexibility to continue their schooling. Justees emphasizes the value of hard work and is committed to operating as a self-funding project; it encourages its staff to take ownership in the success or failure of the project. The shirts are sold in Cambodia and in other countries worldwide.
Cambodia, a country where 36 per cent of a population of 14.2 million live below the poverty line, is a high-volume trafficking point for narcotics, especially heroin and methamphetamine. Drug addiction in Cambodia is compounded by the growing risk of HIV infection. In Phnom Penh, 35.1 percent of injecting drug users were found to be HIV positive in 2007, according to statistics from the National Authority for Combating Drugs.
Cambodia has just begun to acknowledge the seriousness of its drug problem. On Wednesday, the country opened its first methadone treatment centers in Phnom Penh in an effort to help heroine users. This approach starkly contrasts with anti-drug strategies pursued in the past. Reports of electric shocks, beatings, rapes, forced labor and forced donations of blood have been reported in Cambodia's drug detention centers.
Justees is doing its part to help fight Cambodia's drug problem. According to the website, "Justees began out of a fusion of compassion for young men suffering from the crippling effects of growing up in poverty, a concern for justice, and an interest in creative expression, in particular through screen-printing." The project is still small, employing seven ex-drug users between the ages of 15 and 17. These teens are paid fair wages and work with a Cambodian project assistant who serves as a mentor.
The t-shirts feature socially progressive messages in English. Slogans such as "Earth provides enough to satisfy everyone's need but not everyone's greed!" and "Moaning doesn't help - you do!" adorn the front the t-shirts. Justees are also available for contract screen-printing for clubs, churches, sports teams, NGOs or other groups. Justees also encourages those interested to contact them to learn how to get involved. You can even submit t-shirt designs.
Cambodia, a country where 36 per cent of a population of 14.2 million live below the poverty line, is a high-volume trafficking point for narcotics, especially heroin and methamphetamine. Drug addiction in Cambodia is compounded by the growing risk of HIV infection. In Phnom Penh, 35.1 percent of injecting drug users were found to be HIV positive in 2007, according to statistics from the National Authority for Combating Drugs.
Cambodia has just begun to acknowledge the seriousness of its drug problem. On Wednesday, the country opened its first methadone treatment centers in Phnom Penh in an effort to help heroine users. This approach starkly contrasts with anti-drug strategies pursued in the past. Reports of electric shocks, beatings, rapes, forced labor and forced donations of blood have been reported in Cambodia's drug detention centers.
Justees is doing its part to help fight Cambodia's drug problem. According to the website, "Justees began out of a fusion of compassion for young men suffering from the crippling effects of growing up in poverty, a concern for justice, and an interest in creative expression, in particular through screen-printing." The project is still small, employing seven ex-drug users between the ages of 15 and 17. These teens are paid fair wages and work with a Cambodian project assistant who serves as a mentor.
The t-shirts feature socially progressive messages in English. Slogans such as "Earth provides enough to satisfy everyone's need but not everyone's greed!" and "Moaning doesn't help - you do!" adorn the front the t-shirts. Justees are also available for contract screen-printing for clubs, churches, sports teams, NGOs or other groups. Justees also encourages those interested to contact them to learn how to get involved. You can even submit t-shirt designs.
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