The Sareka Paper Recycling Project

In May of 2008 we at Sareka took four of the older children from the dump site to Siem Reap, to attend a master class in how to make hand-made recycled paper and paper products. Before we left Siem Riep, we treated them to a day at The Angkor Wat - a day none of us will ever forget!

In July of 2008, a generous donation from the Mandala Trust enabled us to buy a press and other materials necessary for making recycled paper. After just a few weeks of practising what was learned in Siem Reap, the quality of the paper began to improve by the sheet.

In August of 2008, the 'Sareka Paper Recycling Project' officially began. The goal of the paper project was to provide the dumpsite community with a means of generating an income, with an aim towards enabling them to move back to the village of Battrang without having to rely entirely on charity. Sareka's first hand-made recycled paper product is our range of extraordinary hand-painted Christmas cards. Also, all of our popular paintings are now being painted on this paper, with spectacular results! We also make plain paper, leaf & flower embedded paper and cards, and have began experimenting with other paper products such as boxes and bags.

Since February of 2009 there have been a few exciting developments in the Sareka Paper Recycling Project. Roland Stahl, a professional hand-made paper craftsman & bookbinder from the United States, offered to lend us his expertise. With the help of Roland both the quality and production of paper improved substantially, and soon after, Sareka was able to sell a stock of plane paper sheets to Nagaworld in Phnom Penh! As well as the plain paper improving, the hand-painted cards turned out even more beautiful on the improved paper.

In August of 2009, the Mandala Trust came to our rescue again in the form of another substantial donation made which enabled us to purchase the necessary material to construct a 'Holland-Beater'. With this medieval Dutch paper making invention, paper can be made even smoother and stronger, Roland Stahl helped Sareka with the construction once all of the parts had been found and purchased. When using the Holland Beta our production rate increases by nearly 300%.

This same month we started to produce our Christmas cards for 2009/2010. Besides selling them directly to our contacts, this year the cards will also be available in the recently opened gallery on the popular beach of Sihanoukville. If you are interested in purchasing any of Sareka's paper or paper products, please let us know!