“The soil in Cambodia is physically red and quite dusty,” said Lin Alesso, Co-Founder of Red Dirt Road.
Women in Cambodia leave their families for weeks at a time traveling the Red Dirt Road to go to work in the garment industry.
Marie Eckstein visited Cambodia in 2011.
While there, she noticed the heartache these women were experiencing and was blown away by one woman trying to escape it.
“I met Celli and I was so impressed with her,” said Eckstein. “She was trying to start her own sewing business, she is enthusiastic, she’s energetic, she’s a magnet, you just want to stand up and hug her and I thought if she wants this that bad, I ought to be able to help her.”
From almost 10,000 miles away in Traverse City, Marie founded Red Dirt Road.
A couple years later, her friend Lin Alesso joined the project.
“It is a business about reuniting families, its mission in life is to keep women out of the garment industry, home with their families and still earning money, so they can feed their children and pay the school fees so their children can go to school,” she said.
Red Dirt Road allows these women to earn money by making these scarves, bags, and wallets right in their own village, rather than miles away, down the Red Dirt Road.
“We take this beautifully textured richly colored silk, they’re sewn into absolutely gorgeous projects,” she said.
Each stitch sewn with a patient hand and a persistent pedal.
“Their feet are coming up and down,” said Eckstein.
“It’s a stand up product with dignity and craftsmanship,” said Alesso.
“The products are unique, but very westernized,” added Eckstein.
That’s because their products are sold here in the United States.
“It is truly America and Traverse City reaching across the ocean to make the world a better place,” said Alesso. “Every dollar of every purchase goes to the women of Cambodia.”
So far, the business has reunited 13 women with their families.
“We want to make the whole village smile,” she said.
And as they build a second shop, they already have 40 more women interested.
“They go out knowing they can go out and change not only their lives, their families lives, but the lives in Cambodia, they’ve severed a skill base and confidence level that will take them into the future,” they said.
Marie and Lin hope to change the direction the women travel down the Red Dirt Road.
“Instead more women can travel the road back to their families and make life better for everyone involved,” she said.
To find our more information about Red Dirt Road or to purchase products, click .
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