With two thirds of the Cambodian population under age 25, and 80% of it living in rural areas where access to education is limited, marketable skills become an essential tool to provide for one’s family.

While subsistence agriculture will help a family survive, a job will help it thrive. Through training and direct investments in the villages, Community First supports the creation of small businesses and rural ventures. In 2009, a sewing center manufacturing up to 2,000 mosquito nets a month was inaugurated in the village of Smach. The center can employ up to 15 seamstresses when at full capacity, and can also serve as a training site for many villagers eager to change their lives through a new trade as a tailor.