Joom Noon Silks

Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation

Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation Joom Noon is a project of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF). Established twenty years ago by a dedicated group of Vietnam veterans, VVAF has grown into an international organization dedicated to helping innocent victims of war. They work against the use of weapons such as landmines and unexploded ordnance that have made civilians the major victims of conflict. VVAF has been a leading voice in calling attention the underlying causes that create human suffering. VVAF co-founded and coordinated the international campaign to ban landmines that received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.

As part of its work, VVAF operates and supports humanitarian rehabilitation programs in Angola, Cambodia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Vietnam.

VVAF's wide-ranging programs in Cambodia, a country still grappling with the very real horror of genocide and an estimated four to six million landmines in the ground, continue to grow. The organization operates four rehabilitation centers in Cambodia, as well as the micro enterprise project Joom Noon. Clinics in Phnom Penh and Prey Veng manufacture a full range of prosthetic and orthotic devices and offer extensive physical therapy programs as well as producing wheelchairs and other mobility aids like crutches.

Joom Noon

Joom Noon VVAF established an innovative micro enterprise project in Preah Vihear in northern Cambodia. Launched as a way to provide economic opportunity for civilian war victims and landmine survivors in an especially remote and abandoned region, the project has rekindled the local artistry of silk weaving and revitalized the local economy. What began with five female landmine victims now employs some 85 spinners, dyers, and weavers, over half of whom are women. The project now produces quality silk scarves that are sold in Phnom Penh, the US, Japan and Australia under the label Joom Noon (Khmer for "gift").

Joom Noon silks are richly woven, brightly colored, and delicately textured. Every phase in the production of the silk bears the quality and distinction of handcraftsmanship. Picked from the leaves of local mulberry trees, silk worms are individually harvested and shorn of their thread. The raw silk is expertly dyed by hand, and spun into a fine yarn for weaving. The end product - the scarves and sarongs - bear traditional Cambodian patterns, and their vibrant palette is inspired by the colors of seasonal fruits and the leaves and bark of local trees.

Though victims of Cambodia's decade-long civil war, the artisans of Preah Vihear are using their skills to build a positive and hopeful future. Drawing upon a rich regional tradition of spinning and weaving, they are revitalizing their community and seizing a better tomorrow. When you buy Joom Noon products, you are directly benefiting the victims of conflict, extraordinary people who have turned tremendous hardship into a positive, productive, inspiring triumph.

Joom Noon is a registered trademark of VVAF. This excerpt was provided with permission of Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. For more information, contact VVAF at 202-483-9222 or www.vvaf.org.

Hillesø & Company Designs has utilized the beautiful silks in jackets and suits. Take a look at the images below of the Asymmetrical Collar Jacket, the Art Nouveau Jacket and wrap pants to see how the creative handcraftsmanship of Joom Noon shawls was transformed into contemporary sophisticated fashion.

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