Khmer Hands Training Center

It all started with a patch of land in 2012, a few bags of cement, a whole lot of hope, and the idea that maybe, just maybe, we could build something beautiful together.

Khmer Hands has grown slowly and intentionally. First came a simple staff building. Then the school. A few hand-built bungalows. Then a few more. In 2015 we opened the restaurant, and by 2017 we had launched Arts Café just down the hill right on the Gulf of Thailand. Most recently, in true Khmer Hands fashion, the Mangrove Café was born from a shipping container craned into place on Easter morning because, well, that’s the only day the crane was available. It’s Cambodia. We make it work.

But Khmer Hands was never just about buildings. It was always about people.

Kris Warner and Naome Pich, along with their three kids and an ever-growing extended family of staff and students, have poured their lives into this place. Over the years, it has become home to a beautiful and diverse community of learners, leaders, dreamers, and doers. From that very first English lesson in 2013 with a group of construction workers, to the sewing classes Naome began a year later, to the more recent program we are working on right now: Village First Aid training rolling out with Majesty International and SOLO, the heartbeat of Khmer Hands has remained the same which is to create a safe space, give dignity, and equip others to thrive.

Sometimes that looks like teaching English under the house because the daycare took over the classroom. Sometimes it’s bunk beds and new bathrooms for the growing live-in team. Sometimes it’s crayfish farming to keep programs afloat when tourism dries up. And always, it’s about walking with our Cambodian friends and family, shoulder to shoulder, in faith and love.