A look inside a Cambodian garment factory. There's a pretty sweet health program in there.
Well, this is refreshing.
When you hear about garment factories in the news, it's usually because something went wrong.
After all, they don't exactly have the best reputation. So when I recently went on a Learning Tour to Cambodia with the nonprofit organization CARE, I was very intrigued when I saw that our itinerary included a trip to the Levi Strauss factory in Phnom Penh. What was that going to be like?
As eye-opening as I'd imagined.
There was so much to see (and probably a lot I didn't see). There were parts that felt straight out of a news segment, but there was one part that probably would never make headlines.
The factory is doing something really cool that I think deserves some praise: an employee-led health education program.
This is a positive story.
We toured this factory. It was loud in there. So many machines!
In Cambodia, women make up 90% of garment industry workers.
With half a million workers in the field, you don't have to be a math whiz to understand that's a lot of women. They work super long hours (and for not enough money) to contribute to the biggest industry in Cambodia: garment-making. You probably own a pair of pants that were made there. Just sayin'.
But women and girls in Cambodia face a lot more roadblocks in life than in other parts of the world.
Despite progress in the past few years, high rates of poverty, maternal mortality, human trafficking, violence, and poor health and education access still hinder Cambodia's development. And when you take into account that 40% of Cambodia's children under 5 years old suffer from chronic malnutrition, it's easy to see that kids aren't getting off to a good start in life either. It's a cycle that's hard to break.
Pich Navy is a garment worker whose daughter has been sick way too much.
We're talking multiple times a month, with stomach bugs, diarrhea, you know ... the miserable, messy stuff. And if caring for a sick kid isn't already hard enough, it can be crushing for a parent's job stability and paycheck.
Open wide, it's breakfast.
But when Pich started listening to her coworkers talk about hygiene and sanitation over their lunch break, it sorta changed everything.
This is from one of the education sessions I was able to witness.
CARE has been working with garment factories (like the Levi Strauss one!) to find ways to empower women who have lacked the resources and education they need to make decisions about their own health and well-being.
What's especially cool is how they set it up. The CARE Cambodian team helps to train some garment workers on topics of health and hygiene — things like birth control (did you know a lot of the women are using IUDs? Pretty neat), condoms, food groups, how to keep things sanitary, how to take care of yourself, HIV/AIDS, and even how to be a better communicator in life.
Then, the trained employees turn around and help teach their coworkers.
Peer educators are giving their coworkers the tools to live healthier, better lives.
Peer educators go over their lesson for the day at the Levi Strauss factory. I'm pretty sure this was on birth spacing, but I also can't read Khmer.
The sessions usually take place around lunchtime, and they've been a win-win for all involved. Healthier employees means more productive employees — at work and at home — and that's becoming apparent to the workers and the factory.
The peer model is super smart and sustainable, too.
There's a lot more trust in peer-to-peer teaching than when a superior storms in and tells you what to do.
Pich's daughter doesn't get sick all the time anymore, and it's because her coworkers taught her how to properly wash her food and practice better hygiene.
Since she has been going to the health education sessions at work, Pich has been able to take her new knowledge of nutrition and use it at home with her family. So awesome.
Programs like this are a perfect example of how we can work together toward a healthier and smarter world.
For people who already know why you wash a vegetable before eating or how to properly wash your body to stay clean, this kind of teaching might not seem like a big deal. But in places where access to education is still limited and a lot of these life skills are never taught -— it's huge.
And I understand that garment factories are far from ideal places to work, but this is a step in the right direction. Hopefully more factories will recognize the benefits of focusing on employee health.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."