CAMBODIA

Before there was a farm, there was a friend in trouble. Prak had been our tuk tuk driver for years when COVID hit Cambodia, taking his income with it. Government support existed but only for households already registered as poor before the pandemic, so Prak had nothing to fall back on. We helped with food, essentials and university fees for his daughter, Khon, who's since graduated and works at a five star hotel in Phnom Penh.

Six months in, with no end to COVID in sight, it was clear support alone wasn't enough, we wanted to help him build something that could stand on its own. Prak had always dreamed of a cattle farm, but that was out of reach, so we started smaller with a crayfish farm at his home in Koh Chen, beside the Mekong River. We sent the money, Prak built it and ran it.

When it outgrew his land, Subsonic Music and Hayden Anderson helped us rent two hectares for two years, which is why that field now carries Hayden's name. When that lease ended, Prak sold the farm and bought his own land, this time suitable for cattle. Every Chillus event since has helped build the herd.

At one point, Prak offered us a third of the business. We turned it down, we didn't want ownership, just for him to keep doing what he's doing: selling to those who can afford it, and giving to those who can't. Now we're looking at growing bamboo on the land, which could become fabric for Chillus merch.

What started as helping a mate survive a crisis became a farm, a livelihood, and something we can keep supporting without ever owning it.