CAMBODIAN NAIL STUDIO OPENS IN AYCLIFFE

Newton News
Thursday, June 12, 2008
by sonywiz

A Cambodian Nail Studio opened on 11th June offering acrylic nail extensions, manicures, pedicures and traditional nail art beautifully created by Somaly Uch.

Somaly was born in a small village near Kampong Speu, Cambodia and grew up with no running water or electricity. She moved to Phnom Penh when 8 years old and upon finishing school trained as a nail technician. Whilst having lunch in a food court in December 2006, she met Simon Woolf, who was travelling through Cambodia seeking business opportunities.

Simon runs a Sales Agency from Aycliffe Village helping companies make the most of their markets – ranging from the promotion of building cleaning products to contract cleaning. He is currently involved with the UK launch of Club and Country which provides competitive tracksuits and strips for sports teams. He is a partner in a company which purchases titanium in China.

In November 2007 Simon came back to England with Somaly and as they arrived at Heathrow they were met with freezing fog and Somaly froze. The coldest Somaly had ever experienced previously was 18 degrees centigrade.

Upon seeing snow for the first time, Somaly ran into the fields in Aycliffe Village, danced around and shouted "beautiful white flowers from the moon".

They returned to Phnom Penh to get married in February this year. 15 members of Simon’s family and friends joined them, including his sister Jane and her partner Nev who live in Aycliffe Village. The second day of ceremony started at 6.30am and finished 11pm, with 12 costume changes!

Somaly is constantly amazed at the life we lead in the UK such as machines for every purpose imaginable. Dogs are another big surprise – we can buy food for dogs, dogs take people for walks and last week Somaly went to Brough Park greyhound racing and had difficulty explaining six dogs running round in a circle to her mother during a telephone call to Cambodia but once she understood they could not stop laughing.

Somaly set up the Cambodian Nail Studio to enable her to send money back to her family in Cambodia. The average wage is less than £50 per month working 60 hours a week. She wants her brothers and sisters to receive a good education, study English and hopefully visit England one day.

Contact Somaly on 304450