Food For Thought
by Michelle Vachon

Sophie Balavoine Chef Pierre Favitski, hotel-school operations coordinator for the NGO Pour un sourire d'enfant, (center) shows students food display

For NGOs offering job training programs in Cambodia, the challenge is to give Cambodians the skills to earn a decent living in trades that will endure.

In view of the growing tourism industry, organizations have targeted the hospitality field—from private-home service to hotels and restaurants.

Requirements for the training courses, which range from six months to more than two years, vary according to the clientele and the markets each program targets.

For example at Mith Sam-lanh/Friends, whose goal is to shelter and educate street children with little or no schooling, the restaurant and cooking programs include regular school courses and English classes, said Gustav Auer, technical advisor for Friends restaurant.

Mith Samlanh/Friends’ program is tailored to the needs of good Khmer or Western restaurants, said Auer. It is designed to give students the self-esteem to deal with clients, and the ability to think independently and take initiatives, so that they can do what is needed and follow a work schedule without their supervisor having to prompt them, he said.

The training is more an apprenticeship than a course, with most of the teaching done on the job rather than in class, Auer said. Its duration varies from student to student according to the speed at which each one learns, he said.

“Students learn speed, working under pressure—the realities of the restaurant business,” Auer said.

Sala Bai Hotel School in Siem Reap only takes students already in grades 6 through 12 at national schools. Sala Bai, which is a project of the French NGO Agir pour le Cambodge, or Taking Action for Cambodia, trains young people from poor, rural families in front office operations, housekeeping, restaurant service and cooking, said Meas Sambath, the school’s co-director.

The 11-month courses consist of classroom work, French and English classes, internship in Siem Reap’s hotels and restaurants, and practice at the school’s restaurant and hotel, said Meas Sambath.

The school operates with the support of the Maison Daniel Brottier, a hotel vocational school in Nantes in France.

The French NGO Pour un sourire d’enfant, or for the smile of a child, prepares students for a career in the hotel and restaurant industry. They must learn to use professional techniques and equipment so that they can perform any task required of them by hotel or restaurant supervisors, said Tourn Kiv, the school’s cook training manager who worked for luxury hotels in Phnom Penh before joining the NGO two years ago.

This means teaching students international standards, which is no small undertaking, he said. The NGO assists children who live at the Phnom Penh municipal dump.

Students often are not familiar with the vegetables and other ingredients used in Khmer or West-Western cuisine, said Pierre Favitski, operations coordinator for the school.

All students attend Khmer, English and mathematics classes, and are trained to follow industry hygiene procedures, he said.

The school is supported by the Hotel School of Lausanne in Switzerland, which provides hotel equipment and assistance to design courses and class material for students.

Programs include months of classroom work, daily practice at the school’s restaurant and small hotel, and internships at major hotels and restaurants in the country, Favitski said. Pastry and bakery, housekeeping and laundry courses last one year, restaurant service and cooking two years.

The Paul Dubrule Hotel and Tourism School in Siem Reap was launched two years ago at the initiative of Dubrule, who is co-founder of the Accor group, which includes the Sofitel hotel chain. It now operates in partnership with three hotel vocational schools in France.

Open to students who have completed high school, the institution offers 10-month courses in front office and switchboard operations; front office and housekeeping; restaurant and bar service; cooking and cuisine; and travel and tourism industry services. The tuition fee is $500, and the school has a scholarship program.

Students are selected based on their language skills and motivation, said Béatrice Baranger, the school director. The school expects enrollment to top more than 100 students when classes start this month.

“This is a trade that people cannot take on unless they have a hospitality attitude that will make people feel at home,” she said.

Courses include specialized training at the school’s restaurant and hotel rooms, internships in Siem Reap’s major hotels and restaurants, as well as computer, French and English classes. Teaching is done in English and Khmer.

Working closely with the Siem Reap Angkor Hotel and Guest-house Association, the school will hold two-week to one month courses in continuing education for hotel staff, she said. The school is now developing a series of courses, including a program for guesthouse owners and staff, which should start in the coming months, Baranger said.

The NGO Nyemo, which provides counseling and vocational training for women, concentrates on the private home market.

The women, who usually are 16 to 35 years old and live in squatter areas, are referred to the NGO by other organizations, government agencies, pagodas and hospitals, said co-Director Hoeung Vireak. They may be young women with no support, women abandoned by their husbands, widows with children or sick women.

At Nyemo, they first go to counseling. “The social worker works to identify their problems and finds with them a solution, which can be education or medical assistance,” said co-Director Ky Kanary.

Counter-clockwise from top: Trainee Phat Srailen is on cleaning duty at Mith Samlanh/Friends Restaurant. Students Soum Pholla (left) and Hay Sinotun clean crabs at Le Rit’s cafe-restaurant of the NGO Nyemo Cambodia. Photos: Heng Chivoan. Table setting demonstration at the hotel school of the NGO Pour un sourire d'enfant. Photo: Sophie Balavoine