I do work! honest...

...and this is where...

Hoa Sua is an incredible project. It started 11 years ago, initially as a past time for a few Vietnamese teachers who had just retired and thought they would pass on their passion for cooking to a group of street children. Slowly but surely the school grew, and it is now a very successful hospitality/catering/embroidery school that provides completely free training and a home to some 400 disadvantaged young people every year.

The trainees at the school come from all over Vietnam and from different circumstances: orphans, street children, children who come from extremely poor families, disabled kids - deaf or hearing impaired,...

The training ranges from practical to theoretical, and the team have implemented an impressively successful system to provide training to the kids and, concurrently, to allow a certain degree of self funding, by opening a training restaurant, a bakery, a cafe, and a tailor/emobroidery shop (in Hanoi) and a little hotel and cafe in Sa Pa - North of Vietnam.

And the quality of the food and atmosphere at the cafes and restaurant are excellent...so if you do get the chance to travel to Vietnam (and as far as my friends are concerned, ye will, ye will, ye will) follow the link on the right handside here and go and see for yourselves!

And you should see the students, that twinkle in their eye, those smiles... It is so magic to be here, and to be part of this...I'm looking forward to all that is to come.

- the girls and boy from the tailoring and embroidery class