News news news

1. Fee-paying training at Hoa Sua
   It is official: Hoa Sua is about to open up a fee-paying branch of the school, and on Friday Mme Vy, director, explained to the partners present at the conference:
   This new promotion, which will start in October, is being developed exclusively in order to carry out the work that Hoa Sua has been doing for the last 11 years, and that is to empower disadvantaged youth by providing them with high quality hospitality training.
   This was not an easy decision to make. It has been a while now that the Hanoi Department of Education has started putting pressure on Hoa Sua to recruit a minimum of 500 management students per year, in order to keep the status as Professional Training School for Tourism.
   Moreover, the most pressing issue is a financial one: the training restaurants and shops are simply not enough for Hoa Sua to be self sustainable, and we cannot always depend on our donors. A fee-paying training will enable to guarantee the resources that the charity – that will remain the heart of the school - needs.
   But we also see a great advantage in introducing young people who come from privileged circumstances to the Hoa Sua community will create a real inclusive environment for the exchange of life experiences, knowledge and skills, whereby everyone has something to give and learn at the same time.
   It was a difficult subject to be open about - Hoa Sua has been suffering from lack of trust in and around Hanoi - whether that was by the general public or even partner organisations (such as NGOs) - and in a way, in the school everyone thought that this would be just a confirmation of doubts. In reality, the reaction shown by the partners and journalists present during the conference was outstanding: everyone supported the idea that Hoa Sua should break away from its constant financial dependence and crisis, and a fee-paying branch only seems to be the most logical and realistic solution.
2. "By the way", Mme Vy says at the conference "we have a problem with the lease of the venue for Baguette & Chocolat at Cha Ca - Old Quarter. Does anyone know somewhere we could transfer the restaurant?"
   (this is where I started getting all emotional...trust me, it wasn't the new shoes that brought tears to my eyes)
   "We at the Red Cross have a 7 storey building in the centre of Hanoi, we could give you one floor for Baguette & Chocolat...and maybe we could invite the music group formed by people living with HIV and AIDS to play at the opening...or maybe we could organise some training for people living with HIV & AIDS..."
   UNV representative holds up her hand: "we have so many resources to train in HIV & AIDS that we would be more than happy to provide to Hoa Sua"...
   That's when it all started...it was like being at an auction - fantastic how transparency can award you...
3. New Cafe Smile: the stylish restaurant-cafe-French bakery
   Second main piece of news that the conference was organised for is the opening of Cafe Smile on 5 Van Mieu Street, Hanoi.
   Cafe Smile is a restaurant-café-French bakery that will be opened on 16th August 2006 as part of the Hoa Sua School training restaurants system. Café Smile is the result of the cooperation between Hoa Sua School and the Japanese NGO “Smile for Kids”.
   The mission of Smile for Kids is to empower disadvantaged young people in developing coutries. In Vietnam, Smile for Kids focuses on establishing partnerships with humanitarian organisations working with disadvantaged youth.
   As one of the school’s training restaurants, Café Smile will:
   - Be the place where the trainees will be able to practise on their professional and managerial skills
   - Give the trainees the opportunity to get in touch with the professional environment in the most authentic and dynamic way during their training. Hence, the students will already have had an extensive experience after graduating from the school
   - Assess the quality and the effectiveness of the training in a real professional environment to continuously improve the training programme based on the needs of the field
   - Contribute financially to the school’s free training
   100% of the trainees in Management will be able to practise in Café Smile.
   The menu at Café Smile will be listing the best products made by the trainees, a vast choice of drinks, European dishes and authentic Asian set menus.
   Today, 9th August, one corner of the restaurant opened to offer a few snacks: Pho Bo, Spaghetti and Crepes. Guess what I had?