Last Friday, CRED Director – Ms. Giang and the representative of sponsor organization PLATYPUS, Mr. Bob Greer visited 4 mountainous girls, the chosen ones to join cooking class at KOTO.

Center for Rural Economy Development (CRED) is collaborating with KOTO, the foundation and social enterprise, and PLATYPUS, the incorporation of donors to organize a 6-month cooking course for four young girls in Hanoi. Four girls coming from Hoang Su Phi of Ha Giang has been chosen carefully before joining this cooking course. This activity is a part of efforts to train local people skills and knowledge about tourism in Hoang Su Phi. Hoang Su Phi is considered as the land which owns huge tourism potential but has not exploited properly yet. Moreover, there is a shortage of human resources working in the tourism sector, especially local human resource compared with the potential development of the area.

CRED wants to bring this opportunity to young girls who have newly graduated in high school. They are able to adapt to a new environment more quickly and acquire knowledge faster. Girls in remote areas are more marginalized in stable and high-income employment opportunities than boys. Therefore, coming to KOTO and owning the chance to learn professional cooking skills here can be a turning point for these four girls.

“This is the first time we have come to Hanoi. This big and busy city is different from our hometown a lot. We were nervous but now we are really eager to learn new things here. We want to thank KOTO, CRED, and PLATYPUS for always staying beside us and being willing to support us. We will try our best to complete successfully the course.” said Ms. San, the eldest of four girls.

CRED has supported and connected KOTO with the four girls. The organization will closely keep the track to this course. CRED wants to connect students with hotels or homestays in Hoang Su Phi and support for their start-ups in the local if they need.

This project is the mobilization of different supportive resources from organizations (KOTO) and from individuals (PLATYPUS). CRED does hope that the goodwill and meaningful practices of KOTO can be replicated to more disadvantaged youths and women. The hope gets stronger when we have Platypus shares the vision and provides meaning supports with CRED.