Friday, May 02, 2008

She's in!

Today's a big day of celebration for one of our wonderful girls, Duong - she's been accepted into the KOTO training program!

There aren't many programs or opportunities for disadvantaged kids here in Hanoi. One of the challenges for Blue Dragon is finding suitable placements for all the kids who come to us. We don't say no to anyone, so we really do serve a wide range of needs.

Duong has been with Blue Dragon for under a year. She lives with her very poor family on a boat that sits on the Red River; but despite their terrible poverty, Duong is highly motivated. She wants to have a better life, and she's prepared to do something about it.

So she's been coming every day to our centre and taking part in everything that she can: English classes, a cooking club, social activities, and she even completed a short external cooking course to see if she really does want to follow a career in cooking.

Now she's taken a huge step: she's applied for, and been accepted, into KOTO, which runs a 2 year hospitality course. Getting accepted ain't easy - dozens and dozens apply, but there are only about 25 places.

Duong is thrilled - and so are we! This is the start of such an amazing new phase of her life.

Good luck, Duong! The future is yours!


Duong with her acceptance letter



The Blue Dragon cooking club - held every Sunday


Duong's home

1 comment:

Alison said...

Yay! Congratulations to Duong!

What a fantastic achievement!:)