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One by one, four youths collected their certificates from the CEO of Boxhill Institute at a graduation witnessed by hundreds of alumni, friends, families and supporters. Ms Thuy, Ms Hanh, Mr Dung and Mr Troung, along with their classmates from Class 15 of KOTO, had completed two years of vocational training in F&B and are ready to take on the world. It’s hard to imagine that just two years before, some of these youths were living on the streets, asking tourists to let them shine their shoes, many living dangerously amidst gangs and triads.
Many of them are victim of circumstances, and the main factor is poverty. The world has a name for such youths living on the streets of Vietnam. They call them Street Kids. And there is little hope for a stable future for Street Kids. Thanks to organisations like KOTO – or Know One, Teach One – these youths now face a brighter future and have the means to get out of poverty. Some are headed to work in restaurants, others in hotels as far as the Middle East, and still others have a chance for higher education in Australia. Back in 2009, Project Happy Feet learnt about KOTO and through its fund-raising efforts, contributed USD9,600 to fund four scholarships. Ms Thuy, Ms Hanh, Mr Dung and Mr Troung, were recipients of these scholarships. Two years on in 2011, Project Happy Feet was invited to attend the graduation of the sponsored youths. And what a touching and memorable affair it was.
“I’m very grateful to the sponsors from Project Happy Feet,” said Ms Thuy, who will be continuing to work at KOTO Restaurant to help supervise the younger trainees. “You changed my life.” “I never imagined this to happen to me,” said Mr Troung, who addressed the audience on behalf of his class, and will be heading to Halong Bay to work onboard a cruise ship with Mr Dung and Ms Hanh. “I never imagine this day will come true. We did it!”
5 Comments
I am very proud of what you guys are doing. You are changing a lot of lives forever and thank you for giving to our trainees a life. Good luck with your work Ms Deborah and Mr Terence. I am so happy to work with you guys.
Thanks Huong! Although Deborah and myself are part of the team who started Project Happy Feet, it is really the work of a lot of volunteers and friends, and the support of donors that made it possible for us all to make a difference. And thanks should also go to you and the rest of the staff and volunteers of KOTO for doing what you do too. You are the ones who are really working on the ground, overcoming challenges, and helping the youths find purpose and meaning in their lives. So please keep up the great work!
I were a trainee at KOTO that take many experience for our youths life. I believe that KOTO will change poor child and Streets kid,… Thank you to KOTO . Thanks to all staffs who has did it for us. My mother in law live in Singapore and I love Singapore also .keep in touch mom Tsumi .Love Viet
[...] Happy Feet has been supporting KOTO since 2009, and has sponsored 8 students from KOTO Hanoi. 4 of them have since graduated and have gone on to be gainfully employed. The other 4 will graduate in [...]
[...] Happy Feet’s first supported Know One Teach One (KOTO) in 2009 when it sponsored four students. These students have since graduated, a testimonial to KOTO’s and to Project Happy Feet’s partnership with [...]