The One Village Program emerged from a combination of need, circumstance and innovation. A significant need exists in Chiang Rai for quality vocational training to provide sustainable employment opportunities for at-risk hill tribe youth. Locally, there are numerous hotels, resorts and restaurants catering to the upscale, mostly foreign, tourist market that are often not able to recruit qualified and experienced workers. The presence of a lucrative and growing job market combined with the need for an innovative approach to capacity building and poverty alleviation, provided both the catalyst and inspiration for One Village. This restaurant training and personal development program provides an alternative for an improved quality of life and youth empowerment.
Objectives
The One Village Program is practical vocational training that aims to reduce poverty through education and hands-on work experience focusing on vulnerable hill tribe youth, 16 – 21 years old, by providing:
• Quality vocational training and, in turn, marketable skills to secure sustainable worthwhile employment
• Life skills and peer support, through mentoring, to better equip trainees for their roles as productive, active citizens
• A safe environment for youth to build self-confidence, a sense of independence, as well as pride in themselves and their culture.
The One Village Program
The One Village restaurant training program is an opportunity for at risk and vulnerable hill tribe youth, 16-21 years old, to develop marketable skills in a healthy and safe environment. Living in circumstances where opportunities to better your situation are not a possibility, One Village provides an alternative. After a year, not only will the trainees be skilled and ready for the workforce, but also contributing members of the community.
Recruitment will be conducted with the assistance of various NGOs in the Chiang Rai area who currently work with our target group. Youth will submit an application to us directly or through a facilitating NGO. After writing a basic literacy and math test, candidates will then be selected for home visits by One Village staff to speak to families and assess the validity of the applications. Trainees will be selected on the basis of need, vulnerability as well as interest and motivation to be involved in the program.
There are four major training components to the overall program: kitchen, front-of-house, life skills as well as English and Thai language for the restaurant industry. Mentoring is a significant aspect of the program and will be carried throughout the training. Capacity building through vocational training and personal development programs provides an innovative approach to poverty alleviation as well as an improved quality of life and personal empowerment.
The vocational training components will be based on international standards and trainees will study in one vocation, kitchen or front-of-house. On-going training over the course of the program will consist of classroom training as well as on-the-job training in our One Village training restaurant. Twenty trainees will be accepted per class for the one-year program, with a new intake every six months. A one-month “work experience” at a local restaurant or hotel will be included at the end of the program to expand their knowledge base and experience. During their training, trainees will work and study a maximum of forty hours per week and also receive a monthly salary. One Village will also provide housing, which the trainees will have to pay for out of their salary as part of the money management activity of the life skills program component.
Donations or More Information
One Village is currently in the developmental stages. We are in the midst of fundraising in order to make the One Village Program a reality. To donate to One Village or if you would like more information please contact:
Wendy Firlotte, One Village Program Manager
Khom Loy Development Foundation
PO Box 270, Main Post Office
A. Muang, Chiang Rai, 57000
Tel: +66 (0)814 361 232
Email: wendy@khomloy.org
Yao
Lahu