In 2005, Hoang The Anh was part of an intake of 25 trainees from the street and from disadvantaged backgrounds taken in by Hanoi’s non-profit organisation KOTO (Know One Teach One).
Now, only five years later and still only 21 years old, he stands on the brink of a dream after winning a $20,000 scholarship to study at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu in Sydney, Australia.
Anh spent two years learning how to be a chef in KOTO’s hospitality training programme. In 2007, he celebrated his graduation and embarked on a career that eventually ushered him into the kitchens of the five-star Life Resort Da Nang.
While his cooking skills have impressed colleagues, it’s his desire to repay his good luck that really caught judges’ attention. He has donated his time freely for more than three years to help with cooking lessons at the Hoi An Orphanage. Judges also revealed how he’d assisted a local lady in setting up her own coffee shop.
Working alongside KOTO graduates in central Vietnam, he had helped them beat occasional homesickness by inspiring them to think of themselves as paving the way in creating opportunities for still more graduates. All the time he was also sending money back to assist his own family in their ongoing struggle against poverty.
In a magical evening at KOTO’s most recent graduation ceremony, Anh was named winner of the KOTO Ambassador’s Award.
As recipient, Anh will study in Sydney for two years and three months once he has mastered English to requisite levels.
“For a guy like Anh this is something he just could never have dreamed of,” said Alexander Reily, executive chef at Life Resort Da Nang. “For any young person, the chance to travel, to live and to learn overseas is an adventure. But Anh’s background meant that up to that moment he can’t have imagined it was an option open to him. As far as he was concerned he was just giving something back.”
