The ADAPT Culinary Vocational Program provides viable alternatives to trafficking or working abroad for girls who have dropped out of school and are of legal working age in Vietnam. Many girls with low educational attainment and limited skill sets have difficulty finding stable work locally. Girls in this situation are most at risk of being persuaded or tricked into crossing borders of Vietnam with promises of employment and financial gain.
Culinary Vocational Program provides each recipient with the following during the duration of the training and the first six months after job placement:
• Full tuition support including dormitory fees
• Daily food stipend
• Academic supplies and personal welcome kit
• Health: medical and dental screenings and checkups
• Individual Development Accounts (IDA): Job placement support through savings matching, income bolstering through the first 6-12 months of employment
• Income supplement for the first 6 months of employment in the field, amounting to 15% to find long-term, stable employment, leading to increased economic stability and a more secure future.
• Salary earned (currently averaging $15/month)
• Rent subsidy for 10% of rent for the first 6 months of employment in the field (currently averaging $10/month).
• Certification of completed course at Saigon Tourist School
The Vocational Training Program consists of a comprehensive curriculum including culinary education with an emphasis on Vietnamese cuisine from different regions of Vietnam, nutrition, and food safety. At the end of the 6-month program, students receive a completion certificate. Students then compete to be placed in internship positions in restaurants.
During the beginning six months of their job placement we subsidize their rent (10%) as well as their salary (15%) to assist the recipients in transitioning from the classroom to restaurant kitchen careers. In addition, in order to cultivate personal saving and wise money spending decisions, ADAPT created an Individual Development Account (IDA) for each recipient. We match each recipients monthly savings (up to 500,000 vnd) for the first year after graduation as long as their savings are not accessed during the year.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The culinary vocational program is enabling returning trafficking victims to pursue an education and/or a vocation to obtain better and more sustainable means of supporting themselves and their families. There are many ways you can contribute towards making these truly life-changing opportunities possible for these young women:
- USD $1,630 to sponsor one woman in the Culinary Arts Vocational Training Program pays for one year stay in the shelter
- USD $100 per scholarship recipient to purchase items and services required by Saigon Tourist throughout the six-month program; Dental services; Medical services; Bicycles for graduates; Uniforms, etc.
