A brighter future for the most underpriviledged

In February, we celebrated the graduations ceremony of 39 students of Youth Career Initative (YCI). They spent 24 weeks participating in on-job training at five-star hotels in Hanoi including Hilton, Sheraton, InterContinental and JW Marriot. 

Under the program, each student underwent more than 750 hours of mentoring and hospitality training provided as part of the hotels’ daily operations. Students worked as hotel staff and are rotated through hotel functions, ranging from security and housekeeping to cooking and luggage services.

Besides technical training, the students received soft skills, computer and English language training at REACH. REACH is also in charge of placing the students at jobs after they graduate and following up their employment for 6 months.

By the time of their graduation, 34 out of 39 YCI graduates have already found suitable employment. Among them, 14 continued to be employed by YCI participating 5-star hotels.

So who are YCI students? What are their stories? How was that 24 months to them? Let's meet Chi.

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My name is Nguyen Thi Chi. I’m 22 years old. I was born and grew up Ha Tinh.

When I was only 3 years old, I was deprived from love of my mother and protection of my father. Without love from my parents and good living condition, I felt myself like a fish out of water and pitiful among people. Having a true family has always been  a burning dream . I have a younger brother named Long, who is 18 years old.

After my parents’death, my brother and I were brought up by my grandmother. Despite her old age, she was the breadwinner, who looked after us.

Hunger and poverty kept chasing us. Crops were all swept away by flood. Running out of rice, my grandmother often borrowed some from our neighbours to feed us with sweet potatoes and cassavas.  There was nothing worthy in our house except a bed. Having no choice, my brother and I went to rice mills to beg for food helping my grandmother. My grandmother, despite sunny or rainy days, patiently looked for snails and small craps and gathered every rice flowers left after a harvest. Despite the difficulties, she saved every penny so that we could go school like our friends.

I went to school in the morning. In the afternoon, I collect timber/wood from nearby forest to sell at market. In summer time, there were days under muggy sun of June, I tended oxen to get by. Time flew by, when I finished grade 9, my grandmother encouraged me to go out for work, save some money to learn an occupation.

One day, I decided to go to Hanoi to work. My first job was domestic helper. New environment, new feelings made me discouraged. I hoped if only time could pass quickly so that I could go back home and live by my grandmother and my brother. Even if we have to eat  sweet potatoes and cassava to survive, that would be ok to me as long as I could come back home.

Whenever walking past high buidings, high-class apartments, hotels, I aspired I would be there one day. I always cherished to work in five star hotels, but I didn’t know how to reach my dream and there was also no one teach me how to make it happen.

One day, through a friend I got to know about YCI program, which gives me opportunity to learn in the environment that I dreamt of.

I was a trainee in Housekeeping at Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake. At first time I didn’t use to new environment. Sometimes I was sad for not helping my trainers but also bothering them. However, I felt myself happy to get encouraging words from my trainers “Fighting! I believe you can do! Fighting! I believe you can get over!” Those words urged me to try more in work not to betray my teachers, my trainers and my friends.

During that 6 months, I was always thoroughly adviced by my trainers, from the minor things. The first two months I worked under my trainer’s instructions, after three months, I could work independently and got the top of my hotel marking scheme. That memory left me an impression forever and was a stepping stone for me to try more.

6  months is not long but to me it was my most meaningful and significant time. There were times falling, at the moment of standstill, I recognized I didn’t stay alone but always received thoughful recommendations and protection from my teachers. I also attended practical extracurricular lessons organized by hotels and REACH.  To a homeless girl like me, compared to the start, I’m now more confident in English communication.

In the future, I wish to get a stable job in Hanoi to help myself, my grandmother and take my brother to Hanoi for studying. I also wish to buy a wheelchair for my grandmother, so she could go to anywhere she likes. I would feel high up in the sky if those wishes come true.

By the time Chi graduated from YCI program in February, she had found a job at luxury Fraiser Suits in Hanoi.