A Graduate’s Story: Sambath’s Journey to Becoming a Chef

Starting Out

*Sambath, an 18-year-old living with his family, faced a dilemma after high school. His parents, who were farmers, couldn’t afford to send him to university. Determined to continue his education, he decided to enroll in a vocational training school to learn a skill that would help him save up for university.

Training and Work

After attending a career fair at Brasat Bakong High School, Sambath learned about the vocational training program at Kaliyan Mith Siem Reap through Futures Sieam Reap. He decided to join the hospitality course to learn cooking skills in October.

Futures Siem Reap is a project at Kaliyan Mith to provide access for youth, parents and/or caretakers to employability service such as career counseling, job readiness skills, job placement assistance, and more.

Graduating from the program last March 2024, Futures Team assisted Sambath in looking for his first job. He landed a job as a Cook Helper at Borei Angkor Resort & Spa. With the support in soft skills and job readiness from Futures Siem Reap, he is now happily working and saving up for university.

Future Plans

Sambath’s goal is to study English literature at a university when he has saved up enough money. He wants to improve his language skills for his dream job—he dreams of becoming a Chef within the next 5 years for a 5/6-star hotel and hopes to give back to his community by sharing his skills with youth and eventually starting his own business.

The Futures Team continues to work with Sambath to help him to continue to build #betterfutures for him and his family.

Kaliyan Mith and Futures Siem Reap are part of Friends Alliance.
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*name changed for privacy.