Vocational Training for CCH Youth

For CCH youth who do not wish to continue with formal education, CCH makes every effort to find suitable vocational training, so that these young people will be able to be self-sufficient when they graduate from CCH.

These efforts range from placement of 8 students in the highly regarded Don Bosco two year vocational training program in Sihanoukville, to placement of individual youth into various job training programs in and around Phnom Penh in trades such as food preparation, sewing, computer repair, motorbike repair, and the like.

In addition, CCH is constructing a Youth House near its other facilities, aimed at providing transitional housing for young people principally in the 18-23 year old age range. Besides being housing, the Youth House will also be, a life skills training program, where youth will learn, bit by bit, to take on the responsibilities and burdens of adulthood.

Don Bosco Vocational Training Program

Thanks to financial assistance from De Stortkinderen VZW (Friends of CCH, Belgium), eight CCH youth are currently taking enormous strides toward self-sufficient (and even prosperous) adulthoods through a two year intensive vocational training program at Don Bosco in Sihanoukville. The Don Bosco campus in Sihanoukville is pictured below.

Don Bosco is a Salesian order of the Catholic Church which runs the premier vocational training programs for disadvantaged youth in Cambodia, covering numerous areas such as automotive repair, hotel management, graphic design, and much more (see below).

Here is a map of Cambodia to get you oriented as to where Sihanoukville is located:

Acceptance into the Don Bosco program is rather competitive, because the record of job placement for Don Bosco graduates is outstanding. For the entering class of October 2009, there were over 700 applicants for only 177 positions (a 25% acceptance rate). 9 CCH youth applied, and 8 were accepted (almost 90% !!). A very good showing which speaks well for these CCH youth who gained admittance.

To give you a sense of the facilities, here is one of the newer buildings at the training school campus:

A succinct explanation from the Don Bosco website http://www.donboscokhmer.org/ explains the essense of the program. The Sihanoukville program also has a website, as follows: http://www.donboscosihanoukville.org/

Eight of these Young Men from CCH are now at Don Bosco

Yes, it is all young men. This is not because Don Bosco is only for boys. It has to do with the particular demographics of CCH. Although the orphanage has an equal number of boys and girls, there tend to be more older boys at present, and the older girls are generally more interested in academic track education than vocational training.

One of the main costs associated with this program is housing, because Don Bosco has limited space for on-campus residence. Therefore, De Stortkinderen VZW of Belgium is undertaking to handle this challenge---short term by renting a house, and long term by having CCH own land and build a residential facilty for CCH Don Bosco students. For more information, or to offer help to De Stortkinderen VZW in their fund raising efforts, visit their website at http://www.stortkinderen.be

CCH Youth House

The CCH Youth House, which is just completing ground floor construction, will house CCH youth up to age 23 who are living in the Phnom Penh area. These youth may be enrolled in local vocational training programs, already have gainful employment, or be pursuing higher education at a Cambodian university.

The spirit of the Youth House Program will be to help all CCH Youth to transition as easily and successfully as possible into adult life. They will provide a family and support network for one another, will have access to a social life through CCH staff and children, will receive life skills training and advice, and in general, will not just be thrown out into the "deep end" of adult life, but will receive support to gradually grow in maturity and adult levels of responsibility.

Canodia Fund of Canada is a primary fund raiser fot this particular project. More information may be obtained at the Canodia website here:

http://canodia.com/

Youth House Ground Floor Nearing Completion