khmer sources

Expansive wicker chairs and perfectly set tables sit out on the patio and cool lemon soda is the order of the day. The scent of fresh homemade bread perfumes the air. Waiters hover unobtrusively, jumping to attention to bring out the freshwater fish carpacchio, dripping in olive oil and fresh coriander, followed by succulent beef loc lac—a Cambodian specialty—and delicate peach pastry tartlets drizzled with vanilla sauce to finish. This may sound like a five-star hotel restaurant, but it is actually a study area where students gain work experience.

The waiters, chefs and bar staff are still in training at Ecole d'Hôtellerie et de Tourisme Paul Dubrule, Siem Reap, one of the most impressively equipped and organized training non-government organizations in the country. The entire set menu, with coffee or tea, is available for a $6 donation and is proving very popular with local expats and tour groups.

The goals of the school are lofty—to create a school which will become renowned in Asia for the quality of its hotel, restaurant and tourism industry training. A school that meets the needs of professionals of those sectors, that will sustain itself financially after set-up, which embraces the Cambodian culture and history in its curriculum and which teaches respect of the environment. Above all, it aims to build the skills of young Cambodians so that they have the capacity to earn up to four times the average monthly wage in the country's booming tourism industry and in this capacity still manages to open its doors to as many underprivileged people as possible through an impressive system of scholarships and sponsorships.

"Students pay $500 dollars per year, which is a donation really, but the actual total cost of the training is more like $3500. What we are trying to do is give the course some value, but still make it affordable enough for people to pay their own way," says Sheila Connolly, the school’s Sales, Orientation and Programs Manager. "We have a lot of scholarship students as well, so we welcome private donations and sponsorship of students."

The range of courses covers most of the tourism and hospitality industry. In gleaming stainless steel kitchens that are possibly of an even higher standard than most of the kitchens graduates will someday work in, budding chefs learn cold food, get experience in a full scale restaurant kitchen, and when the glass door is opened into the bakery area, a sumptuous array of pastries, breads and other baked delicacies flood the senses with their aroma.

For $40 a night, including breakfast, guests can stay in the beautifully appointed rooms at the school and experience the training of housekeeping staff from the facility first hand.
Front office personnel of the future greet guests as they enter the facility's foyer. There is also a Restaurant and Bar program, and the Travel and Tourism Industry Services course is a highly specific employment focused course.

Bernard Creff, the school’s director, has steered this new project for the past two years. "We were welcomed to Siem Reap on a national and provincial level.

I am sure that this school is of great value to the hospitality industry. I am very optimistic for its future contribution and the solid foundation we have built for its development," he says.

The facility is the result of a personal initiative of Paul Dubrule, the co-founder of the Accor group, who put his own money into the scheme to give life to his ideal that everyone has the right to access to training and qualifications. With tourism and hospitality emerging as Cambodia's largest growth sector, especially in Siem Reap, which is home to the magnificent Angkor complex, demand has been great for both places and for the trained graduates.

"We took a lot of students from the school when we were setting up operations here. We have a unique approach to our hotel, and these people come to us trained to a very high level but without any of the ingrained habits or preconceptions that they might have if they have been trained in-house by another hotel," says Director of Sales for the Victoria Angkor Hotel, Takemi Matsui. Her hotel, along with other luxury hotels in Siem Reap, has been very supportive of the school and its goals.

"This is a real NGO success story. We are very proud of the school and what it has achieved, and we have great hopes for it in the future," says Sheila Connolly.