In Vietnam and Cambodia, charity has led to successful restaurants that hire and train young homeless people.
December 20, 2009
By Mike Ives
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Nguyen Duc Canh says he used to stay at Vietnam's only "1,000-star hotel." Translation: He grew up under a bridge. Abandoned by his parents in Hanoi, Canh sold chewing gum to tourists. When he was 8 years old, police officers took him to a government-run social protection center.
"It was a difficult life," Canh recalls. But with no education or support network, what was the alternative? He stayed at the center for 12 years, until a friend told him about KOTO -- Know One, Teach One -- a two-year program that trains former street kids to cook, wait tables and speak English.
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