!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> Streamline Training & Documentation: KOTO Hanoi

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

KOTO Hanoi

The same sort of thinking that lay behind the training offered by the now-defunct MiMe's Cafe that I discussed in an earlier post, inspired creation of KOTO Hanoi in 1996.


Jimmy Pham, an Australian of Vietnamese descent, wanted to help street children in Hanoi develop career and life skills that would equip them for stable employment and decent adult lives. His philosophy was "Know One Teach One" (KOTO):
The greatest accomplishment for the person who has helped you, is to see you stand on your own two feet and then in turn help someone else that reminds you of yourself, because if you Know One, then you should Teach One.”
KOTO's two-year training program encompasses instruction and coaching in hospitality industry skills, life skills, and English as a second language. The hospitality curriculum has been adopted from that offered by Box Hill Institute, an Australian vocational school.

The life skills program includes instruction on health issues (e.g., reproduction) and first aid; sports, social, cultural, and creative activities; and community service.

The short (4:20) 2005 BBC video below, introduces you to a KOTO graduate and lets you see some of what the training looks like in person.


For a fuller account of KOTO's history and training program, you can watch this 17:46 video from 2007.

Vivid blog entries by Steve Jackson, an Englishman who worked as a VSO volunteer at KOTO between 2005 and 2007, are here.

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