Just a few short months back, I didn't know what the 3 letters NGO even stood for. Non Government Organization and there are many of them have now become a part of our lives and of the lives of many people that we have encountered in our travels.
In Phnom Penh there are many people trying to help this country rebuild and we encountered 2 of those in Phnom Penh. One was a restaurant called "Friends" where we ate dinner all three nights we were there. This is a place that takes street kids and teaches them the hospitality end of the restaurant business as well as how to be a chef if they'd like. They go through 2 phases of training off site and then the 3rd and final phase is actually working in the restaurant. It gives them a chance to improve their English also, the key to success in a country where tourism is becoming a vital part of the economy.
At Friends, there are lots of servers, but if you look closely at their shirts, some have Teacher on the back, and some Student. There was also the opportunity to buy a brick to help them buy the property the restaurant sat on and the cookbook. We did both, although I'm not sure I'll be cooking up too many fried tarantulas - one of the many recipes in the book. The food was some of the best we've had anywhere on our journey, ravioli, greek salad, roasted red pepper hummous, hawaiian pork meatballs and lemon meringue pie to name a few!!
Holly
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