Ratanak

Age: 21
From: Battambang, Cambodia

I came to Palm Tree Foundation because my parents died when I was eight years old. They died of malaria. After they both died I lived with my grandmother. After three years, she died too. I saw a truck and it was driving slowly, so I jumped on and sit on top to ride to Phnom Penh. When I lived in Phnom Penh, I was so small and I lived in the street and I was a beggar. After two years on the street, I came to study at Palm Tree Foundation. It is my second home and also my second family too.

In October of 2009 Ben Justus from EGBOK Mission came from the USA to teach us about hospitality. I learned a lot with him. We toured many restaurants and hotels. My first tour was The Quay hotel in Phnom Penh. I also learned about room design, which was my favorite. But I was not very good at cooking class. We also toured the La Résidence d’Angkor in Siem Reap. I really like to study hospitality, because I like to communicate with foreigner. In the future, I want to be a manager of a big hotel or a big restaurant. But first I have to be a waiter. My favorite hotel that I visited with my hospitality class was the Raffles Hotel in Phnom Penh. It is 5-star hotel and it is very fancy. My favorite speaker was Jay Cohen. He is a lawyer. He told me about the law in Cambodia and other country too. It is very interesting that he said the law is very important to run a hotel.

I am very happy if I can go to Sala Bai Hotel School and to be a waiter because then I can reach my dream. It is important to teach hospitality because it can help the students to have a good job and help support their family. It can also help the students get to visit another country, which is a good experience.