In a country where one out of every three citizens barely survives on less than a dollar a day – and where forty percent of children are chronically malnourished – Cambodia’s booming tourism business is generating new opportunities for employment and financial independence.

The Salesians in Cambodia are making sure that those less fortunate are able to benefit from the country’s recent tourism growth.

In Sihanoukville, a major city along Cambodia’s award-winning coastline, the Don Bosco Hotel School is training impoverished youth for careers in the tourism and hospitality industry.

“With tourism becoming one of Cambodia’s fastest growing sectors after the war, we saw an opportunity to expand our training programs into new areas,” says Fr. John Visser of Don Bosco Sihanoukville. “Youth are able to learn skills that not only allow them to find jobs here, but also enable them to compete in the global marketplace.”

The Don Bosco Hotel School was built on a vacant lot near the Don Bosco Technical School, the largest vocational school in the area. At the Hotel School, young people learn skills in hotel management, food and beverage administration and general hospitality.

Through Salesian-run technical schools, more than 4,000 Cambodian youth have received degrees in areas such as electricity, electronics, automotive repair, printing, web design, audiovisual editing and production, journalism, social communication, secretarial skills, sewing, and welding.

Now, thanks to the Don Bosco Hotel School and a fast-growing tourism business, Cambodian children can pursue career paths in new industries with great promise for the future.

Your gift can help pay the cost of sending a deserving young person to the Don Bosco Hotel School. To make a donation, please click below. Thank you!