Say hello to our fantastic 10th graduating class !

Say hello to our fantastic 10th graduating class !

by | 10 Apr 2024 | Agroecology training, General education, Sustainable agriculture and environment, Vocational training

At the beginning of February, we had the pleasure of welcoming the Class of 2024, a total of 20 students to our Pastry School.

As they do every year, they received a bicycle, their T-shirt and trouser ensemble, a hygiene kit renewed monthly and financial compensation to meet their daily needs.

Every day, they receive 1 breakfast, 1 lunch and 1 dinner in our canteen. Their dormitory has been recently renovated to provide them with a larger, more comfortable toilet space.

orientation event bayon school
pastry school orientation

Their year is divided into three distinct phases:

Firstly, the initial term is devoted to learning English, the necessary personal and professional skills and IT, in line with the national educational program.

From April 1, our students begin their practical and theoretical courses as part of their pastry training.

Finally, starting in September, they will be introduced to the professional world through a four-month internship, which can be carried out in hotels and restaurants in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. To support them in this enriching experience, our teacher and social adviser, Tak, guides them in their search for internships, organizing visits to establishments.

In addition to their training, our students take part in fun and creative activities every Friday afternoon, enabling them to explore new professional and personal horizons.

The students also volunteer to take part in occasional coffee shop events. Recently, they went to the Marché de la Francophonie in the heart of Siem Reap to represent their school, offer our delicious pastries and welcome visitors.

We look forward to watching our students flourish throughout the year, and to supporting them on their journey to pastry excellence !

 

Discover our young talents from the class of 2024 !

Discover our young talents from the class of 2024 !

by | 10 Apr 2024 | Agroecology training, General education, Sustainable agriculture and environment, Vocational training

We’re delighted to introduce you to the young talents who joined our agroecology program last February. For the third year running, we have welcomed a dynamic group of 20 students, most of them women, ready to dive into the world of agroecology.

Throughout the school year, our students will acquire essential theoretical and practical skills in the field of agroecology. In addition to teaching specific techniques, they will take courses in English, IT, professional and personal skills, as well as food processing, in line with the national curriculum.

Tang Meanrith and bayon school
orientation event bayon school
pastry school orientation

Practical classes punctuate their week, but that’s not all! Every week, our students take part in cultural workshops such as locust breeding, mushroom cultivation and composting, enriching their practical experience.

At Bayon School, we firmly believe in learning in the field, because that’s where real expertise is built. This month, our future agroecology experts had the opportunity to meet six families who grow fruit and vegetables for the elementary school canteen. They were also given the opportunity to choose a project to develop on the farm, a project they will carry out throughout the year. To accompany them in this adventure, they will benefit from training sessions every Saturday, in groups of four, enriching their knowledge and practice.

We look forward to seeing our students grow and flourish in the exciting field of agroecology, and are proud to support them in their academic and professional journey in collaboration with PSE.

A Meilleur Ouvrier de France at the Bayon pastry school

A Meilleur Ouvrier de France at the Bayon pastry school

by | 5 Jan 2023 | Bakery and pastry school, Coffee Shop, Vocational training

During the month of December, we were once again lucky enough to welcome Fabrice Prochasson, Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 1996, for a week at our pastry school.

Prochasson et équipe Bayon

In 1982, encouraged by his mother, Fabrice Prochasson discovered the world of gastronomy, which he never left. He first worked at Lenôtre as head of Research and Development from 1999 to 2002. He realized several prestigious events such as the inauguration the tunnel under the Manche in 1992, the 1998 and 2006 soccer world cups and the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games.    

In 1996, he became Meilleur Ouvrier de France in the cooking category and was the official coach of the French winner of the Bocuse d’Or in 2013, Thibaut Ruggeri.

In 2016, he joined the Aryzta Group as creative and innovation manager for the group’s brands including Coup de pates®. For more than 50 years, Coup de pates® has been serving the entire catering industry with finished and semi-finished frozen products, combining innovation and tradition. Coup de pates and Chef Fabrice Prochasson have supported the Bayon Pastry School since 2018.

Last December, the chef came to visit us for a week to cook with our students. This is not Mr. Prochasson’s first time to help the Bayon. Indeed, he already came once to Siem Reap in March 2019 to delight us during the Charity Gala.

Throughout the week, our students had the chance to cook with him to prepare the event “The Bayon Gathering Night”. The goal of this evening was to bring together again friends of the Bayon in Cambodia. For this occasion, we prepared a buffet worthy of the name. Foccacia, shrimp skewers, tempura, leek quiche, coffee marinated salmon, macarons, millefeuilles… our guests enjoyed the food, and our students had a great time cooking with the chef.

Invités et buffet - Bayon Gathering Night
Etudiante en préparation - Bayon Gathering Night
Buffet - Bayon Gathering Night

We are especially proud to have been able to bring all these beautiful people together in this lovely place called Endora. And we are proud of our students and colleagues for the delicious food. We thank them for their commitment and motivation throughout the week. To congratulate them, we also organized a graduation ceremony in the presence of the chef so that the students will keep a very good memory of this week.

We also thank Chef Fabrice Prochasson for his kindness, his sharing of knowledge and his benevolence with our students.

Our projects do not stop there, we have great prospects for the year 2023 with Coup de pates and the Chef Fabrice Prochasson whom we thank greatly for their support.

Culinary immersion in France: between discovery and training

Culinary immersion in France: between discovery and training

by | 5 Jan 2023 | Bakery and pastry school, Vocational training

From November 6 to 16, Sokly, pastry teacher, and Chomrong, English teacher at the Bayon pastry school, had the opportunity to spend a few days in Paris.

This trip organized by Apprentis d’Auteuil and bringing together the different members of the ASSET – H&C program allowed them to follow a training course on pedagogy.

After a long flight, Sokly and Chomrong finally landed in Paris and took the train to Château des Vaux, in Eure-et-Loir, where a week of classes and workshops of all kinds awaited them.

During these few days of training, our teachers were able to attend different classes with the students trained at Apprentis d’Auteuil. In particular, they were able to participate in different cooking classes focused on the themes of “catering”, “pastry” and “bakery” where they learned to cook a blanquette de veau, a Parisian flan, baguettes and many others. These cooking classes also allowed our pastry teacher, Sokly, to discover many new equipment and ingredients. These discoveries can be a source of renewal in our kitchen in Cambodia.

After these few days of training, our teachers returned to Paris for the end of their stay. They enjoyed a boat ride on the Seine, a visit to the Eiffel Tower and a delicious French meal with the members of the Bayon Association present in France.

Atelier avec Chomrong
Sokly, Chomrong, Dubrule team à la Tour Eiffel
Sokly en cuisine

What did you learn during this week of training?

We learned and discovered many new things such as teaching styles and patterns, new recipes, new equipment and ingredients, how to work and communicate with your team in the kitchen.

What we learned most from this pedagogical training was the importance of soft skills. We teach young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is therefore essential for us to teach them adaptability, communication and teamwork within the professional sphere so that their integration into their future teams goes well. Apprentis d’Auteuil was able to give us the keys to approach these different subjects with the students.

What surprised you the most?

First of all, we were overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. The Château des Vaux is a wonderful place, full of history. We were also impressed by the know-how of the chefs, their professionalism and their warm and friendly welcome in their kitchens. Moreover, the modernity of the kitchens and the equipment gave us a lot of ideas to rethink the layout of our kitchen in Cambodia.

In general, we were also surprised by the road traffic in France and its organization. We will remember that in France, we walk much more than in Cambodia!

What is different about our school?

At Apprentis d’Auteuil, students follow a minimum 2-year training program, whereas at Bayon, the training lasts only 1 year. There are many more students and teachers and the facilities are also more modern and diverse than at our school. Finally, students who wish to follow a training program at Apprentis d’Auteuil have to pay tuition fees that vary according to their family’s standard of living.

After these few days of training, what changes would you like to make to your program?

After attending these different courses and visiting such beautiful kitchens, we would like to add lessons on the different tools and technologies used in the kitchen so that our students have a broader knowledge of the different appliances used. As a pastry teacher, I would also like to expand the learning of French recipes so that the students have a greater knowledge of French cuisine and also expand the Coffee Shop menu with more varied dishes.

It would also be interesting to have exchanges between students and teachers of the two training courses to better understand the culture of the other country, the history of pastry, the know-how and the way of teaching.

What would you like to say to Apprentis D’Auteuil?

We would like to thank Apprentis d’Auteuil for organizing this exchange program with ASSET H&C members. This trip gave us the opportunity to gain a lot of knowledge in the field of pedagogy and we are determined to apply it to our students in the future. We would also like to thank Pauline, Jeanne, Nicolas and all the teachers and staff of the school for their warm welcome in their training center.

The association les Enfants d’Angkor Wat: What is its mission ?

The association les Enfants d’Angkor Wat: What is its mission ?

by | 21 Mar 2022 | Agroecology training, Bakery and pastry school, General education, Primary school, Secondary school support, Social and families support, Vocational training

Created in 2012 by Dominique Roussel, the association Les Enfants d’Angkor Wat supports Bayon Education & Development in Cambodia, allowing our organization and our local teams to develop several projects, mainly related to the issue of general education. Dominique explains to us what his mission is and the reasons for his commitment.

What is “Les Enfants d’Angkor Wat” ?

“Les Enfants d’Angkor Wat” is is a non-profit association (Law 1901), whose purpose is, thanks to its donors, to help the education, in the broadest sense of the term, of the poorest Cambodian children.

We are involved in the fields of education, health and professional training.

Our goal is to help these children, in often difficult family contexts, to gain permanent access to school, to build their future and to acquire the values that will be the foundation of their lives.

What are the guidelines of your comitment ?

Our actions are guided by 3 principles:

– School is a place of development …

Beyond the classical intellectual and cultural learning, we want school to be a place where the child discovers what he/she has the “possibility to be” … and not the “obligation to be” that the family misery can impose on him/her. They discover their rights and duties but also explore their own potential in order to make informed choices for their future.

– Health remains a major concern

Even if things are improving with time, health is an area where there is still work to be done. Nutrition remains precarious for many children and when it is chronically insufficient or unbalanced, it generates various pathologies affecting the child’s growth. In addition, diseases not detected at birth are sometimes identified later. We facilitate access to health care and provide financial support because health is still a luxury for the poorest.

– The future employability of children is a priority investment

Building the future of these children is our purpose.

In our projects we invest in key fields that are and will be discriminating in their future employment searches. Thus, computer science, English and ecology are major issues in the education of children, as they are omnipresent in daily life and are used as selection criteria in recruitments. So many training courses to which poverty would not give them access.

What need have you identified in Cambodia ?

We must not forget, in Asia, the power that parents have over their children throughout their lives. I think we need to communicate with them more and more, to explain what we do, the values that drive us and that we talk about to the students…

Otherwise, there is a great risk that two universes will operate in parallel, the family and the school, and that one will not be the relay for the other…

Thus, we have to be very inclusive with the parents: share the pedagogical project and involve them in the follow-up as much as they can, so that the school is not only a place where they don’t have to feed the children or look after them while they work. Cambodian social workers and volunteers are doing an extraordinary job in this sense. It is necessary to continue and to amplify this work in order to avoid further school dropouts because the child remains too often an adjustment variable of the family economy.

What projects are you investing in ?

Each age has its own specific needs, so we have decided to create and implement projects for each age group, from early childhood to professional training.

With Bayon Education & Development, a Cambodian NGO, with whom we have signed a partnership and who follows these projects locally, we run a kindergarten class for underprivileged children in the Angkor temple region, we invest in computer and English classes as well as dental care for primary school students. We have also created a hostel for young girls in middle and high school in the north of the country to prevent them from dropping out of school and we support various vocational training programs in the hotel industry, agro-ecology and pastry-making.

Sponsoring the Bayon School – Why?

Sponsoring the Bayon School – Why?

by | 21 Dec 2021 | Agroecology training, Bakery and pastry school, General education, Health, hygiene and food, Primary school, Secondary school support, Social and families support, Sustainable agriculture and environment, Vocational training

The Bayon school welcomed its first pupils in the primary school almost 20 years ago in 1993 and over the years, our association has grown and diversified. A program to accompany students in secondary school, a pastry and bakery school, training in agro-ecology, development of income-generating activities for the families of the students… all of this has been made possible thanks to the precious support of a group of people: our godfathers, godmothers and sponsors.

They started out as a small group of about twenty;  now they form a community of more than 450. The Bayon School is a big family, in which each person plays a role: from the volunteers, to Thorth, our executive director, to the occasional donor. The sponsors play a central role in this wonderful picture because they not only bring our projects to life, but also support them in the long term. Accountants, artists, school teachers, from Paris to the small villages of the Vaucluse, London or Singapore, so many different profiles that constitute the primary strength of our projects.

Our gratitude is immense and thanking these men and women is a priority for us. Our regular exchanges with them allow us to maintain strong links over the years. An updated presentation of our projects every other month, a newsletter which discusses fundamental issues every quarter, a direct link with news from the field on social networks and through direct exchange with our communication manager… We do everything possible to place them at the heart of our projects. Authenticity and sincerity are the key words of this relationship which allows us to provide quality education to children living within the Angkor temples.

By sponsoring the Bayon School, they have decided to support this quality education, entirely free of charge for more than 450 young people, taking care of all the basic needs which are necessary to the proper development of children/students. While a quality education is essential to progress in life, it is at least as important to foster personal development through recreational, cultural and sports activities.  This is why we have integrated various activities into the school curriculum, from physical activity to cultural and artistic awareness.

You too can take part in this magnificent web of human links (participation from 13€ per month). All the information about sponsorship and other ways of support on our website: https://ecoledubayon.opte.io/nous-soutenir/