Friday, March 21, 2008

Chefs Battle Human Trafficking



From singers to actors to chefs, it's great to see people from all industries and walks of life using their skills to combat trafficking.


From ABC:

The co-owner and chef of a well-known Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco and his fellow chefs will use their talent and their clout to draw attention to the growing worldwide problem of human trafficking, particularly child trafficking for prostitution. Chef Khai Duong, a father of two, was disturbed by news reports about child sex slaves.


"I have a daughter, eight years old. When I saw the TV, I reflected on my daughter. I say what happened, so we have to do something. That's why I want to do something," says Chef Khai. Chef Khai belongs to the Asian Chefs Association. Their charitable arm called Chefs Without Borders fundraiser, will debut clips from a powerful new movie called "Holly" about child trafficking in Asian countries.


Chefs Without Borders says raising awareness about human trafficking is the first step, but the second step has to be finding a variety of ways to stop it and help those who are already victims. So, Chefs Without Borders will donate the proceeds from their event to a non-profit organization called Give2Asia.

"We work in the area of anti-human trafficking across Asia," says Birger Stamperdahl of Give2Asia. Give2Asia will give that money to established programs already in place in Vietnam, for example, to help the victims recover.

Chefs Without Borders also wants to create a culinary school in Vietnam along the poverty stricken Mekong Delta area, using their own members from the San Francisco area as teachers. "What they want to do is create programs that train people in these rural communities for skills like cooking that will give them a great opportunity in the future to earn a living. I think we're looking at student numbers in the hundreds, and giving them an opportunity to go through a two-year program for example, and come out on the other side with a job lined up," says Stamperdahl.

Chef Khai just returned from Vietnam where he went to find a location for the proposed culinary school. "I pray everyday. So, hopefully we do something right for them. So, we cannot rescue them all, we cannot help them all, at least in our mind, in our hearts, at least we help one at a time. What we can do, we will do," says Chef Khai.

Read the full article and see the video

1 comment:

  1. Amen! Please join us at www.cateringtocombathumantrafficking.com click on chefs and I have you with a Blue Heart against human trafficking. Love You for all your efforst and work against the trafficker. I am working on a project that I would like to include you and others chefs... Venita Benitez email: venita@cateringtocombathumantrafficking.com or chefdc@chefsagainsthumantrafficking.com Blessings...together we can end this evil before a decade.

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