General Information

Site Name

Anre Maisen Hospitality Training Center
Ideal Period of Service

1 year

Accepts Men/Women

Male

Location

Ho Chi Minh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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Site's Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of Anre Maisen Hospitality Training Center is to give the poor and disadvantaged youth (ages 18-22) of Vietnam opportunities to better their lives. We do this by teaching and training our students jobs in the hospitality field (currently: restaurant servers, chefs, and bakers). By using the German Dual System of training, our students not only learn the technical aspects of the job, but also the practical aspects. As mentioned, we follow the German Dual System, so by the end of our three-year training program, our students would have earned a German Degree backed by the German Delegate Industry and Commerce of Vietnam (AHK).

The target group of students that Anre Maisen Hospitality Training Center teaches and trains is the disadvantaged youth of Vietnam, which includes:
•the poor (proven by a government document and/or referred to by religious leaders, like a parish priest) or
•youth with moderate disability (e.g. agent orange/dioxin affected) or
•youth coming from a difficult family situation (alcoholism, divorce, prison) or
•orphans (full or half) or
•students looking to avoid forced marriage of underage girls (minors) from poor families

Ministry Opportunities

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Ministry Background

Maisen Hospitality Training Centre (Mai Sen) was built-up by Mr. Francis Van Hoi, motivated by his personal relation to Salesians and Don Bosco, where he received his education. He wants to give back, what he received from the Salesians. Therefore as a volunteer he came back from Germany to Vietnam to help poor and disadvantaged youth find a living by offering hospitality training. Being an experienced and certified Master Cook (IHK Munich, Germany) he has broad expertise in this field. He is convinced about the advantages of the German dual vocational training system, which is a mix of enterprise based and complementary center based learning. Therefore Mr. Francis has introduced the dual training approach in the hospitality industry of Vietnam. In 2017, Mr. Francis decided to transfer the school to the care of the Salesians, who are currently running the school.

The center is named after the name of Fr. An Re Mai Sen, who was the first Salesian Missionary coming to Vietnam in 1952 (Hanoi) and 1954 to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). He worked in Vietnam until 1976, when he was forced to leave the country. He died 1999.

The German catholic donor agency MISEREOR and the German’s dentist NGO “Hilfswerk Deutscher Zahnärzte” show high interest and support financially the start-up of Mai Sen Hospitality Training Centre.

Programs, Activities, Other Projects

Currently we are planning to organize a once a month weekend social activity for the first year students. We are also currently planning once a week English Speaking Club activities for our fist year students. Once a week, we allow our students to go to Ben Cat Community (the nearby community) to play sports. Since the main ministry is focused on the training center and our students, the majority of all activities will be at the training center.

Other possible activities outside of the school will mainly be at Ben Cat Community, where the SLM will be living. SLMs will be teaching basic English to aspirants and university students in Ben Cat Community. As part of the Ben Cat community, SLMs will also be expected to participate in community activities. Depending on the demand, SLMs at Anre Maisen Hospitality Training Center may also be helping with various activities (like animating or teaching English) in other Salesian communities in Vietnam.

Area Information

Located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City (the largest city in Vietnam) the site of Anre Maisen Hospitality Training Center is the epitome of an urban campus with two campuses near the city center that requires travel between the two. One of our locations is a bistro where our first year students work; the other location is a class room campus with a kitchen lab. The training center is located in a wealthy area of the city so that our students who come from poor backgrounds can gain experience and be exposed to working in high-end hotels or restaurants in the future.

The missioner will not be working with the locals from the surrounding area of the campuses, but rather our students, who are poor and disadvantaged youth that come from all over Vietnam. Unfortunately, because the campuses are located near the city center and are quite small, the training center does not have an oratory to play sports or games. The primary needs of our students is education in the hospitality field as well as learning English, which many of our students will need to use when they start working in high-end hotels and restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City.

Special Challenges/Conditions

No

Major Duties

The major duties that must be performed in the ministry is mainly teaching English. If possible, the missioner could also teach vocational hospitality English, however, it is not so important. The missioner will teach basic conversational English, as well as teaching basic restaurant and kitchen vocabulary, and overseeing, tutoring, and helping out our students during their personal study period, where the students will be doing their homework or studying to improve their English skills.

In terms of hours, the days are quite long, where the missioner will leave his home in Ben Cat community at 7:30am and return at about 9:30pm. Despite the long hours at the school, the SLM will teach about 4 hours a day (on average) and oversee personal study 2 hours a day (on average). The SLM will be at the school 6 days a week, where the SLM will have Sunday mornings and all day Mondays off. The total number of hours working on average will be 35 hours a week.

Practical Qualifications/Skills Needed

There is really no qualifications or skills needed to perform well in the ministry. Although not necessary, ideally it would very helpful if we got somebody who has hospitality experience working in a hotel, restaurant, kitchen or bakery. Having hospitality work or study experience is not necessary, but would certainly be very useful for our ministry. We would also ideally like someone who can teach English to our students.

Helpful Academic Preparation

There are no areas of particular academic preparation or educational certification necessary. It would certainly very helpful if the SLM had a degree or educational background in hospitality, culinary arts, and/or ESL (English as a Second Language), but it is definitely not a requirement to work at the training center..

Helpful Experience

Ideally we would like if the missioner has experience as a chef in a restaurant or hotel to teach our students in the kitchen or if he has an experience on hospitality or tourism he can help to teach vocational subjects. We would also ideally like a missioner who has experience in teach or teaching ESL (English as a Second Language).

Helpful Personal Qualities

Patience, outgoing, somebody who knows how to carry himself in the kitchen or in the front-end of the restaurant or hotel. Many of our students have never spoken to or met native English speakers, so the missioner will essentially be their first exposure to the kind of people they will be working with and working for, therefore it is very important the missioner be patient and outgoing with our students.

Accomodations

With religious community:

Yes
If "no", where:

The SLMs will be living in Ben Cat Community, a Salesian community that houses: aspirants, boarding boys, and a community of about 21 Salesians.
Private/Shared room:

Private
Private/Shared bathroom:

Private
Daily Mass/Eucharist

Yes
Launder method:

There are washing machines on every floor of the building in which the volunteer will live in. There is also an ironing station to iron clothes, However, all clothes must be hang or air dried as there is no dryer in the community.
ATM access:

Yes

Involvement with religious community

Involvement in the religious community is very limited since most of the time will be spent at the training center (which is virtually the main focus of the mission). The missioner will maybe teach one class for aspirants and university students in the community and is always welcome to join prayers and masses in the mornings and evenings. However, despite the limited involvement in weekly and daily activities, when there are events, recollections, retreats, trips, festivals, feast days and other big events in the community, the missioner is required to go and partake in these community events, which take priority over the school activities.

Involvement with greater community

The religious community will sometimes host events for the greater community, like festivals, dinners, and parties, in which the missioner is always welcome to attend. However, these events don’t happen very often. The training center will also hold celebration events that the missioner must attend, like: Christmas, New Year, Lunar New Year, Moon Festival, and Graduation, but again, these celebrations don’t happen very often.

Local medical facilities

There is an international hospital very near by the community and an international hospital near the training center. Both hospitals are modern and hospitals with updated equipment and educated doctors who can speak English. The two hospitals cater to foreigners living or visiting Vietnam.

Local diet

Vietnamese diet is generally very healthy with a mix of vegetables, meat and rice or noodles. In the south of Vietnam, the food tends to be a little bit on the sweeter side. The missioner will have breakfast at the community will mainly consist of a noodle soup or rice dish. At the training center for lunch and dinner, the missioner will have rice, soup, and vegetables, with meat being served only for lunch (because meat is too heavy for dinner). The Vietnamese diet is very forgiving and if there are any food allergies, the missioner could be accommodated for as long as they request it. Since Ho Chi Minh City is a big international city, the city does have a lot of foods that foreigners are used to (like fast food and western food).

Other information

Life at your site is very unique in which you live in a community, but are mostly involved in a school/training center. It is a site where you have to travel from campus to campus and maneuver your way around the big city. Unlike most Salesian sites, where the SLM follows a rigid and structured program, at Anre Maisen Hospitality Training Center, the SLM should be more flexible because of the nature of the training center, which is also a restaurant. The training center is also a very unique site, because it is purely run by Salesian Brothers, so it is definitely a great way to be exposed to and learn about a Salesian vocation that is very rarely talked about. With that in mind, the SLM will have more of an understanding of the vocation (who is a Salesian Brother, and what they do).

Contact Information

Community Rector/Director

Br. Dominic Nguyen Duc Nam
E-mail

ducnamsdb@gmail.com
Religious Congregation

SDB
Phone Numbers

+84 122 8635202

Anre Maisen Hospitality Training Center Verified listing

General Information

Accepts Men/Women

Location

Site's Purpose and Objectives

Ministry Opportunities

Print

Ministry Background

Programs, Activities, Other Projects

Area Information

Special Challenges/Conditions

Major Duties

Practical Qualifications/Skills Needed

Helpful Academic Preparation

Helpful Experience

Helpful Personal Qualities

Accomodations

Involvement with religious community

Involvement with greater community

Local medical facilities

Local diet

Other information

Contact Information

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General Information

Accepts Men/Women

Location

Listing Author

Site's Purpose and Objectives

Ministry Opportunities

Print

Ministry Background

Programs, Activities, Other Projects

Area Information

Special Challenges/Conditions

Major Duties

Practical Qualifications/Skills Needed

Helpful Academic Preparation

Helpful Experience

Helpful Personal Qualities

Accomodations

Involvement with religious community

Involvement with greater community

Local medical facilities

Local diet

Other information

Contact Information

Add a review