Cambodia has seen rapid economic improvement in the past decade, with around 16% of Cambodians living in poverty in 2023, less than half the percentage in 2016, around 37%. However, many in rural areas and provincial regions still experience destitute conditions. One Cambodian restaurant in Siem Reap, however, is giving young individuals a chance to escape these conditions, giving them a sustainable career path and a better life.

SPOONS, operating a cafe and restaurant out of Cambodia’s popular tourist city, Siem Reap, serves traditional and fusion Cambodian dishes alongside coffee and pastries. This would be impressive enough, but SPOONS is not only a Cambodian restaurant. Doubling as a locally-run charity training young people in culinary, hospitality and barista skills, SPOONS specifically recruits from disadvantaged communities across Cambodia.

The Program

Students are chosen from a pool of more than 350, spanning 10 different provinces. Last year, the 12-month program took on 75 students, 23 of whom had not even completed high school. Most come from rural towns and villages, with the SPOONS organization completing in-person interviews and home visits, to get to know the candidates and their conditions. After selection, they go from the remote jungles to Siem Reap’s budding restaurant scene in no time, transforming their lives.

Living in dorms only a few kilometers away from the restaurant, the students pick specializations and begin their hands-on experience, working with customers from across Cambodia and the world. Not only do they learn to cook, serve customers or bake, they practice vital English language skills alongside this. Last year, the program had no drop-outs – all 75 students graduated, according to the 2024 SPOONS report.

The Vision

This process furthers the SPOONS vision: to engage with the community and allow these young people a chance to escape their disadvantaged lives and make a living. Giving back to the Cambodian people remains the key focus, however. Originally U.S.-based Everything is Going to be Okay (EGBOK) organization shut down during the pandemic due to multiple difficulties, but current president Mao Sophany saw an opportunity to take the project back to Cambodia and start from scratch.

Beginning with just 10 students, the organization trained them up and began to involve the project with local community organizations. With this grassroots focus, by 2024, SPOONS gave back to Siem Reap by offering short courses in hospitality for hotels and Community-based ecotourism projects. The SPOONS organization is quickly expanding from a simple Cambodian restaurant to an influential community charity.

All 75 students found employment within just two weeks of graduation last year. Soon, SPOONS plans on continuing the main program whilst expanding community outreach alongside this, promoting local products and sustainability through its partnerships with other local and international nonprofits, according to the 2024 report.

The Focus

For many young Cambodians, education transforms their lives. Many, however, sacrifice this education for work or struggle to find proper infrastructure in rural communities. Struggling to provide for their families, young people drop out of high school and begin earning, rather than getting an education. SPOONS recognises this. After 12 months, graduates have a year’s experience in their chosen field and an education to support this career path.

The focus in the coming years is to prioritize these high school drop-outs who left education for work. Sophany affirms that, as a local charity it keeps focusing on “empowering Cambodia’s youth and creating a more inclusive society,” according to the 2024 report.

Even after these students start their careers, the SPOONS alumni network slowly builds. The program fosters a desire to give back, helping the next generation’s poor. 150 alumni pledge $2 a month, generating an additional $3,600 annually, which the charity puts towards supporting current students, according to the 2024 report. Graduates, through these donations, directly support the next generation of SPOONS alumni in their goals, creating a connection across generations. Through just one Cambodian restaurant, hundreds of lives are affected.

The Impact

Rachana, one of last year’s graduates, went from feeling hopeless and lost in her rural province of Banteay Meanchey to working at a five-star luxury hotel on Song Saa Private Island. She hopes “that the next generation will try their best to complete their study and create a better life for themselves,” SPOONS repots.

Many in Cambodia never complete high school or, like Rachana, feel this lack of opportunity to escape poverty after graduation. SPOONS is more than just a Cambodian Restaurant; it gives these young people security from uncertainty, and hope from their poverty.

– Lee Stonehouse

Lee is based in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr