by Dwight | Dec 1, 2017 | Donor Updates, Inspiration
As Courageous Kitchen turns two years old, we want to wish old friends and supports well as we say a final goodbye to the In Search of Sanuk website. When we registered Courageous Kitchen Inc. in late 2015 as a 501c3, we ceased to operate under the ‘sanuk’ moniker. However there may be still many volunteers who joined our activities such as teaching in poor communities in Bangkok, or supporters who joined our early rooftop parties and Big Bite food festivals that lost contact with us. We’re grateful to all of you for helping us reach this point. We hope if you’re reading this message you’ll have a chance to catch up with us and see all the great work we’re continuing to do in Bangkok!
by Dwight | Nov 17, 2017 | Donor Updates
Check out the photos from a recent class where Courageous Kitchen welcomed our largest group yet!
We were contacted by the Deakin University faculty for the Food and Nutrition Sciences Department. The teachers were organizing a study tour to Thailand and looking for a special cooking class for thirty people. Although we don’t normally host large cooking classes, the group was really open to learning more about the community we’re supporting.
So instead of our usual cooking class setting the Deakin students arrived in the community we’re helping in Bangkok, ready to get messy cooking with our students. We divided the young adults from Australia into 5 groups, pairing each of them with one or two youth from the community. The youth led each group in making several recipes such a tom kha soup, pad thai with shrimp, and even a handmade sticky rice dumpling dessert!
Big thanks to the Deakin University students and faculty for being so willing and flexible for our first large group cooking class. Not only was this a great experience for our community, but the faculty from the university committed early to helping us buy better equipment for our ongoing classes. We’re more than grateful and hope to welcome more groups for similar experiences in the future!
by Dwight | Sep 27, 2017 | Donor Updates, Inspiration
We’re happy to share some photos with you from a recent Courageous Kitchen activity. A few of our students were invited to setup a fruit smoothie bar in the Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) headquarters in downtown Bangkok. The students woke up early and traveled more than an hour to get to the hotel. There the staff welcomed us into their office, where they planned to have a special lunch to kickoff the IHG Foundation Week, which aims to promote charities in the region and get their staff around the world thinking about giving back.
For our students, many of whom have never eaten in a restaurant or stayed in a hotel, this was a special experience. The staff welcomed them with new t-shirts, notebooks, and a quick briefing on the day’s plans. They were tasked with setting up a smoothie bar in the office’s break room area overlooking Bangkok. They quickly organized themselves into two stations, with specific tasks like collecting money, running the blenders, or asking their “customers” which fruit they preferred to have in their drinks.
The smoothie bar was a fun challenge for the students and since everyone who had a smoothie gave a small donation, they also raised some funds too. However, that wasn’t all IHG had planned for them. Led by two of the staff, Ben and Elena, the students then filed in to travel back to the hotel lobby where someone special was waiting. When the group exited the elevators into the grand lobby, they were met by Executive Chef Rolando. Chef Rolando is in charge of all of the kitchen for both the Intercontinental Hotel and next door sister hotel, Holiday Inn.
After a quick introduction, we followed the chef first into the room service area of the kitchen. The look behind the scenes wowed the students and the size of the production was massive. From room service we entered another area responsible for catering for up to 1000 or more guests at one time. To put this in context, Chef Rolando walked the students into one of the behemoth banquet rooms and talked about the giant numbers of staff and things we take for granted like eggs that the hotel uses in one day.
From the chocolate statues in the buffet line, to breathtaking views on the 37th floor, and the exclusive areas of their fine dining restaurants, the students loved their kitchen tour. In the end we visited about 5 kitchens, looking both in the dining area and behind the scenes. The experience was enthralling for our students and we believed will help them to imagine a grand future for themselves in the kitchen or doing food related services.
Thank you to everyone who supports us, allowing us to do inspirational activities like this one. A special thank you to Ben, Elena, and Bangkok’s IHG office.
If you’re new to Courageous Kitchen, you can help by giving a small monthly donation so we can continue to serve youth in Bangkok and give them them skills and inspiration to last a lifetime!
All photos courtesy of volunteer photographer Kelly Miller.
by Dwight | Aug 7, 2017 | Donor Updates
The travel company Airbnb recently launched a new program called ‘Airbnb Experiences‘ which allows guests in cities around the world to find unique activities. We’re proud to announce that not only is Bangkok one of the initial launch cities, but Courageous Kitchen is now a featured experience on their website and travel app!
We initially launched our cooking class about 8 months ago and since then we’ve hosted nearly 100 curious guests for market walks and Thai cooking tips. The feedback each of you has given has helped us develop the experience, and we hope the Airbnb platform will offer us a chance to give our classes more regularly.
Furthermore, Airbnb often highlights experiences offered by registered nonprofits. There will be a special ribbon icon to make each organization recognizable, and Airbnb will not take any commission fees. This means your entire booking will go directly toward helping us! The funds the classes generate are important for building a more sustainable charity, which we hope will be serving up fun and nutrition to people for many years to come.
Let your fellow travelers know to look for us on Airbnb and that taking a Thai cooking class will help us bolster our mission to feed and educate more people in need!
by Dwight | Jul 27, 2017 | Donor Updates, Inspiration, Uncategorized
“I’ve met so many who have lost so much. But they never lose their dreams for their children or their desire to better our world. They ask for little in return – only our support in their time of greatest need” — UN Secretary-General, António Guterres
On June 17th we celebrated World Refugee Day with 100 of our closest friends and neighbors. Our awesome volunteers joined forces and with their efforts, we were able to provide an entire afternoon of health and wellness for the community. We had an art and craft station, a gardening workshop, a make shift salon, and a fitness session led by a volunteer Crossfit Trainer.
Did you know nearly half of all refugees in 2017 are children?
With the support of another Bangkok based organization, Jesuit Refugee Services, we were able to feed everyone some of our CK favorites: Green Curry, papaya salad, fish, fruit, and all the trimmings. The kids gobbled it up faster than we could plate!
This momentous occasion marked a special one for our families, as we’re typically caught up in the hustle and bustle of the kitchen. When we’re not cooking, we’re teaching English, or visiting a family in need. For Refugee Day we were able to rest our woks and enjoy celebrating the beauty and diversity that makes up Courageous Kitchen, while honoring those that make up this world.
Written by Christy Innouvong and Photos by Dew Napattaloong
