CRI听力: Shanghai's Five Star Social Service

Many of the presidents and dignitaries visiting the Shanghai Expo will be staying at some of the city's most exclusive hotels. However, what they may not realize is that the products they consume in these establishments are likely to have been made by some of society's most disadvantaged youths. This is thanks to one Shanghai-based charity that aims to equip orphans with the skills to work in some of the country's most prestigious kitchens.

CRI's Dominic Swire has more.

Give a man a baguette and he may have a pleasant lunch -- teach him how to bake French bread and he could have a job for life. At least that is the philosophy of the Shanghai Young Bakers, a charity based in China's financial hub that is focused on giving disadvantaged youngsters the skills to find work in the catering industry.

The organisation works mostly with orphans who receive training from experts on how to bake French bread and pastry. They are then able to gain work experience from a placement in a real kitchen -- usually that of a five-star hotel.

Eighteen year old Dong Tian Tian is from Henan Province. Both her parents have been diagnosed with AIDS. She has been working with the organization for over a year and is currently helping out in the kitchen of the Hilton hotel in Shanghai.

"When I first came here I didn't realize what bread was. I thought making it simply involved mixing flour and water. But after over one year of studying at Shanghai Young Bakers I realized there's much more to it than this. My hope for the future is to keep working in the baking industry and possibly run my own bakery."

Bertrand Ducauroy is Executive Pastry Chef at the Hilton Shanghai, which houses five restaurants and seven kitchens. He says he is very impressed with the level of training offered by the charity.

"The Young Bakers learn with a very good French teacher. It's better because they learn just with the French and they know exactly what French bread is and French recipes and how the French think about the bakery."

Celine Le Cotonnec is a Programme Coordinator at the charity. She explains how the training also enables students to acquire some basic life skills.

"When they arrive in Shanghai Young Bakers they are not really self confident. A lot of them have lost confidence in life and the future. We give them hope and love and try to build strong spirit of solidarity within the class."

Shanghai Young Bakers plans to send some of its best students to a bakery in France for further training. The hope is that these lucky few will return to work as trainers on the programme and continue the work to produce delicious food and contribute towards helping some of society's most needy.

For CRI, I'm Dominic Swire.