Australia’s Ambassador to Nepal, Felicity Volk, and winner of BBC Master Chef: The Professionals Rematch 2021, Chef Santosh Shah, awarded graduation certificates to participants of commercial cooking training organised by the Didi Foundation Nepal.

The Australian Embassy supported Didi Foundation to establish its cooking training centre and deliver a 390-hour course in commercial cooking, based on the curriculum of the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT). Fifteen women from disadvantaged communities comprised the first cohort of students.

In his keynote presentation, Chef Shah, whose story has recently been added to Nepal’s Grade 10 curriculum for English, spoke about his personal journey to become a world-renowned chef. He told the graduates that each person is unique and must find their own path, understand their personal strengths, focus on their personal goals and live with values and self-discipline. “Every person is different, so we must understand ourselves well and master the skills that make us happy,” he said.

Ambassador Volk congratulated the trainees and thanked the Didi Foundation for organising the inaugural training program, which is promoting employment, livelihoods and entrepreneurial ventures for women from all communities.