How a postcard changed everything

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The Nugget
November 28, 2025

★ A chance to give back: The story behind Nem Viet ★

Amy & Shelley with Nem Viet’s incredible Hoàng T Huệ

MainFM's Marty Sharples was paying his bill at Nem Viet when someone behind the counter called out “Mark??“

“It’s Marty” he laughed and that tiny moment cracked open a whole shared history.

The woman was Hoàng T Huệ (Em Huệ), co-owner of Nem Viet. Twenty years earlier, she’d been one of the very first graduates of KOTO (Know one, Teach one), the Hanoi social enterprise created to help disadvantaged youth through hands-on training in hospitality.

Marty used to bring tour groups there when he worked as an Intrepid guide. He and his mate Adam even rode their bikes from Huệ to Ho Chi Minh to raise money for KOTO back in the day, and made a film about it. And here she was, in Castlemaine, running one of our town’s fave restaurants.

This Sunday, the two of them are teaming up to raise funds for KOTO’s new Forever Home project - a purpose-built training and community hub in Hanoi. From 3.00 PM - 6.00 PM at Castlemaine Town Hall, expect spring rolls, rice paper rolls and banh mi, local wines, live music, Marty and Adam’s film, cyclo rides and a cracking auction. KOTO Founder Jimmy Pham will be there, along with 10 KOTO leaders and graduates, sharing the stories that changed their lives.

One of these stories is Em Huệ’s and it undid me.

She was raised by farming parents who worked long hours. Her father suffered a severe skin condition caused by exposure to Agent Orange in Cambodia, and with no government support, her mother shouldered the cost of his treatment. At age 13, after hearing her mother crying under the pressure, Em Huệ decided to leave home for Hanoi so there’d be one less mouth to feed.

She washed dishes at a pho stand, then sold postcards on the street. Most kids followed tourists for kilometres to make a sale, but Em Huệ’s pride wouldn’t let her hound anyone.

Instead, she came up with her own strategy. She would start earlier and work later when there were fewer street kids to compete with. Slowly, the postcards sold. She sent tiny amounts of money home, but it mattered.

One day, she asked a tourist ‘Would you like to buy my postcard?" but the woman said “no”, so Em Huệ walked away. Ten seconds later, the woman called out, and taking out the $20,000 Vietnamese Dong (the equivalent of AUD $1.20) said “Actually, I would like to buy your postcard.”

The next day that same woman turned up with a Vietnamese man “translating” very badly. They invited Em Huệ for a drink and said they wanted to help her become a chef or a professional waiter. After years living among street-life dangers — drugs, prostitution, kidnapping, trafficking — she didn’t believe them.

They told her to come by their restaurant first, to see for herself. She said to herself she’d only go in if she saw tourists inside. She did.

The woman was Tracey Lister. The man was Jimmy Pham. Together, they started KOTO — and they changed everything for her.

She trained as a waiter and moved up to work as a KOTO supervisor and operations manager. After seven years, she finally asked Tracey why she chose her, out of all the street kids in Hanoi. Tracey told her it was because she hadn’t harassed, begged and followed her like the other street kids. Em Huệ just didn't operate that way. And at just 36kg, Tracey didn’t think Em Huệ would survive the street much longer.

Then fate stepped in again. A scholarship to Box Hill TAFE. Then La Trobe in Bendigo. And eventually, she opened four Nem Viet restaurants in Bendigo and Castlemaine.

When I asked why she chose Castlemaine, she said, “I just fell in love with the culture here — the vibe, the people. It’s relaxed, but vibrant.

"When we opened, people said, ‘We’re so grateful you’re here - we used to drive all the way to Bendigo.’ We just loved that. Thank you for having us and giving us so much support and love.”

Em Huệ has maintained her connection to KOTO, sponsoring and employing a number of graduates who work at her Castlemaine and Bendigo restaurants.

"It's like a family," she says.

This Sunday's fundraiser at the Castlemaine Town Hall is a full-circle moment, with Em Huệ and Marty working together to help build KOTO's next chapter, a training centre that will lift up generations of young people. 

And for the rest of us, it’s an opportunity to be part of that work and really see community in action.

See you there!

❀ Party, party, party ❀

Fun gig alert. Giddy Up is on at the Theatre Royal courtyard tomozza. And Luqman has cooked up a gorgeous two-stage party at Lot 19. It will be the place to be on 13 Dec.

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