TEENAGER Adio Robinson is off to Romania next week, part of a local contingent travelling to the European region to work on a housing project for disadvantaged people there.

Years of oppressive rule left Romania with an obsolete and inadequate industrial base which had a huge economic toll on families. Many are without decent shelter, forced to live in houses that are unsanitary and inadequately heated.

According to official statistics, at least 35 per cent of the total housing stock is in a state of complete neglect and in need of urgent repair. The Bermudian teenager will make the journey with a local charity, Bermuda Overseas Missions, which has partnered with Habitat for Humanity to erect a 12-unit family housing complex.

Perhaps most interesting is that the 17 year old wasn't afforded the opportunity because he has a strong construction background or an intimate connection with the Eastern European region.

DIO Robinson has been working as an unpaid apprentice at the Fairmont Southampton Princess since last October. Upon learning that he had been asked to participate in a unique mission ? a construction project for disadvantaged families in Romania ? the hotel offered to pay for the budding chef's trip.

The South Shore resort has donated $3,000, of which $450 will be used to buy the necessary building materials in Romania.

"I have always wanted to study culinary arts in France and become a pastry chef," Adio explained. "I am truly grateful to Fairmont for giving me the opportunity to train with their top chefs and for sponsoring my participation in the Bermuda Overseas Missions programme.

"Being a chef is a life-long dream and I look forward to continuing my apprenticeship until I gain my qualifications."

For several years the Bermuda Institute student has been driven by his ambition to be a chef. His dreams were fuelled partly by the talents he admired on the cable television site Food Network, and partly by his mother's interests.

"I had all these other dreams. I considered being a fireman, a policeman ? so that I didn't have to go to Regiment. And then I decided to become a chef about five years ago. I started with the cooking channel, watching and shows like that.

My mother, Tamika Wade, likes to bake. At first I was just helping her and then she gave me a recipe and let me start doing it on my own."

He was ten years old when he made his first dessert, a peach Alaskan pie.

Aside from improving his home cooking, however, little progress was made in working towards his career goal until Adio travelled to France.

"I just cooked at home and then I went to France. I travelled all over the country, cycling with the Boy Scouts. We would go to different camp sites and I would cook."

Although none had tasted his cooking before the trip, the scouts unanimously shouted Adio's name when asked who among their group of ten should be responsible for food preparation.

"Each morning we were given a quick breakfast and we had a packed lunch," he explained. "I set the menu for the night and then had to shop for the stuff."

Because he did not speak French, visits to the grocery store presented a challenge, he admitted.

"It was hard. Very hard. It was a different language. The names we call (things) weren't the same and then we had to go to different parts of the store in order to look for it. (Fortunately), most of the time I set the menu in the morning and the people driving the car would go for me and I just had to cook."

The cooking was done on "little burners" which were not necessarily the most convenient of tools, the aspiring chef explained.

"We left France and the leader of the scouts (Larry Burchall) was impressed with how I did the cooking. He knew (Herbie Bascome), the head chef at the Fairmont Princess, and asked if he would meet with me. I came for an interview and the next week, I was working here."

Mr. Burchall recalls it, he recommended Adio to Nelda Simons, the hotel's regional director of human resources: "Over a 13-day, 240-kilometre round-trip, in five different French campsites, on single-burner camp stoves with fresh food purchased in French supermarkets, Adio turned out a succession of superb meals for our group.

"Adio seemed to have a natural flair for cooking and so when we returned to Bermuda I contacted Fairmont to see if they might be able to hire Adio as an apprentice. Not only did he display great cooking skills but he also had the personal discipline to help him succeed."

Adio distinctly remembers the warning he received from Mr. Burchall on being hired: "I hope you're ready for the hours!"

The agreement was that the teenager would work Fridays, between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m., and Sundays, from 5.30 a.m. through 3.30 p.m. The stints were in addition to his work in the kitchen at the Bermuda Institute.

"I worked in the kitchen at school, during breakfast and lunch," he said, explaining that he was not yet able to study culinary arts there because the class was only offered to students in higher grades.

"On Fridays I would work in the kitchen at school for lunch, from 11 a.m. until 12.20 p.m., either serving or making burgers. Because it's a Christian school, we would get out early, so after lunch I had two more classes and then went to the hotel to work. Herbie took me under his wing when I first got here and taught me most of the stuff that I know."

hotel's general manager, Norman Mastalir, was enthusiastic about Adio's dedication. "Fairmont Southampton is especially pleased to support this highly-motivated Bermudian teenager," he said.

"Our chefs have been so impressed by Adio's clear sense of discipline, his willingness, ability and determination to learn, his insistence on setting high standards for himself and his own individual performance, that we are delighted to have made Adio a part of our 'brigade'."

For his part, Adio is grateful to have had the experience. In his short period at the hotel he has worked in three restaurants ? Jasmine Lounge, Windows on the Sound and Wickets ? and also in the main kitchen.

"I've learned a lot but one of the best things so far is how to make an omelette and not drop it," he laughed.

"I'm now working in Wickets where I've learned how to make various dressings for salads I've never had in my life. I'm actually a very picky eater and I had to taste things I wouldn't normally have eaten."

The dressing for the restaurant's farmers' salad presented such a challenge. According to the teen, its ingredients ? yoghurt, sour cream, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper ? were not at all appealing to his taste buds.

"Those are things I would never eat in my life," he said. "It's got a taste where it's sweet at first but the after-taste is salty.

"A funny thing happened when I first started. I was working in the cold kitchen. It's where they make salads. They store about 20 different kinds of dressings there and a guy told me to look for the Caesar dressing.

"I couldn't find it. I came out of the (storage area) and he gave me a spoon and told me to taste them all until I find it. I didn't want to taste any but I did, I got to nearly the end ? there was one more left ? and he told me it was the Caesar."

The experience has hardened his resolve to become a pastry chef. After he graduates from high school Adio intends to spend two years at the Bermuda College and then travel to France for a four-year programme which will grant him the designation of pastry chef.

"I more prefer work with cookies and sweets," he explained. "I have a major sweet tooth and, people have told me that I can get girls that way. I just need to make them something chocolate."

Despite his progress in the kitchen, Adio is eagerly awaiting next week's expedition to Romania with four other boy scouts. They will make the trip as part of a larger contingent of 50 travelling from Bermuda.

"The scouts picked five of us that they thought showed promise ? me and Joshua and Caleb Crockwell and Jared and Kyle Martin," he said.

the last four years Bermuda Overseas Mission has constructed homes in the United States, Bolivia and Botswana. The group will work in concert with Habitat for Humanity International, a non-profit, ecumenical Christian organisation "dedicated to eliminating substandard housing and homelessness world wide and to making adequate, affordable shelter a matter of conscience and action".

Since it was founded in 1976, Habitat for Humanity has built or improved more than 200,000 homes in 80 countries for families in need.

"I'm very excited about the trip," said Adio. "It was the first time I had heard of Habitat for Humanity. I was (initially) just asked if I wanted to go to Romania. There was nothing about what was involved. I said, 'Yeah'. My dad (Leroy Robinson) is a landscaper. I know about landscaping but I don't know anything about construction."

With the Princess paying his way, Adio didn't have to worry about fundraising ? however, he participated with the others in the planned events, eager to do his bit. The fundraising was really to help "everybody else", the teen said.

Said David Thompson of Bermuda Overseas Mission: "We too are grateful for Fairmont Southampton's generous sponsorship without which Adio would not be able to participate in this experience.

"Many families in Romania are living in deplorable conditions and we plan to help some of those families build a better, more comfortable place to live, which they can call home."

Adio was appreciative of the fact that the opportunity was driven by his involvement in the Bermuda Scout Association.

"I'll be able to make more friends. I'll be working with people I hardly know. I think any young boy should be involved in Scouts. It's been a good experience for me.

"Before I was given, now I better know the concept of giving. There are people who aren't as fortunate as me. I understand that there are things I don't need that I should give to them."