CAMBODIA
(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries are working in Indigenous villages in Cambodia to provide education through schools and programs such as the Don Bosco Brother Sun Scholarship program for rural and Indigenous youth. The program focuses on the studies and well-being of 270 youth. In November and December 2024, youth in the program also received academic kits and uniforms for the start of the new year. The kits were provided thanks to the Sawasdee Foundation.
Every year, Father Samnang Albeiro Rodas, visits the northern hill provinces of Cambodia to support Don Bosco projects, including the technical school and scholarship program. This year, a delegation from Don Bosco Kep also participated to assess the impact of the scholarship program and offer new educational initiatives.
Fr. Rodas, together with teacher Ngil Vy and three Indigenous students from Don Bosco Kep, visited the provinces of Mondulkiri, Ratanakiri, Preah Vihear, Oddar Meanchey and Kampong Thom. They met representatives of the Catholic Church, representatives of other Christian denominations, the Salesian Family and families of youth in Salesian programs. They also visited a high school.
A Salesian noted, “They were able to see firsthand the situation faced by Cambodian rural families who are thriving in the middle of a fragile economy, the problem of internet addiction in many male teenagers, increasing the problem of school abandonment, and the degradation of the environment. At the same time, they were witness to the peoples’ hopes of communities for a better life, especially supporting youth who are dreaming of a better future through education and the care for the ancient traditions and spiritualities of their communities.”
Don Bosco Kep provides basic, secondary and technical education to youth who are poor and living in the Cambodian provinces of Kep, Kampot, Takeo, Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri. Educational and social development programs help students break the cycle of poverty in their lives and become contributing members of their communities. Don Bosco Kep provides special attention to children and young people from ethnic minorities, youth with disabilities, youth who are orphans, and youth in danger of becoming victims of human trafficking, labor exploitation or other abuses.
Salesians in Cambodia provide primary and secondary schools along with technical education so youth have an opportunity to gain an education and develop the skills for employment. These educational services are bolstered by social development programs that help youth have access to basic needs like food, shelter and life skills training.
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Sources:
ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)
ANS – Cambodia – Pilgrims with Indigenous Cambodian young people: “Anchored in Hope beyond the frontiers of the Salesian Mission”
Don Bosco Kep
Salesian Missions – Cambodia
World Bank – Cambodia
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