Phnom Penh, Cambodia, January 13, 2016. Representatives of the 6 main educative pastoral communities of the Cambodian Salesian Delegation (THA), met in Phnom Penh January 11-13 for planning with the guidance of Fr. Mario Baclig from FIS province, who has a broad experience in animating the FIS and FIN provinces in their youth ministry and provincial chapters.
10 Salesians and 14 Lay Missionary Partners met at Don Bosco Technical School of Phnom Penh with Fr. Baclig, who followed a very illustrative and interesting method to guide the selection of the Cambodian Salesian vision, mission and priorities for the next 50 years. The whole group represented the communities of Poipet, Battambang, Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville and Kep that include an educative family of near 25 thousand persons in 25 years of Don Bosco in Cambodia in the education of children and youth from impoverished and vulnerable background.
Fr. Baclig proposed steps to study the surrounding context and draw up or revise the Vision-Mission statement. He broke down the stages into operational goal statements based on the 5 dimensions of the Salesian Educative Pastoral Plan. The second major step was to do an assessment (SWOT) and determine the priorities for the next 3--5 years. In the third major step, the participants prepared a 1-year operational plan, complete with strategies, calendar, persons responsible, and budget. Aside from the participation of all the Salesians currently working in the country, 2 lay members in each DB setting or location represented the works, including technical schools and children fund.
The delegates concluded in their mission vision statement that they envision a communion of communities of SDBs, lay mission partners, youth and children, growing and working together for the total development of the young, and enriching the culture for a new civilization of love, and, therefore, they commit themselves as SDBs, to be like Saint John Bosco, a friend, father and teacher of the youth; as LMPs, to be leaders, facilitators and educators and as children and youth, to be good sons and daughters of Saint John Bosco.
The Salesians came to Cambodia in 1991, although their contact with the Cambodian nation took place in 1988, when they created technical centers and children fund at the Cambodian refugee camps in Thailand, during the Cambodian civil war. In 1991 they opened the first technical school in Phnom Penh, followed by settings in Sihanoukville (1987) and Battambang, Poipet and Kep (2000), while supporting thousands of children in several Cambodian provinces. Although years of reconstruction and development, Cambodia still one of the poorest countries of the region, but also one of the youngest of Asia with half of the population under 25 years old.
