austraLasia #2896
Father John Visser: Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau
SIHANOUKVILLE: 27 July 2011 -- Father John Visser, Dutch Salesian Missionary, will be promoted as an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau this coming August by Queen Beatriz of the Netherlands. He has been a Knight of the Order since 1981. The Order, created in 1892 by Queen Regent Emma of the Netherlands, is granted to someone ‘who deserves appreciation and recognition from society for the special way in which they have carried out their activities,’ explains the official website of the Dutch Chivalric Order.
Father John Visser, born in 1933, has been a Salesian missionary to Thailand and Cambodia since 1956. ‘I was among the first Salesian missionaries to fly, thanks to President Nasser of Egypt. He closed the Suez Canal Zone during the Suez Crisis in 1956. The missionaries waiting in Italy to go to Thailand could not board the ship, so the superiors sent us by plane,’ he said.
Ordained priest in 1964 in Germany, Father Visser returned to Thailand. Over a period of 35 years, he has been involved in the opening or running of Salesian works such as the Don Bosco Technical School in Bangkok, and subsequently others in Banpong, Udon Thani, Hua Hin, Haadyai and Surat Thani. In 1992, at 58 years of age, following a request by the Cambodian government and the urging of his superiors, Father Visser visited Cambodia to consider the challenge to develop educational works in a country that had just seen the end to a period of violence and political instability.
In 1995 in New York, along with Brother Roberto Panetto, he received the ‘Servitor Pacis Award’ in recognition of his commitment to the development of peace in Cambodia. Brother Panetto led the development of technical schools in the Khmer refugee camps in Thailand during the 1980s. The Award, a combined Vatican-UN recognition, was given in the same ceremony to then Filipino President Corazon Aquino and a number of other persons.
"I think this kind of medal should go to our benefactors, like Mr Hector Loontjens or his Sawasdee Foundation", Fr Visser said. "Their great support helps us a lot in order to provide the best for the youth of countries like Thailand and Cambodia. I think this is all Providence and we thank these benefactors so much. Recently a German organization asked me about the sustainability of our works in Cambodia. I answered that we believe in Providence and also we expect that Cambodia will develop in the coming years, so the Cambodian government will be able to support the running of these projects too" he concluded. Currently, Cambodian students in the Don Bosco technical schools in Phnom Penh, Battambang, Sihanokville and Poipet pay very little by way of school fees, while the Don Bosco Childrens Fund, founded in Thailand by Father Visser, supports the studies of hundreds of children in different Cambodian provinces.
Father John Visser will travel soon to Holland to receive his award, but also to visit benefactors in his country and in Germany. ‘My dream now is to develop the Don Bosco Vocational Centre in Kep City. We are going to open it this coming October. Then we also have land in Stung Treng and hope to open a technical school in that northern province in about five years time to attend to the indigenous young people of that region", he said.
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AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2011 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
Father John Visser: Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau
SIHANOUKVILLE: 27 July 2011 -- Father John Visser, Dutch Salesian Missionary, will be promoted as an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau this coming August by Queen Beatriz of the Netherlands. He has been a Knight of the Order since 1981. The Order, created in 1892 by Queen Regent Emma of the Netherlands, is granted to someone ‘who deserves appreciation and recognition from society for the special way in which they have carried out their activities,’ explains the official website of the Dutch Chivalric Order.
Father John Visser, born in 1933, has been a Salesian missionary to Thailand and Cambodia since 1956. ‘I was among the first Salesian missionaries to fly, thanks to President Nasser of Egypt. He closed the Suez Canal Zone during the Suez Crisis in 1956. The missionaries waiting in Italy to go to Thailand could not board the ship, so the superiors sent us by plane,’ he said.
Ordained priest in 1964 in Germany, Father Visser returned to Thailand. Over a period of 35 years, he has been involved in the opening or running of Salesian works such as the Don Bosco Technical School in Bangkok, and subsequently others in Banpong, Udon Thani, Hua Hin, Haadyai and Surat Thani. In 1992, at 58 years of age, following a request by the Cambodian government and the urging of his superiors, Father Visser visited Cambodia to consider the challenge to develop educational works in a country that had just seen the end to a period of violence and political instability.
In 1995 in New York, along with Brother Roberto Panetto, he received the ‘Servitor Pacis Award’ in recognition of his commitment to the development of peace in Cambodia. Brother Panetto led the development of technical schools in the Khmer refugee camps in Thailand during the 1980s. The Award, a combined Vatican-UN recognition, was given in the same ceremony to then Filipino President Corazon Aquino and a number of other persons.
"I think this kind of medal should go to our benefactors, like Mr Hector Loontjens or his Sawasdee Foundation", Fr Visser said. "Their great support helps us a lot in order to provide the best for the youth of countries like Thailand and Cambodia. I think this is all Providence and we thank these benefactors so much. Recently a German organization asked me about the sustainability of our works in Cambodia. I answered that we believe in Providence and also we expect that Cambodia will develop in the coming years, so the Cambodian government will be able to support the running of these projects too" he concluded. Currently, Cambodian students in the Don Bosco technical schools in Phnom Penh, Battambang, Sihanokville and Poipet pay very little by way of school fees, while the Don Bosco Childrens Fund, founded in Thailand by Father Visser, supports the studies of hundreds of children in different Cambodian provinces.
Father John Visser will travel soon to Holland to receive his award, but also to visit benefactors in his country and in Germany. ‘My dream now is to develop the Don Bosco Vocational Centre in Kep City. We are going to open it this coming October. Then we also have land in Stung Treng and hope to open a technical school in that northern province in about five years time to attend to the indigenous young people of that region", he said.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2011 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
