Some time in early 1994 Fr. Zuloaga called me long distance and asked if I could go to Cambodia and try to find some ways in which Fu Jen University might be able to be of help there. Cambodia was just starting on its way back from the “Killing Fields” era. The Jesuit Refugee Service personnel had moved back from the refugee camps in Thailand with the Khmer people who were returning to their war torn country. Cambodia had just been given status as a special “Mission” of the East Asia and Oceania Assistancy.
After a trip there I was able to have four of my students go to Phnom Penh for a period of one month working on two projects. Later one or two of the students returned for short periods as I did. Students of Fu Jen’s Library Science Department also went to help in the opening of a new library for the Royal University of Phnom Penh.
Further efforts were attempted without much result, but the “Cambodian Bug” had bitten me. I fell in love with the Cambodia people. Three years ago I made a trip to Cambodia as a secretary for the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities – East Asia and Oceania. The AJCU-EAO was interested in trying to be of service in that country. At that time Fr. Zuloaga again entered the picture and told me to be sure to visit Sisophon in the north. On that trip I met Msgr. Kike Figaredo, SJ and Fr. Totet, SJ (Philippine Province) in Battambang and Fr. Gregory Priyadi, SJ (Indonesian Prov.) along with several lay people and later Fr. Hernan Pinilla (Yarumal Missioners) and a couple of religious sisters.
While meeting these people, it was easy to see ways in which we could be of some help. In November 2004 and again in January 2006 I made trips with 8 or 9 former and present students of mine. The result has been many small efforts among which are 18 three-year scholarships for elementary school students chosen by a Sister Regina (Providence Sister) who works in Sisophon north of Battambang where Fr. Greg works. Beginning especially after the trip this past January our group has been working with Fr. Hernan. One project is providing the salary of two additional teachers in the elementary school in the village where Fr. Hernan is working. Bicycles have also been purchased for students who have to travel 15 kilometers to Pursat if they want to pursue studies in junior high school. Beginning this year in October we will be providing fifteen three-year scholarships for junior high school students. Earlier this year four laptop computers were donated. Also a month ago 40 first aid kids were sent by our students.
From our side this has been a tremendous project for those still in studies and for those who have graduated. They are learning to go beyond their own lives to enter into the lives of people who can teach them many things in their own way. One example, we find the people of Cambodia, who suffer so much facing life, with almost no one resorting to suicide compared to the sad situation we find here in our own country.
These efforts at “Community-Based Learning” – I prefer this term to the term “Service Learning” ordinarily used here in Taiwan – are expanding rapidly. As the only foreigner in our social work department here at Fu Jen, my efforts are in the direction of International areas. We are now expanding some earlier efforts in the slum area of Manila, and at the beginning of September this year we plan to have one of my students accompany Fr. Fernando Azpiroz, SJ with his work in leper villages in China. When he returns we will go over his experience with Fernando and see how this can be developed in the future.
Our Fu Jen students will be sharing their experiences in Cambodia with others at a conference held for this purpose at the National Taipei University of Education in Taipei at the end of May. This is sponsored by that university under the direction of a former student of our Fu Jen sociology department and co-sponsored by Fu Jen.
Please pray for the continued success of this work that is drawing the attention and interest of many of our former students and others. If any reader is interested in a fifteen minute DVD video that I’ve prepared on our January visit to Cambodia please contact me at danross@ms1.hinet.net. The voiceover for the video is in Mandarin. I’ll be glad to send you a copy.