Fr Matthias Chae, Provincial of Korea Province, made his annual visitation to the Cambodia Mission from December 2 – 8. In addition to the Manifestation of Conscience by the Jesuits in the mission, team members of the Jesuit Service Cambodia also met with him individually. The meetings were held at the Jesuit house in Phnom Penh for those in Phnom Penh and Banteay Prieb, and at the Battambang Prefecture for those in the northern part of Cambodia. This was followed by a general meeting with all gathered at these two places.
Fr Danny Huang, Provincial of Philippine Province was in Phnom Penh from December 11 – 14 to visit Frs Jose Hildy Banayal (Totet), Dennis Gabriel Leon Lamug–nanawa (Gabby) and Sch John-Lester Tajon (Bongbong), who is on regency in Cambodia.
Students from Banteay Prieb, a school for the handicapped run by the Jesuit Service Cambodia, joined in the International Day of Disabled Persons celebration held at Wat Phnom in Phnom Penh on December 3. For most of the students who had never left their villages, this was their first, and perhaps only time to visit Phnom Penh.
A Christmas party was held on December 12 at the Jesuit Service Cambodia office in Phnom Penh for refugees whom JSC is helping with their applications for relocation to third countries.
Banteay Prieb held the graduation ceremony for the 20th batch of students on December 18. It was an emotional time for the students who would leave Banteay Prieb and their friends to return to their villages. Hopefully their newly acquired skills would enable them to earn their own living. They continued to celebrate the day with sports and games as normal people do – race each other around the campus, abet on prosthetic legs, wheelchairs and clutches, and in the evening danced traditional Khmer dances after the dinner prepared by their teachers.