“To always be on the side of the marginalised” is the core spirit of the Jesuits and collaborators in Cambodia. It is deeply embedded in our hearts from the beginning of the Cambodia Mission 30 years ago until our time today. We reaffirmed this spirit during the process of our “discernment in common” from 2018 to 2019 involving all Jesuits and collaborators in preparation for the Universal Apostolic Preferences, and the Jesuit Mission Cambodia Five-year Apostolic Plan.
Looking back, it is in this spirit of being with the marginalised that in 1991 we started a vocational training centre for persons with disabilities as a result of the civil war. Many years later, in 2014, we started Xavier Jesuit School in Banteay Meanchey, one of the poorest provinces in Cambodia. Our most recent project is the Ruom Center (which translates literally to a “centre for being together”), where factory workers in Phnom Penh could come and rest.
On 17 December, Xavier Jesuit School held its first graduation ceremony for 25 students in Grade 6. As I attended the ceremony, a lot of memories came back to me. These young friends, who had first entered kindergarten seven years ago, have grown really well now, and were there to express their gratitude to their families and teachers. I was very moved when I saw the children kneel down in the traditional Cambodian way to present the paper flowers and thanksgiving cards they had made themselves. Most of the children’s parents are migrant workers in neighbouring Thailand, so they are being cared for by their grandparents or relatives. In addition to giving the children a good education at our school, we put a lot of effort in helping them become responsible. As a result of such efforts, over the past seven years, the children showed everyone at the graduation ceremony that they understand and practice a little bit of the basic pedagogy of Jesuit education, particularly, being “a man or woman for and with others”. I was very proud of our children and our teachers at the school.
Cambodia, which suffered heavily from 20 years of civil war until the late 1990s, is now achieving remarkable economic growth. However, the education and medical fields still seem to have a long way to go. When we first planned to establish a Jesuit school, we wanted it to be near Phnom Penh, the capital and most developed city. However, upon the recommendation of Fr General Adolfo Nicolás SJ in 2012, and after further discernment, we concluded that, contrary to our original plan, we should build the school in the most challenging area. That’s how Xavier Jesuit School ended up in Banteay Meanchey. We believed that it was God’s will for us to do so through Fr General’s advice, and that God was giving us an opportunity to practise our spirit of “always being on the side of the marginalised”. Seven years later, the results were seen in the bright smiles and excited faces of the 25 children who attended the graduation ceremony. I sincerely thank everyone for going on this journey with us together.
In all these years of faithful service to the Cambodian people, “To always be on the side of the marginalised” is the spirit we keep alive in our hearts and minds, and which we ought never to forget.
Oh In-don Francisco SJ
Delegate of the Korean Provincial, Cambodia Mission