Spanish Jesuit Enrique Figaredo, Bishop of the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang, Cambodia, presented Queen Sofia of Spain with an update on the project for deactivating landmines in Cambodia when he met her recently.
Fr Figaredo,known as “Kike” to many,has been a missionary working in this area for over 25 years.In 1990, he set up Banteay Prieb, a training school for disabled people that produces the “Mekong” wheelchairs, specially designed to facilitate mobility for landmine victims in muddy terrain. Queen Sofia first learned about Fr Figaredo’s work when she visited cooperation projects in Cambodia in 2008.
Fr Figaredo also collaborates with the NGO Sauce (acronym translated from Spanish which stands for Solidarity, Aid and Unity Create Hope), which he founded with his relatives in 2001. Sauce focuses on helping the most marginalized and disadvantaged people by promoting education, professional training and development of basic infrastructures. Aphotographic exhibition of the NGO’s work is being held in Madrid in April 2011. It features 40 images taken by the reporter Josep Maria San Saturnino, “Sansa”.
News Service of the Conference of European Provincials Issue #157 – April 2011