Fr. David Long, parish priest for St.Vincent’s Knutsford and St.Winifride’s Lymm, has launched an initiative to raise funding towards a new children’s classroom for a parish in Siem Reap, Cambodia which is linked with both of his parishes. Fr. Totet visited Knutsford last year and talked about his work in Cambodia. Following this the two parishes set out to help him raise $40,000 to build a classroom at an outlying parish project known as Jesus Farm.
Learning in Cambodia
One of the consequences of the war in Cambodia’s history was an almost complete destruction of the country’s education system. It was only in the latter part of 1979 when massive education rehabilitation efforts were put into place. In the 1980s, a semblance of an education system, from preschool to university, was re-established.
In more recent years, the government has implemented a long term education program to ensure equal opportunities for students of all ethnicities, socio-economic and geographical backgrounds. But despite such efforts only 33% of the students manage to finish 6th grade due to pressures of poverty.
Education thus remains an enormous task. Areas close to town centres have access to schools but there are still many remote areas unreachable by the government, and these are the areas that the Catholic church is working on.
At present under the Catholic church at Siem Reap, there are 4 kindergarten centres and remedial class centres in 5 villages and 2 floating schools, as well as regular elementary education centres in 2 floating schools.
The aim is to build another classroom at the satellite parish of St.Ignatius, also known as Jesus Farm.