austraLasia #3199
Don Bosco Vocational Centre,
Kep
KEP CITY: 3 March 2013 -- March
5, 6 and 7 and to be important days for the newly completed
Don Bosco
Vocational Centre, Kep, a rural province of Cambodia located
near the
sea in the south, not far from the border with Vietnam and
adjacent to
the provinces of Kampot and Takeo, all similar rural,
low-income
regions. These days will see the official opening of the
complex,
culminating with the main event on 7 March attended by the
Minister for
Education, Sport and Youth, and the Governors of Kep, Kampot
and Takeo
provinces.
The Don Bosco Vocational Centre in Kep Province is a big deal
for this
region, hence the presence of such prominent people for the
opening.
Young people, largely unskilled, flock to the neighbouring
commercial
city areas like Phon Penh and Sihanoukville in search of
better
opportunities and employment. The Don Bosco Vocational Centre
will
serve at leat two functions in this regard: encourage young
people to
stay put in their own province, but with the skills to improve these
rural regions, or be properly skilled to take up life and
employment in
the 'big' cities. the Salesians in Cambodia have chosen to
focus on
intellectual skills in particular through the Kep Centre:
social
communication, IT, secretariat, eco-tourism, house keeping,
front-office and art.
On Tuesday, March 5, a delegation from the Cham community, Kep
and
religious authorities of the Muslim Faith will celebrate a
blessing of
the Cham students at Don Bosco. On Wednesday 6 it will be the
Buddhist
pagoda turn, when a group of monks will give also a blessing
to the
school according to Cambodian traditions.
On 7 March, the main civic event is the opening by the
Minister for
Education, Sport and Youth, the Hon. Im Sethy. His Excellency
Bishop
Oliviere Schimitthaeusler, Apostolic Vicar of Phnom Penh, will
lead the
blessing of the school in the name of the Cambodian Catholic
Church
during the event.
It is expected that large
delegations (running to a thousand or more) of students from
local Kep
schools will also attend the event, seeing it as a special
door to
their own future.
