austraLasia #2796 During the Chinese New Year... Papa Bosco! Chhin
Sieng reporting for Australasia News and
DonBoscoAsia.info
SIHANOUKVILLE: 2 February 2011 -- The 2011
Colour Games to honor the Solemnity of Saint John Bosco took
place on the campus of the Don Bosco Technical School in the
sea port of Sihanoukville. Although the games were held at
various moments throughout January, the big event took place
on 31 January. The date coincided also with the Chinese New
Year, a celebration of considerable importance in Cambodia
with its many significant Chinese-Khmer.
The entire student body, nearly 1,000 of
them, were divided into four colours (hence 'Colour Games
2011'), red, blue, pink and yellow. The teams participated
in different games and sports and their successes or losses
were counted up on a large scoreboard. Teachers and
Salesians were also included.
The program began at 8:00 with some
teachers and Salesian speeches recalling that 'Papa Bosco'
was a man of holiness, happiness and love for what he was
doing for youth like us. 'The purpose of the games is to
join in happiness and become day by day a big family around
Papa Bosco,' said a teacher to the crowd of youth that were
strictly divided by the four colors and stood with their
flags in disciplined fashion in front of the Papa Bosco
statue. As we Cambodians could not miss out on a dance, it
was a well-established fact and nobody could separate us
from it! We danced around the statue of Papa Bosco, who,
with his right hand extended to the East, was showing the
future to a Cambodian bronze kid. We noticed also that the
bronze Cambodian smile of Papa Bosco was evidently wider
that day.
-----
Editor's note: we are delighted to receive what is
possibly the first item written by a Cambodian for this
newsletter; terminologists will be interested, too, in a new
cultural manifestation for Don Bosco. _________________
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