When the parish group visited Cambodia in January, we visited four other church centres besides Svay Sisophon. One of them was Kompong Chhnang, about 150 miles south of Sisophon where we were shown round by parish priest Father Franco Legnani and saw the nearly-finished Pastoral Centre and Day Care Centre for the Mentally Disabled. These two new buildings will provide, for the first time, a purpose built facility for Father Franco’s work in this very challenging Khmer/Vietnamese community, many of whom live in boats on the Tonle Sap River. The Pastoral Centre will, as in Sisophon, house students who will attend the local high school. The Day Care Centre, run by New Humanity, [an Italian NGO] will enable the Church to help many more disabled children, many of whom are often shunned by their families because of their disability. The Centres were opened on May 8th by Bishop Kike [Apostolic Prefect of Battambang].
