A Brief History (Top)

During the 1990's, the small Khmer Catholic communities of Battambang and Kompong Thom supported some poor high school students by allowing them to live in the parish compound much as the Buddhist pagodas do in accepting male students. When some of these students successfully completed their secondary education, Bishop Emile Destombes asked Fr. Ashley Evans S.J. to look after these students in the Phnom Penh parish compound as they prepared for the Cambodian university entrance examinations.

In 1998, the first group of students arrived from Battambang and Kompong Thom, five boys and one girl. As the university entrance examinations were poorly administered, none of these students passed and all returned to their provinces. However a small number of private fee-paying universities were emerging in Phnom Penh and the Church prepared a scholarship scheme for poor but gifted students supported by one or other of the small Catholic Church communities in Cambodia. A special nine-month preparation program was launched to enable poor students attempt the State examinations twice before receiving a Church scholarship.

In 1999, the first scholarship group of eight students was accepted, five boys and three girls. A second preparation class was started at the same time and in 2000 thirteen students were selected for the scholarship class. There were five boys and eight girls in this group. Each year after this a new scholarship class was selected and a new preparation class began. These projects were financed mainly the Italian Bishops’ Conference and by other private donations.

During the first three years of its existence, the Student Centre remained in the Phnom Penh parish compound with a clear separation between the living areas for the boys and the girls. The students came together to plan and organize their life together. They bought the food, cooked, washed up and cleaned in turns. They elected their own leaders. They volunteered to help in many Church activities such caring for the sick and teaching catechism to children at weekends. They organized study groups. Special classes were arranged in English and Mathematics. Fr. Ashley introduced the students to the Christian Life Communities (CLC). Political debates took place once a month. The students devised their own internal rules and regulations.

After three years, the Phnom Penh parish committee requested that the Student Centre be moved outside the parish compound so the students moved into two inner-city apartments on Kampuchea Krom Boulevard for one year. Fr. Ashley lived with a group of seventeen students and Ms. Lucia Wong. A Hong Kong lay missionary lived with a group of twelve. The last preparation class still stayed in the parish compound while a new Centre was built on Church land behind the Bishop’s house with funds from Missio (Aachen) in Germany. There was enough land for volley ball, badminton or 5-aside soccer.

The Ministry of Education Youth and Sport reformed the school examination system in 2002 so that now the results could be used directly for applications to university. All the students (five generations) moved into new building in September 2002. The new Catholic Church Student Centre was officially opened by His Excellency. Mr. lm Sethy, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Education and Bishop Emile Detombes on 2nd November 2002.

The fifty-two students live and work in six teams, each with a team leader and an assistant; (the scout system). All the work is done in teams. The only employee is a night guard. The leaders meet once a month to reflect and decide on all issues in a democratic, collective and open manner. In June 2004, Fr. Enrico Fidanza PIME took over as Director of the Centre. Ms. Wendy Lui, another Hong Kong missionary has replaced Ms. Lucia.

Objective (Top)

The objective of the project is to help poor Cambodian students to start and finish their university studies, support their cultural growth and give them a spiritual and human formation based on evangelical values and rooted in an authentic faith journey. We believe that good leaders forge good societies. Giving the students the chance to study in a community context we can provide the first and basic means to understand what living in a society is about: the experience of living together, boys and girls, being directly involved in the management of the Centre.
,br> For this purpose all students are divided into six groups and each group has two senior students as Team Leaders and Assistant Team Leaders. They fulfill all daily tasks such as cooking, house cleaning and basic maintenance of the house. This is a micro-community inside the bigger one where they can learn to cooperate with others.

In the Academic Year 2004/2005 we have sponsored 64 students coming from 13 different provinces: Kompong Thom (11), Pursat (5), Kandal (9), Stung Traeng (2), Kombong Saom (7), Banteay Meanchey (5) Battambang (11), Takeo (3), Ratanakiri (1). Kompong Cham (5), Prey Veng (3), Seam Reap (1), Kompot (1).

48 students live in the Centre, 16 live in small apartments or rooms with relatives or friends.

Educations (Top)

All students study 11 different subjects: Khmer Literature, Psychology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Tourism and Hotel Management, Economics (Management, Economy of Development, Banking, and Accounting), Agriculture, Medicine, English Literature, Journalism.

In the Centre we try to monitor their progress or difficulties and provide a favorable environment to concentrate and study. In case of need, there are special courses in the centre given by private tutors (English, Japanese, Chinese, Microeconomics, Finance, and Statistics) or the students themselves.

On the side of the cultural formation our main commitment is to give a clear methodology of study, not only to succeed academically, bout also in order to create a new attitude: go deep into all issues concerning their lives and professions.

One of the problems we encounter on this side is the lack of scientific books in Khmer in order to acquire not only a specific proficiency on their personal fields of study, but also a more general knowledge. Reinforcing the study of foreign languages may be one solution, but not the solution for a country that is seeking for its own way to walk through a new path of development.

For this reason we try to encourage open debates in the Centre about politics, psychology, religion or other issues that may help to open new horizons and confrontations with different partners.

Human Formation (Top)

Community life is the first "educator" of the students. Living together, boys and girls, is an experience that helps and, somehow, forces all students to create significant and cooperative relationships. Differences are many and problems may spawn from them, and this is the time when a youth starts facing his/her own personality, wondering about the meaning of life and society, looking for strong values on which to build their own future.
The six work groups and CLC offer the possibility of an open and honest sharing about their personal life, human growth and difficulties of any sort.

Christian Formation (Top)

2/3 of the students are baptized and all the others are catechumens. Their Christian formation is supported mainly by 7 different activities:
The Director meets each student on a monthly basis to talk about his or her journey and on any matter concerning all the points above.

Contact (Top)

Catholic Church Student Center
Address: #120, Street 95, Sangkat Boeng Tro Bek, Khan Chamkamon, Phnom Penh, Camboida P.O.BOX 123, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Mobile phone:(855) 92 791 801
Click here to contact by email.