Christmas Day

The Salesians, the child leaders, and the children of Don Bosco Poipet wish you all a very Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.

On this day, we said farewell to our 20 year old German volunteer, Karin, who stayed with us for around six months watching over the girls of the center literally 24/7. It's amazing to see the commitment of young people nowadays. Youth serving youth, as they say. Young people guided into good causes could always be harbingers of peace and development; but misguided they could cause great havoc too.

Advent

Advent is the start of a new Church year for Christians.
Every new year signifies another chance to start anew. Hence it's good to start working on a clean slate. Take a look at this clean white artboard. Go ahead click on it.

ARTBOARD

And as you move your mouse on it, clicking and dragging, you can fill it with colors and figures your heart and mind could ever desire or imagine. Until you produce your very own artwork. Life is art they say. Such is life... it's in your mouse... ooops sorry, it's in your hands.
Advent is like clean artboard where you start to fill it little by little, step by step with colors and decors until at the end up with the most colorful artwork - Christmas.

9th Socio-Cultural Research Congress

I've just returned from this annual Socio-cultural Congress (14-16th November) held at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. This year, there were around 70 researches chosen for this conference. Those who presented came from 10 different countries. The theme was: "Equity, Sustainability, and Development- shaping the future of Cambodia." The researches had to relate to any of the three tracks: (a) cultural history and social change, (b) society, economy, and environment, (c) theorizing future development. I got to present my research for track A as I tried to investigate on: "Classroom Questioning Behaviors in Cambodian Vocational Training Institutions." Funny thing was... I lost my voice at the day of my presentation. Luckily, my powerpoint and summary script were written in English and the translator simply presented it in Khmer. Everybody was happy since we saved 20 minutes of redundancy having more time for the Q & A portion.

Down the street where I live

Meet Don Bosco Poipet's streetkids: Here are some of the children I live with
(got the pics from a volunteer - I'm not great in taking pictures)

Aren't they cute? (don't be deceived by those innocent looks)

With them there is not a minute you're not in a lookout.

Once you stay with them... you'll never be able to leave them.

They'll literally cling on to you so you can't go.

Benchwork

Don Bosco Poipet's new intake of Voc-tech students comes from the grade 6 entry level (Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville have grade 9 as entry level). They are being introduced to the world of benchwork. This starts with long hours of filing. I could still remember our batch when we did the same many years ago in college. Boy! how we hated this gruelling and humbling exercise. Time dragged on as we yearned to be transferred to the less laborious yet more prestigious lathes and the shapers. Until one day, we had a field trip to Toyota Motors. There we learned that the "filers" received higher salary than the "machinists" and the best ones were even taken to Toyota Japan. That experienced changed the wold of "filing" for us.
Filing smoothens out the workpiece's rough edges. It seems a lot of benchwork still needs to be done in my spiritual life. Otherwise this piece won't fit in nicely in Your "great master plan."

A Microsoft Conference

Sometime ago there was this Microsoft conference in Boston. I'm not really a big die hard of this but since I do have my Microsoft certs, I always enjoyed updating myself in the things that they offer.
One of the conference paper and presentation was:

“Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em: Getting Good People to Stay” by Beverly Kaye and Janis L. Keeley

According to Beverly: “Every leader's contribution to their organization's mission and strategic goals is highly correlated to his or her ability to retain, engage, and develop talented, highly skilled, knowledgeable people. Today's leaders are expected to build a work environment in which their key employees thrive, constantly learn and give their discretionary effort to their organization. Talent-minded managers know that if their organization is to be productive and competitive, they must not only 'hang on" to good people, but also continually develop them in order to meet constantly changing business needs. The big question for most leaders is how to do this in a "no-time-to-do-it" environment.”

Wow, that for me is the epitome of "shepherding." Reminds me of Your management style found in John chapters 15-17. Incidentally, last week I submitted my abstract to the Royal University of Phnom Penh for the upcoming Socio-Cultural Research Conference. Let's see if it gets chosen. It's a research on: "why students nowadays don't ask relevant questions in class?" OK, I know, I ask too many questions from you... maybe I have too many doubts and too many curiousities. Hey, I'm not complaining, so far you are giving me answers in prayer.

My Final Exams hopefully

I had to bus back to Phnom Penh on the 21st. I met my proctor (our UPOU registrar) at my schoolmate's pad. Her husband was not at home, so we three had the place all to ourselves. We had our exams in the evening of the 22nd. Alma, my schoolmate, had to do one in Social Marketing. I had to hurdle my last UPOU exams in Socio-cultural foundations of Education. Later we three spent the night chilling out by the riverside sharing life stories.

Au Revoir Sihanoukville

I asked my rector what time he plans to leave. He set departure time after lunch. I waited for him to pack. Finally at 4PM (hey, its still after lunch)we managed to pull out of Sihanoukville. We arrived at Phnom Penh for supper, freshened up, and had a good night's sleep. Onward to Poipet for the morrow!

EAO Salesian Brother's Convention

From the 21-25 August, Don Bosco Cambodia (Phnom Penh) hosted the East Asia- Oceania Region's Salesian Brother's Seminar (click on the link for more technical information). On the 22nd, although some of our students had to present some dances, I chose to remain in Sihanoukville, until a telephone call from one of them beckoned me to take the bus to Phnom Penh. That evening I met my good old friends, many whom I haven't seen in years especially those whom I've worked with in Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Philippines. I got the chance to meet other brothers too from Australia, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, China, Samoa, Indonesia, Timor, and Mongolia. Some 15 of them did in turn visit us in Sihanoukville on the 26th.

So, what is a Salesian Brother? He's a "lay person" and yet "a consecrated religious." Don Bosco envisioned them to be in places or works where priests cannot or would not thread. Being a lay person he is able to be involved in the world, and yet being consecrated he is commited to poverty, chastity, and obedience, and of course community life.

Sentenced Home

The other day I chanced upon a Korean television program (“Heart to Heart”) an interview with film maker David Grabias. His latest film (with Nicole Newnham) entitled: “Sentenced Home” touches the plight of around 1400 American-Khmers being forced to return to Cambodia. This documentary follows the heart-breaking story of three Cambodians from their birth in that homeland that starved, tortured, and murdered their families (Pol Pot times) to their being raised from childhood as Americans in the USA. And ironically this same country that raised them to adulthood is now pushing them back to an unwilling return to a distant homeland they never really knew. And the reason is because of law infractions in their youth whose sentences they have already served.

I really do hope I could find this film in the market. I'm excited to watch it. I’m sure this film will become a firestarter for more discussions about being exiled and about going home. The real controversial point is the question: “Where is home for you?”

I’ve read a line before which says: “Home is where your heart is.”

Next month, I move again to Poipet – the fifth time I move to another home in my six years here in Cambodia. It’s a no big deal for me now. When I was back in the Philippines I got three assignments in three years during my practical training days right after college. Later after theology, I got assigned to six houses in a span of ten years. So if You ask me did I feel at home in all those places – a resounding Yes and no regrets! But how come they keep moving me on? Ah… after all, You did promise a home in your Father’s house for us pilgrims down here. That’s where our heart is, I suppose. Not in the house, but with You as home.