SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA — Br. Sarong Eng, SDB, delegate for youth ministry of the Cambodian Salesian Delegation (THA‑KH), completed a nationwide journey to encourage pastoral activities at the close of the academic year. Br. Sarong, the first Cambodian‑born Salesian lay brother, was accompanied by Fr. Rafael Bejarano, world councilor for youth ministry, Fr. Albeiro Rodas, delegate for social communication in Cambodia, and members of the communication team.

The week‑long visit included the coastal projects of Kep and Sihanoukville, Don Bosco Phnom Penh, the Salabalat agro‑technical and Andong Chen schools in Battambang, and the community in Poipet near the Thai border, where they visisted also one of the refugee camps that came as a consequence of the more than one year long border conflict with Thailand. Meetings with Salesians, teachers, and youth highlighted the educational and pastoral mission that has been present in Cambodia since 1991 and formally established as a Delegation in 2013. Today, Salesians and lay partners serve thousands of children and young people across the country. Fr. Rafael Bejarano shared with the different communities the youth ministry plan and the main focus of the preventive system in practice and the Salesian system of education.