Faith and Mission 

St John’s Regional College 2021 Theme

“Everything is Interconnected” (Pope Francis, Laudato Si (70))

Everything is interconnected, and … genuine care for our own lives and our relationships with nature are inseparable from fraternity, justice and faithfulness to others.

—Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ (70)

In 2021 we are to use our College Theme to remind us that as stewards of Creation we are called to respect the environment, to use its resources wisely and distribute justly its goods to meet the needs of all peoples. We do this when we understand the interconnectedness of all human beings to each other and to all of Creation.

Cambodian Immersion  

For nearly ten years, every November and early December, students and staff from St John’s Regional College have visited a school run by the De La Salle Brothers in a little village an hour’s journey on ferry and tuk tuk from Phnom Penh.  The Village is called Pothum and it is to there we make an annual pilgrimage to immerse ourselves in some Cambodian culture and to assist the Brothers in their mission of education.  The staff are an extraordinary team of dedicated teachers.  However, there is much poverty.  Each year we raise funds for this school and the work of the Brothers. 

Of course in 2020 and 2021 we are unable to visit.  The following article appeared on the Phnom Penh Diocesan news feed and we offer it for your careful reading and, when the time comes, generosity in supporting this great work. 

More children, shortage of classrooms and teachers 

In the school year 2020-2021, the number of students at La Salle, Po Thom, School has increased by almost 100 percent, leading to the school’s lack of classrooms and teachers.  

According to the family newsletter provided by Brother Joseph, the School’s Principal, in 2020 there were 220 students enrolled.  At the beginning of the 2021 school year the number of students has increased to 400. 

According to the source, the school's mission is to provide free education to poor children and provide them with food. 

The school's curriculum is in line with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports' educational guidelines, including foreign languages, sports and life skills.  At present, the School, which is the school of the parish, has 15 Cambodian teachers, three De La Salle brothers and three De La Salle sisters, with Bro. Joseph The Anh Nguyen as the principal. 

During the Covid Crisis, La Salle Po Thom School distributed food rations to poor student families twice on the occasion of Christmas and Resurrection, with 100 families receiving one at a time, including rice and noodles. 

By Keo Kanha for the Vicariate Apostolic of Phnom Penh.