MITAPEEAP (Friendship)
Of course for most of us the most practical and visible part of our twinning has been fund raising for our friends in Kompong Thom - through our regular outreach collections and the Mitapeeap envelopes. Mitapeeap envelopes can be used on a weekly basis and are to be found on the table in the Narthex next to CAFOD.
Always, in our fund raising, we have been guided by the thoughts and aspirations of the incumbent parish priest in Kompong Thom . All the parish priests have been keen that the local communities are empowered to improve themselves and their local communities - and so over the years money given to the parish priest has been used to :-
Help towards the building costs of:-
- the Church of the Good Shepherd.
- St Mary's kindergarten at Mineav.
- Re-building houses after a year of particularly bad floods.
- the refurbishment the Nazareth Boys' Hostel.
- The rebuild and repair of the stone stupa (ossuary) at Kompong Ko to honour and protect the bones of their ancestors.
Some of the funds raised have helped :-
- Buy bicycles either for children from disabled families to get to school or for a family member to have employment
- support boys and girls in the two hostels. (The hostels provide boarding facilities for orphans, those needing care and for those who live too far away from the school and would therefore not be able to have an education).
- Provide an opportunity for several young people to receive further education at the Don Bosco Schools in Phnom Penh and to go on to University.
- This year Frs Jinyhuk and Peter have agreed that some of our donations will specifically sponsor Tiavee to go to Medical School for the duration of her training.
The people of Kompong Thom love to receive cards and letters particularly at Christmas and Easter.
You are invited to correspond with our sister parish: Catholic Church, P.O. Box 601, Kompong Thom, Cambodia.