Sr. Vich Saren: New FMA Novice in Cambodia
We are living an
extraordinary period in contemporary history – that of the Covid 19 pandemic.
This catastrophic moment has affected almost every aspect of life in the
planet. Even the formation of the novices of the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco.
Take the case of Sr.
Vich Saren Teresa. Normally she should be in the Philippines with her co-novices
from different parts of Asia. They would all be in the Novitiate House of the
Sisters in Canlubang, Laguna, a province near the city of Manila. But due to
the pandemic, Sr. Saren, who made it to the novitiate after an extended
postulancy here, could not get a flight back to the Philippines, like many
other people wanting to travel.
Well and good, this
gives us, especially the Salesian Family in Cambodia, a chance to know Sr.
Saren more. She comes from Somroung Village in Battambong Province where she was born on September 7, 1989. Her father is a farmer and her mother is a plain housewife and
mother to six children, Saren being the third.
“I
come from a family where we follow the Buddhist
teachings. In fact,
when we were yet small,
we would sit down in the prescribed way after our
dinner and listen to the sermon of the monk from the radio. Not only that, my
parents are very faithful in the practice
of their Buddhist faith; they go to the pagoda
often,” Sr. Saren adds.
“In
2008, I came to stay
with the Salesian Sisters
in Battambong to continue my high school
in the city. I was touched by the way the sisters
lived and how they served
the young. In 2009,
I joined
the catechism class in the parish and
then I moved to Phnom Penh for my Teacher Training
Course. After completing
the catechism course in Phnom Penh I was
baptized in 2012.”
“The reason why I joined
the Salesian Sisters is because I felt the call to follow Jesus,
and as a teacher at Don Bosco School in Teuk Thla, I
loved more
the mission of the Salesian Sisters in educating and helping to
uplift the lives of poor young people. I felt an
intimate call of God in this way, and I consider this ‘my first love!’
“On
one ocassion, during
the Khmer New Year holidays,
my family and relatives were gathered together
for a celebration. Suddenly, there appeared a poorly-dressed
young woman who
looked just about 19 years old,
carrying her two sons -
one on her hip and the other in her arm.
Both boys had no
clothes on and
she said that she was three months pregnant. She was asking for some money and
food for her children and said her
husbend was a drunkard. We helped her and when she
left, I
felt so disturbed in my heart, and a voice from within me was
asking ‘what will happen to the children?’ Up to
now, from time to time in my prayer,
the picture of the three and
this question flash back in my mind. And I believe that the
voice asking ‘what will happen to the children?’
is God’s call for me.”
“I
decided to respond to this call and joined
the Salesian Sisters. I did my first fomative years in the Philippines
and lately, on May 24th this year (2020), I
was accepted as a novice. I feel I am so blessed by God in calling
me to follow Jesus as a Daughter of Mary Help of Christians.”
The
Provincial Superior of Cambodia-Myanmar, Sr. Jessica Salvana, looks after Sr.
Saren’s studies and formation at the moment. She teaches her about Salesian
Consecrated Life.
