Wall improves safety for more than 600 students and staff

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries improved the safety of the Don Bosco School in the village of Andaung Chen, located in the Battambang Province of Cambodia, by building a wall around the school perimeter. Donor funding from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, made the project possible.

The new wall was built with concrete columns and brick and has dimensions of 260 meters (853 feet) long and three meters (approximately 10 feet) high around the Don Bosco School and campus. Salesians also removed 13 downed trees along the wall.

This new wall secures school property to prevent unwelcome access and theft, and it improves safety for more than 600 students and staff. The wall also blocks flooding and the flow of rainwater that had been coming onto the school grounds from the neighbors.

The school has students from primary and secondary school from ages 4-20. Rith Sela, a student, expressed her gratitude for the improvements. Like many students at Don Bosco School, Sela comes from a community where families work to make a living through lower-income occupations such as construction work, farming, running small market stalls and factory employment. For these families, access to a safe and supportive learning environment is essential for helping students pursue a better future through education.

Sela said, “The new wall makes us feel safe and comfortable. These improvements show that donors and school administrators truly care about students’ well-being. Many of our parents work very hard to support our education, so having a secure and clean school environment encourages us to focus on our studies. Thanks to the generosity of donors, students and teachers can focus on education with greater confidence and peace of mind.”

Lim Sopheap, an administrative staff member, shared that before the fence was constructed, the school faced challenges with students leaving the campus during school hours and concerns about outsiders entering the school grounds to steal property. She expressed her happiness with the completed project.

She noted, “I am very happy with the new fence. It has helped prevent students from leaving the school during school hours and will greatly deter groups attempting to enter the school to steal items.”

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Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

Salesian Missions – Cambodia

World Bank – Cambodia