The animals at St Francis Technical High School’s model farm and those at Phnom Voah are thriving. The High School currently has five pigs, two cows, 100 ducks plus four geese, 100 chickens, countless frogs, nine fully grown yabbies, and an estimated 5,000 catfish. Phnom Voah Farm has 22 wild pigs and 300 traditional pigs, 39 cattle, 100 ducks, 24 goats, and four horses.
Empowering generations through agriculture and social enterprise at Phnom Voah
St Francis Technical High School and Phnom Voah farm are in their final year of partnership with Catholic Mission, and have had great success during an especially challenging time of COVID-19. Both facilities continue to expand and flourish with all project objectives achieved and students, teachers and farmers alike benefiting from their life-giving work.
The school would like to enroll an additional 5 students to meet its teaching capacity. The model hotel which has two rooms, is now fully equipped with beds, towels, a functional bathroom, and other amenities. Additionally, the restaurant, located next to the model hotel, is fully equipped. The hospitality and tourism students use the new facilities for practical classes learning housekeeping and hotel management skills.
As COVID-19 restrictions ease, students are able to attend internships and field practice is up and running again. Internships at hotels for 2nd-year hospitality students have re-started and agriculture student practical visits to Phnom Voah farm have also re-started, each student attends at least 4 times a year.
The flower laboratory (below) has now been successful in cultivating and transferring bananas to the soil, however, the flowers are proving challenging with weather and soil not yet suitable.
Teachers have attended special workshops and staff exposure visits, to help them generate new ideas and practices for their lessons. The school has links with the Ministry of Education, which provides opportunities for teachers to train and improve their capacity on a regular basis.
Chenda (pictured below), a hospitality teacher, recently participated in a workshop provided through ASEAN on the emerging needs of the hospitality labour market in South East Asia. This gave her the opportunity to learn about and meet other participants from the hospitality industry across multiple countries.
Hoeun Sophat graduated from St Francis Technical High School in 2019. His father is a farmer, and his mother operates a grocery store near the school. Through his lessons and practical experiences at Phnom Voah he was able to gain vital skills and knowledge in farming, including vegetable and crop planting and harvesting, and animal husbandry.
After he graduated from St Francis Technical High School, he was able to attend the neighbouring Catholic university. With the skills and knowledge, he acquired from St Francis and Phnom Voah farm, he has excelled in his university studies and is considered an outstanding student – finishing his Bachelor’s Degree and currently preparing his thesis.
His experience at Phnom Voah has given him the confidence to present his ideas on farming and deal with criticism from others. Often people will say ‘if you grow this crop and you do that (technique), it won’t be a success,’ but with his training, he is able to see the path through which he can implement his ideas and make them a success.
