Charles Dittmeier – Welcome to Cambodia, and…..

The CACD retreat gave many of the church and NGO workers the opportunity to see some of the projects started by Bishop Olivier. One of them is CoCo de Takeo, a social enterprise which makes candy and useful and decorative objects from coconuts–of which Cambodia has an abundance!

Coco de Takeo mostly employs people with disabilities and single, poor mothers with no other source of income. Here a Little Person works with large coconut hulls. Notice the teapot and the coconut hull to its left which is being carved to be a decorative holder for the teapot.

Women then extract and trim the coarse, hairy inner shell of the coconut for use in various projects.

Some of the coconut shells are preserved, lacquered, and arranged into decorative hangings that one might find in a restaurant or a tourist business establishment.

Of course, an enterprise centered on coconuts generates a huge pile of husks that cannot be used.

Morning in a wet market

It’s early morning at a wet market in Phnom Penh, pedestrians and motrocycles all mixed together in the narrow lanes.

Notable Quotes

Pope Francis must exercise his ministry as arguably the most identifiable and prominent Christian on earth. His plan has been to keep it simple and radically evangelical. Acutely aware that we are facing an extremely uncertain future, his message could be boiled down to this: wherever the world is heading, just make sure you take God with you. Yes, it’s that basic.
Robert Mickens in LaCroix

Going for a ride….

He doesn’t look too concerned but this dog is in a somewhat precarious position. He doesn’t have anywhere to anchor his hind legs and starts sliding around every time the woman starts up.

What’s Cambodia Like #5?

Too many examples of what Cambodia is like are negative. Putting Cambodia in a positive light is its training of Ukrainian soldiers in the clearing of landmines, an area in which Cambodia has a lot of experience.
[Photo from *Khmer Times*]

Atrocity

Can you imagine such an atrocious sign at an intersection? This is what happens when you have no zoning and/or the inspectors are on the take and there is no enforcement.

Vietnamese New Year

There is not much of visible Chinese Catholic community in Cambodia but there is a huge Vietnamese Catholic community. Yesterday Bishop Olivier celebrated the Sunday mass on New Year’s Day with one Vietnamese parish. Here he is on his way to mass with them.

After mass with the Vietnamese community.

CACD Retreat #2

As part of the CACD retreat (Catholic Alliance for Charity and Development), we visited a social enterprise center where Bishop Olivier has created basically cottage industries to give employment mainly to people with disabilities and poor women who have no source of income and no possibility of jobs like in the city.