Author: Charles Dittmeier

The wheels are moving…

The Phnom Penh Post reported yesterday that bicycles are Cambodia’s third largest export to the European Union, after garments and footwear. In the first quarter this year, even with the disruptions caused by COVID-19, 490,000 bicycles worth $179 million were sent to the EU, an increase of $10 over last year. The article was upbeat about this particular export, noting that the lockdowns and restrictions caused by COVID-19 may bring about changes in lifestyles and transportation in western countries and that could be to the advantage of the bicycle market.

Same old, same old…

Today I went to Syphal’s Beautiful Shoes near the Maryknoll office to order a new pair of shoes. I’ve been going there for 18 or 19 years and have always bought the same shoe design each time I’ve been back. When I first went there in the early 2000s, a pair of handmade shoes was $18. Now five or six pairs (maybe more?) later, it’s up to $38. I can pick them up in five days.

When online learning doesn’t work…

The government closed Cambodian schools on March 16 and declared learning would continue online. In a country where a large portion of the population doesn’t have electricity, that is a major challenge, not to mention the lack of smartphones. In the Boeung Tum Pun area, where the Maryknoll Sisters work, they are developing some workarounds, some work-at-home packets to keep the youngest kids engaged and connected to school during this l-o-n-g hiatus. Here a couple staff prepare colored pencils for the packets, colored pencils being maybe THE essential item for younger kids.

Back to work?

4 1/2 blocks away from the Maryknoll office is this building under construction on Street 360. For several months, every night I could see one fluorescent light (circled) burning in the building after the workers disappeared. I figured it was a light on an empty floor that had been left on and no one noticed it. I couldn’t see it during the day.

Then it disappeared. I figured it either burned out or, more likely, the construction had stopped because of the pandemic and the power to the whole building site had been shut off. No workers were visible either. But then two days ago the same light was back on when I’d look out at 5:00 AM or at 10:00 PM. I’m guessing, for whatever reason, work is resuming.

A Little Hideaway

Riding along the streets of Phnom Penh, one is confronted by high walls and gates of compounds that just reflect a frightened urban mentality. Go through some of those gates, though, and one is in another world, such as this compound where some famous sisters live. It could not be more secluded although it’s right by the royal palace and the prime minister’s house. Going to the sisters’ house in the dark, one could almost expect the Death Eaters to emerge.