Author: Charles Dittmeier

Pchum Ben 2017 #5

Last Sunday, before the Pchum Ben holiday began, these people were waiting under the Japanese bridge for vans and trucks to take them to their home provinces.  Today is the last day of the official holiday.  Do you think all these people will be back at work tomorrow, Friday? Nooooooo….not by a long shot.  This year Pchum Ben had the makings of a perfect holiday, with the official celebration on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Well….NO ONE could expect someone to work on Monday before the holiday, could they?  And certainly not on Friday after the holiday.  So everyone was off Saturday and Sunday before the holidays, the full work week of the holidays, and the Saturday and Sunday after the holidays–nine days off work for a three-day holiday!  Not bad, huh?

Pchum Ben 2017 #4

Last Sunday it was double parking, lots of vendors, and hundreds of people crowding the big wats in Phnom Penh in anticipation of the Pchum Ben rituals.

Now, in the middle of the three-day holiday for Pchum Ben, the wats in Phnom Penh are devoid of people.  The locals are, for these days, in their homes and in the wats in the provinces where they grew up.  Phnom Penh is largely deserted.

Pchum Ben 2017 #3

Today is the first of the three days of the official Pchum Ben holiday.  Most people have already left town, but there are always some whose departure is delayed by their jobs or other circumstances.  This morning here were some of the late-departers cramming themselves and their belongings into an overcrowded van for a trip that can’t be too enjoyable but is just part of life for the majority of the populace who depend on this kind of transport.

Pchum Ben 2017 #2

Tomorrow is the first day of the three-day public celebration of the Pchum Ben Festival honoring deceased relatives, but prayers and various activities started a week and a half ago.  This past Sunday many Cambodian people took the opportunity to visit a wat to make offerings and say prayers for their family who have gone before them in death.

Cambodian Government:Corrupt, Incompetent 9

This is No. 9 of the nine examples of incompetence and corruption that appeared in the headlines of The Cambodia Daily in just two days.  People trying to preserve their houses and lands in the face of sand-dredging are visited by government thugs.

Wednesday, 9 August 2017

Thursday, 10 August 2017

 

Musica Felice

Ms. Miwako Fujiwara is a musician with our English Catholic Community and she is also the founder of Musica Felice, a classical choral group.  On September 10th, Musica Felice had a concert at the Sofitel Hotel in Phnom Penh.

The first half of the concert was very classical, warm, well-loved traditional choral pieces performed by a chorus recruited from various churches and from the general public. Miwako conducted.
The second half of the concert had similar music but it was performed on traditional Khmer musical instruments.
This traditional Cambodian instrument is a Cambodian harp which had to be built from old pictures and diagrams.

Deaf Day Celebration 2017

Every year deaf communities around the world celebrate a Deaf Day (sometimes a Deaf Week) to give deaf people a chance to come together and to put on programs of deaf awareness so that others can understand about deaf people.  Click here for pictures of our Deaf Day celebration in Cambodia.