On the day after Thanksgiving, the Maryknoll team was invited to the Sokha Hotel for their Christmas tree lighting ceremony, the beginning of the hotel’s holiday season. We were invited because one of our former students is now working at the hotel.
The program began with some Christmas carols sung by the children in blue shirts, from a children’s organization that had its roots in Maryknoll fifteen years ago. The Christmas tree was set up in the main lobby of the hotel which is quite impressive because of its size.
Other music was provided by a professional tenor and then the songs sung by the choir above, most of whom are Filipino choir members from the English Catholic community.
I had to miss most of Day 4 with the group because I had to return early in the morning to Phnom Penh to be home for a special occasion this evening. I was only able to get a few photos before I left in the morning and will depend on some other staff to supplement those with pictures they took during the day while I was in the van coming home. Here are my pictures from the morning before our departure and the others will come as soon as I get them. 
Today was the last full day of the annual staff meeting and it was definitely a full day. In the morning we talked about what it means to be a deaf-centered organization and how to achieve that, and then in the afternoon we talked about personal goals and a goal for DDP. 
Today, the first full day of the annual staff meeting, we focused on budgeting and management’s response to a survey of staff concerns. That was in the morning and then in the afternoon we focused more on team building. 
Today about 70 of our 85 staff journeyed from Phnom Penh and Kampong Cham and Kampot Provinces to the Metta Karuna Center in Siem Reap for an annual staff meeting. We will be here four days. 
On Saturday, 19 November 2016, Seminarian Sae Sat was ordained a priest for the Kampong Cham diocese at the parish church in Kampong Cham City. Here Fr. Mark Lopez (R) helps Bishop Kike Figaredo untangle the cross that bishops wear as a sign of their office. 
Life is lived on the streets–in the streets–in Cambodia. I’ll have to do a section on that, but here’s an example of the idea. This is some kind of meat, cut into strips, and then laid out in the sun to dry. I’m on the back of a motorcycle six or seven feet away, on a very busy street. This meat will stay there all day, collecting the sun’s rays and also all the fumes and street dust and dirt that a busy road generates. Is that a concern to local people? Not a bit.