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Today was a special day, a chance to catch up with Mark Hebrank (c), a really good friend who was in Cambodia for nine years and was an active member of our English parish and served as a communion minister and part of the St. Vincent de Paul team. Now he is in Florida with Paul but is back to see friends and appreciate Cambodia for what may be the last time.
You can buy almost anything on the street in Phnom Penh. The rainy season has started now and this entrepreneur has switched his stock to rain wear to make sure everyone can stay dry in the daily rains.
The rainy season starts in late May or early June. It seems to be starting a little later each year now. But it’s in full force already this year.
This is Street 53BT where I live in Phnom Penh. We occasionally get some water pooled up but today we had a prolonged heavy downpour and this water will be with us for a day or so. It was deep enough that my pedals were going in the water as I rode my bicycle through the flood.
The Saturday night community of the English Catholic parish needs to find a new home because the center where they have mass is closing next weekend. It has been difficult to identify venues that can accommodate 300 people but today we visited one site that could be possible.
Previously the owner of the large villa in the back converted the open area in front of the house to a warehouse. Now a school has acquired the property and is converting the warehouse into a multipurpose area which they have offered to let us use. It could be what we need.
When we drove the 175 miles to Battambang for the anniversary of the Daughters of Charity, it took six hours on the road. That made me take notice when I saw the headline in the Khmer Times about high-speed trains being successfully tested in Cambodia.
Alas, the article said that successful test will mean the introduction of “high-speed” trains going 18 to 30 MPH on the one line going south from Phnom Penh, and going 30-50 MPH on the northbound line. It’s still faster to drive than to take a high-speed train.
Today the task was to pull together all the elements and ideas raised during the first two days to put develop a strategy for CACD’s addressing climate change.
Each of the four small groups sought to organize a plan according to what they have done and what they want to do.
The coffee breaks and lunch were held outside today.
Another small group at work.
Today was Day 2 of the climate change strategy workshop. We had video presentations from speakers in Australia and India, and then the small groups went to work again.
This is the small group on climate and health giving a report on their group discussions and ideas.
CACD, the Catholic Alliance for Charity and Development, is holding a three-day workshop on its response to climate change here in Cambodia. Today was the first day.
About 40 representatives from Catholic NGOs and agencies are participating in the workshop at the Caritas Cambodia national office.
The major presented is a local professor who is excellent. He speaks well, knows his material, and presents it in a really engaging way.
At the end of the day the group divided into four topic discussion groups. This one focused on engaging young people in climate change learning and activity.
Today was the formal anniversary celebration. It was followed by a lunch together and then the guests from Cambodia got on the road for the long journey home.
The morning started with a welcome at a pavilion not far from the church where all the people gathered. There were 30 priests present with the 3 bishops.
Because this was happening in Cambodia, there had to be a traditional dance to welcome everyone. The dancers later appeared at various parts of the mass in the church.
After the mass there were many, many photos taken of different groupings of Daughters of Charity and guests. This is a photo of only the Daughters of Charity who attended from five countries. The congregation of the Daughters of Charity was founded more than 400 years ago by St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marrilac, in France.
25 years ago the sisters of the Daughters of Charity from the Thailand Province came to Cambodia and started ministering in Battambang in the northern part of the kingdom. Tomorrow they have an anniversary celebration at the Catholic center in Battambang and today sisters from different provinces and their friends from Cambodia started coming together.
This is the residence building on the church compound where I am staying. We arrived about 2:00 PM after a six-hour drive from Phnom Penh.
At the end of the welcoming mass, Bishop Kike invited all the Daughters of Charity to come to the front to be recognized.
After the welcoming mass, the sisters and guests gathered for a great meal.