Author: Charles Dittmeier

Boncafé, helping again

10 days after offering a training program to deaf people on how to make and serve coffee in a business, the good people of Boncafé came back to DDP to donate 15 boxes of Oatside, an oatmilk that is especially suited for use in coffee. Never heard of oatmilk? I never had but it’s for real! Thank you, Boncafé!

Cambodian Election 3

There were no surprises in the vote totals in the national election two days ago. With the government banning the only real opposition party, the Cambodian People’s Party had a landslide victory. What may be a minor surprise is that they managed to lost 5 seats in the legislature, only getting 120.

And surprising initially but now probably confirmed by the constant repetition and lack of denial is the probability that Hun Sen, the current prime minister, will resign in four or five weeks to be replaced by his son Hun Manet. I suspect we will hear shortly some official or semi-official voices lauding the imminent transition.

Cambodian Election 2

It was certainly not a common occurrence but this ballot box was delivered by an elephant in on northern rural Cambodian province. The national elections were held Sunday, 23 July.

As was expected, since the ruling Cambodian People’s Party had the main opposition party banned, the CPP took 120 of the 125 seats in the legislature. Here is how the BBC reported the election:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66283745

Cambodian Election

[Photo: Khmer Times]

We are in the second day of a three-day holiday called for national elections. People must vote from their home villages but many, many people have migrated to the cities and jobs there. Transportation is slow and difficult to the provinces so the government decreed a Saturday holiday to get home before the Sunday elections and a Monday holiday to return to Phnom Penh or wherever they started from. And to make sure people realize how considerate the present ruling party is, the government made available 350 public buses to transport people to remote areas yesterday. Tomorrow, Monday, the buses will bring them back.

Taking over…

This picture illustrates the chaotic, unregulated way of life in Phnom Penh. This is the street and sidewalk outside of a market in the Tuol Kork neighborhood. The fruit stalls have taken over the sidewalk and one lane of the street. Perfectly acceptable….as long as the police get “tea money” from the fruit stalls.

Something Different

This morning, after I finished mass with the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s sisters), I was looking out the third-floor window at the traffic on Monivong Blvd, and it occurred to me that might be interesting to see. Take a look.

P.S. Well, I see that is not such a good idea. My slow Internet connection shows 2 seconds of video and then buffers for 12 seconds. Not good. I hope your connection is better!

Asian Deaf Games

The next two weeks, starting July 23, will see the competitions of the Asian Deaf Games, an every-four-year event that brings together deaf athletes from the various Asian countries. This will be the first time Cambodian deaf boys participate. For this first participation, our deaf youth will only enter the football competition. Here two of the footballers pick up their newly arrived uniform shirts.