Author: Charles Dittmeier

Get it on the street…

Just about everything can be bought from carts on the street in Phnom Penh: clothes, shoes, rain gear, snacks, drinks–you name it. Here a fruit seller offers a variety of in-season fruits. I sometimes am concerned about the hygiene level of sellers who peel, open, slice their fruit but it sure is convenient. I can’t imagine myself cutting up a pineapple at home.

NSSF

This week an official from the National Social Security Fund came to DDP to explain to our staff about the rather new social security program in Cambodia. He spend three hours explaining the fund with a sign language interpreter for the deaf staff. The beginning of a social security program is a BIG step forward for Cambodia.

Grab Food Delivery

This is one of the most dangerous people in Phnom Penh. During the Covid epidemic when people couldn’t go out, delivery services proliferated, especially food deliveries from restaurants. Because customers want their food hot and their drinks cold, these drivers are pressured to move fast. And they do. Regardless of laws, safety, traffic, common sense. They are always going too fast and weaving in and out of traffic, going through red lights, etc. They are a real menace on the streets.

Golden 42

This is a view from my new room in Phnom Penh, up on the 12th floor. It’s quite a switch from where I lived before! The golden building is the Golden 42, one of the first tall buildings in Cambodia–and still unfinished. It was started about 12 years ago and has gone through three different owners, none of whom could come up with the money to finish it. It now stands on one of the most commercially valuable corners in Cambodia, unfinished, empty, maybe even abandoned.

FAD/DPF Visit (Day 7)

On Finland’s final day in Cambodia, they went to the Russian Market for shopping and then came to DDP to observe the usual weekend activities for the general deaf community. There are usually several active games.
And today there were some handicraft activities, making bracelets and other wearables.
Meanwhile others were preparing lunch for all the hostel residents.
After the games, there was a final meeting and then the visitors had lunch and headed for the airport for the return to Helsinki.

FAD/DPF Visit (Day 6)

Kaisa, the director of the Finnish Association of the Deaf, speaks about future plans.
The Finnish group still working during the break.
A really heavy rainstorm beat down on the metal roof of the meeting room so all the hearing participants gathered at the front of the room, near the interpreters.

FAD/DPF Visit (Day 5d)

After our home visits in the Kampong Cham area, we started our return journey to Phnom Penh. In the middle of the afternoon, we stopped at a roadside stall to get ears of roasted corn.
We made another stop as dusk fell at a famous wat along the highway so the people from Finland could see what the Buddhist wats are like.
This wat is in a beautiful setting around a lake.
Before it got too dark, we made a group photo.
To save some driving time, we took a ferry across the Mekong River. Here Sophy takes photos of a view that most of us almost never see.
The ferries are small, holding only 7 or 8 four-wheeled vehicles. And when the boat arrives at the destination, the vehicles need to back off the boat.

FAD/DPF Visit (Day 5c)

Nearby the community hall where we met the local deaf group is the home and barbershop of one of the barbers we trained at DDP. The certificate on the wall behind him is signed by me.
The second stop after the local group gathering was at the home of the deaf woman on the right, another member of the group. She runs a small convenience shop from her family’s home.
Then we went to the DDP office in Kampong Cham town where our group split into for lunch, on restaurant for the vegetarians and another for the rest of the group.
After lunch we spent ten minutes or so in the DDP office before getting back on the road.
The final stop near the gathering center was at the home of another member who also has a barber shop. He also raises chickens. The hay under the stairs is for cows kept by his parents.

FAD/DPF Visit (Day 5b)

About 7:30 AM, we stopped for breakfast in an area famous for its roasted tarantulas. Here one of the Finnish interpreters is buying one ($1.00 each) for a new taste experience. The rest of us had more common breakfast foods.
About 9:00 AM we arrived at one of the local deaf groups funded by UNDP and were greeted by some of young deaf women from the surrounding area.
We were meeting in a community hall in the village which is also used for Buddhist services.

FAD/DPF Visit (Day 5a)

Today was a field trip to Kampong Cham Province where the Finnish Association of the Deaf has funded our community development work.

We left the Finns’ hotel at 6:00 AM and about an hour later were at the bakery owned by Seanghai, a deaf former student of DDP. He is an example of the opportunity the DDP program offers.
Seanghai (back to camera) explained his work at the bakery.
Sophy, Seanghai’s former teacher, tells him which of the baked goods she wants to try.
Our group all enjoying their baked goods purchases.