Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page
Six months ago Maryknoll Cambodia moved its office from this building on Street 320 because the rent was increasing at a time when the church income was minimal because we were not meeting due to Covid restrictions.
Today I went by the old place and it has become a high-end therapeutic massage center. Part of the cement wall bordering the street has been pulled down to provide more parking. The metal gates in the left photo are used at night to secure the compound.
Everyday this week the temperature has been 90º to 95ºF. That’s hot. But look at these women motorcyclists on the street today. They all have jackets with hoods–and the hoods are up, under their helmets. And three out of four are wearing gloves.
Of course, none of that is about heat. The jackets, long sleeves, and gloves are to keep the sun off their skin. Who wants to have dark skin?
Ravy has worked for Maryknoll in Cambodia for more than thirty years. During that time, in many different houses, she has cooked and helped keep the house and office clean. Now she has resigned to help care for her family and today was her last day with us, an emotional farewell after such a long time.
Whoa….. I’m way behind today. We drove 7 hours going to and coming from Kampong Cham Province where we had to say goodbye to three staff being terminated. Then I just finished (10:46 PM) a Zoom meeting of the new Africa-Asia Area in Maryknoll Lay Missioners. And now the camera won’t unload the photos…. More tomorrow!
After its last General Assembly, Maryknoll Lay Missioners (MKLM) has moved to introduce some structural changes in the organization. Because there is only one mission site in Asia now, it is being joined with sites in Africa to form an Africa-Asia Region. Today three of the MKLM members here met with Steve Veryser in Tanzania online to talk about how the new structure will work.
Perhaps the worst aspect of deafness is not the inability to hear. Deaf people say they can overcome that with hearing aids, cochlear implants and other technology, and can still communicate using sign language, gestures, writing notes, lip reading, and such simple things as acting out an idea or pointing to something.
For many, many deaf people the worst part of deafness is isolation. They are excluded from all that is going on around them because they do not share a common language with their society.
Here in Cambodia our deaf students do not know sign language when they come to us and their families almost never learn sign language. When our students are at home with their hearing parents and brothers and sisters, they are isolated. They may be in the same house, may eat together, but the deaf person has no communication.
Many young deaf people come to us at age 19-23 and they have never spoken to a human being in any language. All the things hearing children learn from hearing parents as they grow up, the deaf students have missed.
That is why it is so important for more hearing people to learn sign language. Then when they encounter deaf people at work or in a group or socially or just on the street, they can communicate and can include the deaf person in what is happening.
That is why the Deaf Development Programme teaches regular sign language classes.
The Sign Language Project of the Deaf Development Programme teaches Cambodian Sign Language to interested groups throughout the year. This week we had a combined graduation for new signers from four different NGOs serving people with disabilities. I gave a short talk explaining the importance of increasing the number of hearing people able to use sign language.
I am starting to get feedback from people about various misunderstandings about the changes coming up in my ministry in Cambodia. Let me be clear about a few things that I will explain more fully in the days to come:
In the most simple terms, nothing will change except that I am replacing a Maryknoll Society contract with a contract from the Maryknoll Lay Missioners. And my e-mail address will change to cdittmeier@gmail.com.