Author: Charles Dittmeier

Refreshing but not so profitable.

These are the people who really get hurt by shutting down the local economy to fight Covid-19. These people, all part of the informal economy, only make money when they are on the street and when other people are on the street to buy. How much could this woman make even pre-Covid-19? She has to buy the fruit, buy the block of ice, and rent the cart. And then the price for sliced fresh fruit can’t be too high. The profit margin has to be rather low for a morning or afternoon walking the streets.

What is his story?

This young man is selling bags of various fruits from a modified motorcycle. From here the red fruits look like apples but they are not.

I often wonder if this is one of the “desperation” jobs in the informal economy. It could be that the young man’s family owns some land with fruit trees and the family kids hit the streets with fruit every day. More likely is that he can’t find a steady job so he rents the motorcycle from the fruit orchard and gets a cut of whatever he can sell during the day. How long will he do that? Just one day? One week? One month? Would anyone keep at it for longer than that, earning a dollar or two a day?

What’s bugging DDP?

A recurring problem at the Deaf Development Programme—and throughout Cambodia—is termites. As we were preparing for the reopening of our classrooms, we found that termites had once again invaded some cabinets and chewed on books, shelves, etc. Here two teachers discard some damaged materials.

What happens to the children?

For this mother, every day is “Take your children to work day.”

This is not an uncommon sight in Phnom Penh, a mother–or father–taking the children to work with them. It is more common now because the schools have been closed and the parents have no alternative except to take the children with them.

Here a father takes his son along for the ride as he picks up people in his tuk-tuk all day long. This son and father really seemed to enjoy being together from the conversations they were having.

Better than walking?

Electric vehicles are becoming more popular around the world but I don’t know if this one is going to attract much attention. It is one of the smallest electric bikes I have seen in Phnom Penh and doesn’t look really comfortable. This is the only one of this model I have seen so may others share my lack of enthusiasm for it.