Author: Charles Dittmeier

Apologies

I just spent several hours online trying to complete some paperwork for Maryknoll. It took a LOT longer than expected and now it is really late and I need to get up early. I’ll be back tomorrow! Sorry!

Awareness of Autism

One of the things the Catholic Church can do in a mission context is take the lead when new situations are encountered or society gains a new awareness. Such an area in Cambodia is autism. So much is being written about autism in the US and there are so many programs set up to work with children with autism. It’s a rather new issue in Cambodia—the awareness of autism, not children with autism who have always been there.

Many of the Catholic parishes now have programs to help children with autism and their parents, and today at the quarterly meeting of the Catholic Alliance for Charity and Development, a subgroup working on disabilities discussed an upcoming program to be presented by an experienced practitioner from Australia.

Renaissance Man

I posted some photos from the Maryknoll house in Bangkok while I stayed there for almost two weeks. Brother John Beeching was one of the pillars of the Maryknoll Thailand community throughout the years, until his recent retirement to Maryknoll, New York. His influence is shown in many ways, but especially in his sense of the artistic and his ability to apply it practically in a setting. He has an affinity for Chinese style and that is shown throughout the Bangkok house.

The room where the Chinese motif is most present is in the dining room where there huge plaques on one wall, a variety of vases on another, and even Chinese-style table decorations.

Throughout the house, though, John’s touch is present. Below, on the left figures adorn the floor and wall. On the right, another vase and a figure are on a hutch.

Aviation Woes

These are not aircraft waiting to take off. They’re parked.

During the Covid crisis, US airlines received $50bn+ to keep them afloat and ready to resume operations. Now the money is gone, the airlines are not ready, crews are not available and trained. The aviation industry blew it big time and the traveling public has paid the price literally and figuratively.

This is a taxiway at the Bangkok airport, filled with parked aircraft. I saw at least three such parking lots.

Bangkok Chinese Temples

A century ago, in New England and in towns with large immigrant populations, there were many, many Catholic Churches on street corners, sometimes two or three at an intersection, each serving a different language group. Here in Bangkok the ubiquitous parishes are replaced by ubiquitous Chinese temples in the neighborhoods in this mostly Buddhist country. This photo doesn’t give a good idea of what they’re like.