Category: Daily Life in Cambodia

On Wednesday three weeks of lockdown ended for Phnom Penh and there was an explosion of pent-up energy and activity as people were able to get out of their houses after a long confinement. Traffic noticeably increased as pictured here on a street leading out of town.

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• The Maryknoll office guards are now in zones where they are free to come and go to work so we have guards 24 hours a day again. During the lockdown they came only at night because it was so difficult to get through the security roadblocks coming to the office.

Some of the parishioners of the English Catholic Community suggested that we have an online prayer time and we tried the first one tonight. We had eight or nine people–on three continents!

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Recent Developments

• The government continues to politicize their handling of the lockdown and other measures dealing with the pandemic.
• Today was the last day of the three-week lockdown, but no one is sure what the rules are for tomorrow.
• The area where the Maryknoll office is located was downgraded (upgraded?) from an Orange Zone (moderate infections) to a Yellow Zone (few infections).

Bishop Olivier (with hat) has developed a creative and aggressive campaign for food aid for people hungry because of the Covid-19 lockdown in place in Phnom Penh. Here he is at the center where they prepare rice boxes and bulk food. [Have you ever before seen a bishop carrying a pig carcass? 🙂 ]

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Recent Developments

• Yesterday the prime minister confirmed that the lockdown WILL end tomorrow–but with some restrictions still remaining. What the restrictions are, no one is certain. We have informed DDP staff that until we get more clarity they are not to return to work at the DDP office.
• Mr Hun Sen said: “There is no reason to lockdown Phnom Penh and any province anymore. We will reopen the lockdown area, except that a province or capital can close a small area which has a high risk of coronavirus spread. The past few lockdowns were compulsory to reduce the infection and deaths of our people.” His statement makes one wonder since it is at the time when the new infection rates are the highest so far that he is ending the lockdown which is meant to reduce the spread of infections.

In this graph from the Voice of Democracy website, you can see the terrible effect of two people, infected with Covid-19, who ran around infecting others.

During the lockdown, we are to stay at home except for obtaining food and medical care. I went out after ten days to get more food because I am sure the lockdown will be extended and we may even become a Red Zone and will not be able to go out for food. Click here for photos of the food trip.

Food has become a major issue in Cambodia with many people without adequate access to food on a daily basis. Bishop Olivier’s food program has been helping out in certain areas. Above is a food distribution to family representatives at a parish in Kandal Province.

Recent Developments

• Today the number of new infections was 338, a welcome drop from 600s and 700s earlier in the week. The persistent high numbers are a worrying sign since 2+ weeks of lockdown should have reduced the nubmer of infections, not increased them.
• People have been protesting tht they need food siince they are shut up in their houses in the Red Zones. Unsurprisingly, the government accuses those complaining of politicking against the government.
• At a time when so many workers cannot work and are not earning any income–and have no savings, the state electric company, instead of reducing rates to help the poor, issued a demand that they pay up on time.

Last night China delivered another 400,000 doses of one of its vaccines. That makes a total of 1.7 million doses that Cambodia has now received from China and quite a few million more are scheduled between now and August.

Recent Developments

• After learning that some households no longer can cook food at their homes, Bishop Olivier’s aid program has changed its approach. Instead of delivering bulk quantities of food to individual families, the program is now bringing 500 lunch boxes each day to four locations.
• We have had great problems paying our staff at the Deaf Development Programme. We have the money. It’s just that we pay by direct deposit, but because of the travel restrictions the police will not let us go to our office to fill out the authorizations for the bank to distribute the money. We will try again tomorrow.
• The Catholic archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam has donated four million face masks to the church in the Phnom Penh diocese.

Recent Developments

• Previously only the worst affected areas of Phnom Penh were marked as red zones. Today the whole city was put into a red, organ, or yellow zone. The zones will be re-evaluated in a week’s time.
• The prime minister declared last night that everyone in Phnom Penh must be vaccinated, starting with the red zones.
• Russ Brine, a Maryknoll Lay Missioner, went out this morning to buy food and didn’t have any problems. I hope that continues. He brought me some bananas. Thanks, Russ!

On April 14th, the Cambodia government declared a two-week lockdown for the cities of Phnom Penh and Takhmau, 10 miles to the south. Then certain areas of Phnom Penh with greater concentrations of Covid-19 infections were designated as Red Zones and movement and activity was severely restricted.

Phnom Penh’s Bishop Olivier called an online meeting of Catholic NGOs and agencies to explain the present situation, to present the diocese’s response plan, and to encourage the church groups to do more.

A very large part of Cambodia’s workforce is in the informal economy (e.g., scrap dealers, tuk-tuk drivers, construction workers, etc.) and in a lockdown they have no income while prices are getting higher and higher. The Catholic Church’s response has targeted these people and their families who are suffering from food shortages.

Recent Developments:

• The lockdown has been extended another week until 5 May.
• Boeung Keng Kong III, the neighborhood where the Maryknoll office is located, has been declared an Orange Zone (an area of moderate infection). We can still leave the house to buy food, get medical attention, etc.
• The Diocese of Ho Chi Minh City donated four million face masks to the Diocese of Phnom Penh.
• The government has allowed travel between the provinces to resume and has permitted the reopening of resorts and tourist attractions (Maybe not such a great idea when infection numbers are staying quite high.)