Mission Journal – Welcome to Cambodia, and…..

New Clothes

Clothing is much cheaper here than in the US so I am getting some things to wear when I get back. Today Sophy, a very competent and practical member of our management team, took me on a DDP moto to a small tailor shop located by our DDP barbershop. Sophy helped me with Khmer, to make sure the tailor understood what I wanted him to do.

The young tailor has made some clothes for me before so I trust him for this relatively big job. I take him clothes that fit, to copy, and pick out some material from a swatch book, and then he checks measurements as a precaution.

I ordered a black suit, three clerical shirts, and two pairs of pants, and he is charging me $232. The clothes will be ready in two weeks.

A Friend on the Road…

One of the delights in traveling to Bangkok is staying at the Maryknoll office there with Fr. John Barth. He and I lived together in Phnom Penh many years ago and he is a wonderful friend and a most gracious host. When I stay there, we take supper up to the TV room and eat while watching Aljazeera news and then talk.

These make sense….

Pope Francis cared….

Living Mission #35

Every two months I write a column for The Record, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Louisville, about life in a mission context. Here is the latest column which appeared last Thursday. Click here.

It’s the small things….

Anniversary Day!

Valentine’s Day is a special day for me because I arrived in Cambodia to stay on Valentine’s Day, 2000! I’ve now been living here 25 years!

Another Minor Accident

Today when I was on my bicycle going to the Deaf Development Programme office, I got squeezed between two vehicles at an intersection and got a good abrasion on my left arm. When I got to the office several staff pitched in to clean up and bandage the wound with our first aid kit.

An old friend…

Nineteen years ago I witnessed the wedding of Sarah Igboeli to Paul and then in 2007 they relocated to Australia. This evening I got to catch up with Sarah who was very much a part of the deaf program and the Maryknoll community and the Catholic community back in “the old days.”

Bike Repair

My major mode of transport around Phnom Penh is my bicycle, here being repaired by a young Khmer man who goes by the name of Jack. He has a little bike shop that fortunately for me is on the way I go from my home to the deaf office. For major repairs like today (getting a new sprocket and chain), I drop the bike off and come back after work. Fortunately also is that Jack is a real good man, a pleasant and caring human being.