Today was American Thanksgiving Day and we celebrated here in Cambodia also. It was a regular work day but at the end of the day we met at the Maryknoll office for a festive dinner featuring, as our Cambodian cooks say, the Big Chicken. May we all be thankful for all that we have and share it generously. Click here for photos from the evening.
Category: Mission Journal
What do priests do?
A not-uncommon question to priests is “What do you do all day?” So many people see us only on Sunday when they come to mass and don’t have any idea about how we otherwise spend our time. Well, here’s what I did yesterday:
One of our parishioners opened the first Auntie Anne’s pretzel shop in Cambodia and asked me to offering a blessing during the grand opening–which I did. Then I got my picture taken with….is it “Mr. Pretzel”?
Changing Skyline 2
Following up on yesterday’s view of Phnom Penh’s skyline, here is a little more detail. The red arrow on the left points out the Intercontinental Hotel that was the tallest building in Phnom Penh, at ten stories, when I arrived here in 2000. The blue arrow on the right shows the Vattanac Capital Tower which is 39 stories tall and currently the city’s tallest although other taller buildings are under construction.
Changing Skyline
When I came to Phnom Penh in the year 2000, there was one building above five stories and it was the only building to have an elevator. Now the Phnom Penh skyline has blossomed and 40+ floor buildings have sprung up and the prime minister has started ground work on two twin towers, the largest in Asia (the LAST thing we need in Cambodia, with all its problems!)
Difficult Cultural Differences
I just sat through a two-day review of the National Disability Strategic Plan organized by the United Nations Development Program. I’m not sure how much good such large scale (200+ people) reviews accomplish but at least a few good ideas were aired.
Such meetings are conducted in Khmer with simultaneous translation for all the United Nations people, foreign consultants, and others who wouldn’t understand Khmer. That’s standard procedure. The difficulty is that it is part of Khmer culture to always use a microphone, even for a small group (ours was large) and to turn it up almost as loud as it goes. A typical large meeting in Cambodia had a noise level that would literally be illegal in the United States unless people were wearing ear protection. What makes it especially difficult is that we foreigners have to listen to the English translation through the headphones but the ambient noise is so loud from the PA system that it is sometimes almost impossible to understand the interpreter even when we are wearing the headphones right over our ears! Two days of that is really frustrating.
Siobhan Miles
Siobhan Miles died unexpectedly a year ago and today there was a simple ceremony dedicating a library in an NGO in Phnom Penh in her honor. She and her husband Glenn and their daughters Zoe, Hannah, and Sarah used to come to our Maryknoll Wednesday liturgy and dinner until they moved back to Wales. While here, Siobhan worked with the NGO Chab Dai which seeks to strengthen protections for children at risk.
Salesian Girls Schools Graduation
Today was the 23rd graduation for the students of the two Salesian Sisters girls technical schools in Phnom Penh. One school teaches food service and sewing; the other teaches secretarial and business skills. Both have two-year programs. This year only three girls came from the school in Battambang in the north of the country. Previously they would have 30-40 graduates but now that school has almost closed because it is easier now to get across the border to work in Thailand and the families of the girls pressure their daughters to work in Thailand to make money for the family–instead of going to school.
The graduates gather, happy and excited, before the ceremony. The sister there to congratulate them is one of the fixtures of the Salesian ministry to youth in Cambodia. She is 96 years old and still active and about everyday.
After the national anthem, these students performed the blessing dance that begins every formal function. Notice the words in red on the wall at the right: Together we Build a Peaceful Society. They are a sad indicator of the unease and turmoil in Cambodia because of the actions of the government.
A special part of this graduation day was the recognition of these women–mothers of students at the school–for participating in a wonderful literacy program. All of them have advanced through Level 1 of the program that enables them to read and write. Another sad indicator–the lack of literacy–of the failure of the present government that has been in power for thirty years.
Mission: Down to Basics
UNDP Meeting
Notre Dame Students
Every year two students from the University of Notre Dame in the United States come to Cambodia to be part of the Maryknoll community as part of their school work. Last week two young women arrived to spend the summer of 2017 with us.
Margarita “Mar” Borromeo Diego is a sophomore at Notre Dame. She is originally from the Philippines where she began her university studies.
Olivia “Liv” Donnelly is a junior at Notre Dame. She is from Connecticut.
Liv and Mar arrived last week and had met most of the Maryknoll community in Cambodia but today they gathered with the whole group for our weekly liturgy and dinner together. Here they watch as Maria Montello prepares the first hymn for our liturgy.