Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page
People and activities in the Cambodian deaf world
A really important part of any deaf gathering is the communications among deaf people who are isolated from almost everyone else in their daily lives at work or school or at even at home. Click here to see some photos of deaf people enjoying being together–and talking together–at the DDP Women’s Day celebration.
Today DDP celebrated Women’s Day. This is one of the special days we mark each year because DDP is really committed to respecting and empowering deaf women. Click here for some photos from the morning activities.
One week ago (February 21) I related how I try to keep this cat out of my office because once before a previous cat gave birth to kittens there. I was (partially) successful. This morning, Sophy, our Education Project manager, came to work to find the cat and two new kittens settled down in an open desk drawer Sophy had forgot to close in her office.
This cat–caught today waiting? resting? stalking? on top of our accounting filing cabinets–and I have a running battle going. Our deaf office building is not “tight” as you might expect a solid concrete building to be. Doors are often just grates; even if solid, they’re mostly open; and the way the tile roof sits on the walls, the cat can always get in and out. I always tried to make sure she was “out” because a previous cat gave birth to a litter of kittens in my office. The cat always makes sure she’s in, and judging from the overturned rubbish bins in the offices, she manages to be “in” a lot, searching for food scraps. I used to chase her out, and then when we were having exasperating rat problems in the Maryknoll office, it occurred to me that maybe we are not having the same problem in the deaf office because of the cat. So now I tolerate her–chasing her out of my office but not getting too exercised when she’s slinking through the second-floor corridors.
A week ago we had the Musica Felice charity concert which was a great success. 100% of the ticket sales went to the two groups—our Deaf Development Programme was one of them–for whom the concert was organized by Miwako Fujiwara. A reporter contacted me after the concert and we talked a bit but then I didn’t see anything in the paper and thought an editor might have killed the piece he was planning. But today Miwako sent me the following link to the article–and I was quoted!
Take a look to get a “feel” for the concert experience!
Sunday evening we had the Musica Felice Charity Concert and part of the proceeds were designated to assist the Maryknoll Deaf Development Programme. Organized by Ms. Miwako Fujiwara, the concert filled the large ballroom of the Sofitel hotel both with people and beautiful music.
Ms. Miwako Fujiwara is a professional musician and the organizer of Musica Felice, a choral group of Phnom Penh singers. Their series of benefit concerts was interrupted by Covid-19 but today held a concert at the Sofitel hotel in Phnom Penh with the Deaf Development Programme as one of the beneficiaries. More than twenty DDP staff attended. Most of the concert was not interpreted but at the intermission Miwako made some introductions. Unfortunately, our sign language interpreter offstage didn’t hear her name called, and when she didn’t appear I stepped in for some impromptu interpreting. (More on the concert tomorrow.)
