Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page
Happenings in the Maryknoll world, especially in the Cambodia Mission Team.
Six months ago Maryknoll Cambodia moved its office from this building on Street 320 because the rent was increasing at a time when the church income was minimal because we were not meeting due to Covid restrictions.
Today I went by the old place and it has become a high-end therapeutic massage center. Part of the cement wall bordering the street has been pulled down to provide more parking. The metal gates in the left photo are used at night to secure the compound.
Ravy has worked for Maryknoll in Cambodia for more than thirty years. During that time, in many different houses, she has cooked and helped keep the house and office clean. Now she has resigned to help care for her family and today was her last day with us, an emotional farewell after such a long time.
Whoa….. I’m way behind today. We drove 7 hours going to and coming from Kampong Cham Province where we had to say goodbye to three staff being terminated. Then I just finished (10:46 PM) a Zoom meeting of the new Africa-Asia Area in Maryknoll Lay Missioners. And now the camera won’t unload the photos…. More tomorrow!
After its last General Assembly, Maryknoll Lay Missioners (MKLM) has moved to introduce some structural changes in the organization. Because there is only one mission site in Asia now, it is being joined with sites in Africa to form an Africa-Asia Region. Today three of the MKLM members here met with Steve Veryser in Tanzania online to talk about how the new structure will work.
I am starting to get feedback from people about various misunderstandings about the changes coming up in my ministry in Cambodia. Let me be clear about a few things that I will explain more fully in the days to come:
In the most simple terms, nothing will change except that I am replacing a Maryknoll Society contract with a contract from the Maryknoll Lay Missioners. And my e-mail address will change to cdittmeier@gmail.com.
Greetings… I have a big Maryknoll transition coming up at the end of June. The Maryknoll Society (priests and brothers) are no longer going to renew my contract—they say I’m too old–and I am going to move my contract to the Maryknoll Lay Missioners. I want to explain more about that in upcoming posts but I need first to make two requests:
1. My present e-mail address–cdittmeier@maryknoll.org—will no longer be valid after 30 June 2022. Instead my main address will become cdittmeier@gmail.com. Please go ahead and change my address NOW in your e-mail lists so that we can keep in touch.
2. Many people have supported the deaf ministry over the last 35 years by sending donations to my Mission Account administered by the Maryknoll Society. Like my e-mail address, my Mission Account will cease functioning at the end of June so please do not send any further donations to my Mission Account at Maryknoll, NY. Again, more about that to come.
I had planned to initiate this transition process at the beginning of May but that planning was BEFORE I had kidney surgery, BEFORE I got Covid, and BEFORE the Maryknoll Society e-mail server started acting up after a security upgrade, choking off my e-mail communications.
I’ll be back with more about what’s happening….
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.
Given my choice, I would prefer not to spend a week or ten days in Covid isolation, but if I have to do it, the Maryknoll house in Bangkok hasn’t been so bad. I’ve spent much of my time alone on the third floor so others can use the house and not worry about my infecting them, but for days at a time I have been alone and able to make use of the rest of the house.
Here are some scenes from the ground floor of the office.
