| Church of the Latter Day Saints
...Alive and well in Phnom Penh
20 November 2010
The Mormons are quite evident in Phnom Penh, very visible on their bicycles as they go around the city in pairs. Several years ago some of them told me there were 64 of them in Phnom Penh. Usually a Mormon missionary from the United States is paired with a Cambodian missionary as they visit homes and neighborhoods.
 Two older Mormon Elders walking to work |
 Two younger Elders taking a break |
| Honoring the King
17 November 2010
Cambodia has many public holidays--about 24, more than almost any other country--and many of them, especially those connected with the royal family, are celebrated with night-time fireworks along the riverfront. Last week on the holiday for the coronation of the king, a friend captured this star burst over the city.
|
| Trip to Kampot Province
Funeral of a DDP Student
9 November 2010
I was not able to update the website yesterday because we went to the province of Kampot for the funeral (photo at left) of one of our DDP students who was killed in a motorcycle accident. It was a good trip. On Monday we participated in the funeral ceremonies with the boy's family and then on Tuesday we visited our DDP classrooms, the Epic Arts Center, and the Epic Arts Cafe before returning home to Phnom Penh. More to come on all of this.
|
| Welcome into the Church
1 November 2010
 |
For many years Carina Kirit has desired to join the Catholic Community so that she and her husband Ray and two children might all share one faith. On Sunday, 31 October, she was formally received into the church in a ceremony at the Church of the Child Jesus in Boeung Tum Pun near Phnom Penh. |
 |
Carina received a blessing from Fr. Charlie Dittmeier and her friends and family in this ceremony. She had received instructions in the Catholic faith earlier in Japan but was not able to finish there, and finally was able to complete her faith journey in Phnom Penh just days before she and her family returned to the Philippines. |
|
| Begging at the Church
19 September 2010
There is a long driveway leading into the Catholic Church compound at the Khmer parish in Phnom Penh and every Sunday it is lined with men and women--many of them elderly--and children begging from all those who enter and leave for the church services. Here a man coming to mass on a motorcycle with his son stops to give some money to those hoping for some help.
|
| Mid-Autumn Festival
...Getting Prepared
18 September 2010
Next week is the Mid-Autumn Festival, a big Chinese celebration of the new moon. Lanterns of every shape and size and design are part of the festival, and these two boys are taking a look at the selection in a small shop in our neighborhood.
|
| Celebrating Mother Teresa's Birth Anniversary
A mass and a film festival
15 September 2010
Recently the Missionaries of Charity celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of their foundress, Mother Teresa of Calcutta. In Cambodia they organized a liturgy at the Khmer parish on a Thursday evening and then the following weekend the had a film festival over three days, showing ten documentaries and films about Mother Teresa in a local theater. The films were also shown again the following Tuesday in a theater in Siem Reap.
 Two of the sisters welcoming two Salesian priests to the Thursday evening liturgy at St. Joseph Parish. |
 Another of the Missionaries of Charity talking to priests as they prepared for the anniversary liturgy. |
|
| Blessing a company
...Starting in a new location
4 September 2010
The English-speaking Catholic community is not a formal parish so we don't have all the committees and organizations that a regular parish might have. We do have many activities that are part of normal parish life, such as blessing of homes and businesses. This week Charlie blessed the MFC company owned by a Filipino couple.
 The rains started coming down about ten minutes before the blessing was to start, but there was a short respite as we began the blessing outside near the company's warehouse. |
 Then we moved inside to bless the main office room of the company. Two of the staff also live in the building so we blessed their living quarters, too. Following the blessing all the staff had a meal together. |
|
| If you've got it, flaunt it....
...The result of more money than taste
3 September 2010
Can you believe this private house just completed on the street where the Salesian Sisters' school is in the Tuol Kork area of Phnom Penh? Such a relatively small dome is hardly big enough to contain the ego of the person who built this grandiose edifice.
|
| Peg Vamosy arrives...
...new Maryknoll Lay Missioner for Cambodia
2 September 2010
Earlier this year the Maryknoll Lay Missioners phased out their projects in East Timor. Peg Vamosy (with flowers) decided to transfer to the Cambodia Region and today she arrived in her new mission territory. As is the custom in Cambodia, all the Maryknoll members who were able went to the airport to greet her.
|
| Religious Education Classes
Starting a new year
28 August 2010
Today was the first class day for the religious education program for the English-speaking Catholic community. The classes meet at the Russian Cultural Center every other Saturday morning. Here a group of young students begin class in the prayer corner.
|
| One of the mysteries of Cambodia...
13 August 2010
This morning this elderly man was sitting alone in the middle of an empty sidewalk. Why? Mentally ill, abandoned, just tired, nothing else to do?
|
| Sign Language Class Graduation
...Filling out an evaluation
31 July 2010
For the past three months, the Deaf Development Programme has been running beginner sign language classes open to anyone. We had so many people interested that we had four different classes going on simultaneously. Today was a graduation ceremony for the group that met on Saturdays. These young women, after receiving their certificates, filled out an evaluation of the class and the deaf teachers.
|
| Cambodian Culture:
Crazy over Fruit!
We are having a strategic planning session for our Job Training Project, and throughout the three days, we have the usual breaks, especially because some of the staff depend on sign language and constant visual focus on signers and interpreters is really a strain. In the United States breaks usually have tea and coffee and some junk food, usually some cookies or something similar, but here, along with the tea and coffee, fruit is served. And it is hugely popular! Everyone goes running to grab a favorite fruit and they thoroughly enjoy the treat in a way that North Americans could hardly appreciate. Sometimes I find myself wishing for a plate of chocolate chip cookies but I certainly acknowledge that the fruit is better for all of us. Here the staff are working on rambutins and longnans.
|
| Removing the Grass
Another Cultural Anomaly
21 June 2010
One of the attractions about the house where John Barth and I moved is that there is a large, mostly empty lot next door. There is a small house and quite a few fruit trees, and previously there were large grassy open areas. But then last week, a young man with a hoe meticulously scraped off all the grass, leaving just a few of what look like weeds to me. Who knows why? The next day it rained and what would have been wet grass turned into a flooded, muddy flat.
|
| Ready for the Fourth of July!
20 June 2010
It's still two weeks till the Fourth of July but the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh is ready! I went by there today and the bunting is already hanging. The embassy is having a big celebration on the Fourth. We have received several e-mails from the embassy about getting tickets. Maybe they figure it is easier than cutting grass since there are no lawnmowers in the country.
|
| Last mass at St. 95
Moving the office again
16 June 2010
On Friday, Maryknoll Cambodia will move its office in Phnom Penh from Street 95 to Street 123. Because of changing needs and an increased rent, the move seems to make sense. Today was the last of the weekly Wednesday meetings the Cambodia Mission Team had on Street 95. After the meeting we had our usual liturgy with John Barth presiding.
|
| Caritas Australia Boat Trip
11 June 2010
 Caritas Australia is a major donor for Maryknoll projects in Cambodia, contributing a significant amount of support to the Little Sprouts project for children with AIDS and to the Deaf Development Programme. In addition to being a nice donor, the Caritas Australia staff are also just nice people and have become real friends with those who receive their assistance. Today Caritas organized a boat trip on the Mekong River, just to bring together for fun those who give the aid and those who receive it.
|
| Monthly Lay Mission Groups Gathering
The month for fun
6 June 2010
Once a month lay missionaries from five or six different countries gather on the first Sunday of the month for reflection, discussion, and fun. Today the emphasis was mostly on the fun and the group went to a small center outside of Phnom Penh that has a quiet place to meet, space to walk around, and a swimming pool. The group was there from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM.
|
| Flat tire on an exploratory trip
My third flat in two weeks
4 June 2010
Last Sunday I took off on my bicycle to locate a grocery store in my new neighborhood that is similar to the Lucky Market in the old neighborhood. I had just arrived outside the mall where the store is located when I got a flat in my front tire. A very helpful young man, a tuk-tuk driver, showed me this little curbside shop around the corner where the young man repaired the flat while his friend chatted with him. Patching the tube cost 2000 riel (50¢).
|
| Time to Move...
3 June 2010
 |
Click here for pictures of the move to Charlie Dittmeier's new house |
|
| Priests Retreat in Cambodia
Kampong Som, May, 2010
1 June 2010
 |
Click here for pictures of the Cambodian priests retreat (part one). |
|
| Lieke Coenegrachts and Bill Burns
Maryknoll Partners in Mission
19 May 2010
A very important part of Maryknoll's presence and work in Cambodia are those we call partners, people who are not formally members of Maryknoll but who are very much part of the Maryknoll community and mission. Two of the most distinguished of those partners are Lieke Coenegrachts, a long-time lay missioner from Belgium, and Bill Burns, a lay missioner from the United States. Once a month we celebrate the birthdays of the Maryknoll community, and today it was the turn of Lieke and Bill, joined in song by Regina Pellicore and Sami Scott.
|
| Outdoor Mass
Construction at the Salesian School
14 May 2010
On Friday mornings I have mass at 6:30 AM for the Salesian Sisters at their technical training school for girls in Tuol Kork. The sisters are putting up a large new building there, and as part of the construction effort, they are repairing cracks and leaks and other problems in the attached convent. The chapel is being worked on now, so today we had mass outside in a grotto area. This picture shows the sisters finishing their morning prayer together before mass.
|
| New bike repair shop
...Close to my new home
6 May 2010
 I jumped on my bike to go to the deaf office this morning and quickly realized that the rear tire was flat. I didn't know where the ubiquitous bike repair stands on the street were in my new neighborhood so I hopped on a motordupe (motorcycle taxi) to get to the office and on the way asked the driver where a bike repair shop was. He showed me the closest one to my house and I went back later at lunch time. The man said that he would have it ready in thirty minutes but when I returned, he showed me that although the new tire and the old tire were both marked as 28", the new one was obviously much too big for the rim. He had to send one of his helpers somewhere to get another one, but finally I took off with a new tire and tube and minus $8.00. I thought that was a bit expensive (I have to repair a flat about every two or three months) but figured I'd get on the good side of this guy because I'll be coming back to him periodically in the future.
|
| Reconnecting the Internet account
...the last step in our move
3 May 2010
John Barth and Charlie Dittmeier moved to a new house on Saturday and Sunday. Their Internet service provider wanted to move the antenna on Saturday but didn't have a truck to carry the 18' pole that day so their crew came Monday afternoon. First we went to our old house and took down the microwave antenna and then set it up at the new house. Most ISPs in Cambodia use microwave links for their service rather than telephone lines or cable. Here the technicians are testing the newly installed antenna to make sure they are getting a good signal since I am significantly farther away from their base station than before.
|
| Monthly Lay Mission Gathering
...saying farewell to Dolly
3 May 2010
Every month lay missionaries from five or six different sending groups meet together as a type of support group. The meeting on Sunday, 2 May, was special because the group was saying goodbye to Dolly (kneeling, right end) who is moving to another position in the Philippines.
|
| Almost moving
At least the tree has moved
1 May 2010
 I lied. I said we were going to move this morning, but John went to the new house at 6:30 AM (the middle of the day for Cambodian people) and found that it was much too dirty for his liking so we had to change plans. He arranged for some women to come and give the place a thorough cleaning today, and then we transferred a few things to the new house that could sit in the open area inside the gate. Our tree is being loaded onto the truck in this picture. Tomorrow, Sunday, after the place is clean, we will move the rest of our stuff and start sleeping in the new place. In the meanwhile, I have one more night in our now almost empty old house.
|
| Preparing to move
Taking the trees with us
30 April 2010
John Barth and I are moving from our house on St 334 to another on St 494 tomorrow, and today was dedicated to the last of the packing up. Ed McGovern, who lived with Charlie for three years, acquired a lot of plants, some of them BIG plants, and today they all migrated downstairs in preparation for the trip tomorrow. This tree has a huge cement base full of earth and took four hefty guys to get it down the stairs.
|
| Cry Room, Cambodian Style
Things are simpler in Cambodia
The English-speaking Catholic community uses a large upstairs hall--in rather poor condition--for our Sunday morning mass at 10:00 AM. Many western churches have a cry room for parents with infants or young children. Here we just put mats on the floor in the back of the room. The Khmer people use the mats themselves when they go to mass. None of their churches have any chairs. It's only the foreigners that want them.
|
| Celebrating a House Blessing
Lindsay Doucette and Sami Scott in their new place
23 April 2010
Lindsay Doucette and Sami Scott recently moved in together in a new apartment and today they invited all the Maryknoll crowd over for a blessing of the house and a house warming. Everyone came over after work, Charlie led the blessing, and then a simple meal was enjoyed by all.
|
| The Church, not the Vatican
Not forgetting what's good...
20 April 2010
Here is a link to a New York Times article by op-ed page writer Nicholas Kristof. He makes a distinction between the Church and the Vatican and notes that the Church, the people doing God's work, is still a positive force in our world.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/opinion/18kristof.html?emc=eta1
|
| Trip to Takeo
First helicopter ride
6 April 2010
 I had my first helicopter ride yesterday, going to Takeo for the opening of a new eye hospital which Maryknoll had started about ten years ago. A friend was flying there, and knowing that I am a pilot, he asked if I had ever traveled in a helicopter. On learning that I hadn't, he offered to fly me down and then to make the return trip back to Phnom Penh today. I loved it! Seeing Cambodia from one thousand feet above ground was interesting. It's just unfortunate that the two-hour car trip takes only 25 minutes in the helicopter.
|
| Holy Week in Phnom Penh |
| Palm Sunday (27 March)
The Palm Sunday procession arriving at the altar at the beginning of the service
|
| Holy Thursday (1 April)
Washing the feet of parishioners in the Holy Thursday service which commemorates the institution of the Eucharist and Christ's example of loving service
|
| Good Friday (2 April)
A central part of the Good Friday service is the veneration of the cross. Traditionally people process up to the sanctuary area where a large cross is held and the people venerate it there. This evening the cross was passed among the people who stayed in their places and honored it by bowing or touching or kissing the cross.
|
| Chrism Mass
A part of the Holy Week tradition in each Catholic diocese around the world is the chrism mass—often celebrated on Holy Thursday morning, a special ceremony in which the holy oils are blessed to be used in the coming year for anointings, baptism, confirmations, and other services. This mass also usually honors those who have committed to the life of priesthood and is an opportunity for them to renew their promises to be faithful servants of the church. In Phnom Penh diocese, after the chrism mass all the priests of the country gathered for a meeting.
|
| Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday
Unfortunately, in all the rush of preparation and carrying materials to the sites for our services on these days, I forgot to ask someone to take pictures. Bummer.
|
| Easter Sunday Brunch
 In a little break with Maryknoll tradition, the Maryknollers in Cambodia gathered for a noon "brunch" after the morning Catholic and ecumenical services. Previously we had always gathered in the evening of Easter day for a dinner. Part of the celebration involved cracking real Easter eggs and another part was finding plastic Easter eggs, hidden around the Maryknoll office grounds, with possible surprises in them.
|
| Starving to death...
...the compassionate way?
29 March 2010
 Mice and rats are an ordinary part of life in Cambodia, and the Buddhists trap them just like the Christians and Muslims and animists do. But the Buddhists won't directly kill anything. Our neighbor caught this good-sized mouse in his house and hung the cage and mouse on the security screen on the back of our second-floor flat. He can't kill the mouse and doesn't want to let it go so in his way of thinking it's best to just let it starve to death. This is not the first time he's hung caged mice there. It usually takes them three or four days to die. Hardly the "compassionate" way of Buddha, in my thinking. I have heard of others who catch rats in similar traps, and then take them by the tail and smack their heads against the pavement. They then toss the unconscious—by still living—rat into the street where it is run over by traffic. Again, that is considered a more compassionate approach then just killing the rat. When I catch a rat, I drop it and the trap together in a big bucket of water and in a minute or two it's drowned.
|
| Palm Sunday
...singing with liturgical colors
27 March 2010
One of the blessings of the English-speaking Catholic community in Phnom Penh is the lively and dedicated choir we have. Most of the members are Filipino, with their natural and national gift of music, and they form the core of a really good music group. Here at the Palm Sunday liturgy, they lead the music. Note that they tend to dress in the proper liturgical color, too, supporting the red for Palm Sunday!
|
| Work in Cambodia...
...Cultural differences
25 March 2010
Fr. Bob Wynne and Charlie Dittmeier are the two Maryknoll priests responsible for the Sunday morning mass in English at the Khmer parish. That is not so unusual but there are lots of cultural differences that appear. First, we don't live at the parish so we have to commute--and bring most of our stuff with us--each Sunday. And second, the commute is certainly different, not in our own cars, which we don't have, but on the back of a motorcycle taxi called a motordupe. Here Bob (red helmet) returns from mass with his usual driver Chang.
|
| Another less-than-clear sign...
"Indoor Treatment"?
22 March 2010
On my recent trip to Sri Lanka, I needed to see a doctor for a problem with my ear. Luckily I was staying at St. Joseph School for the Deaf which has good connections with the several hospitals in the small town of Ragama, and the sisters at the school led me to St. Peter's Hospital. While I was waiting to see a doctor, I noticed this sign. The second of the services offered is "Indoor Treatment." This is another of those signs that may create more confusion than clarity. What is outdoor treatment? Where and when does that take place?
|
| Lucky Dirt at the Deaf Center
...according to the landlady
18 March 2010
 Today as part of the visit of Ossi Oinonen, the representative of the Finnish Association of the Deaf which is a partner with Maryknoll Cambodia in a Deaf Development Programme project, we went to Kampong Cham to see two buildings we have rented there, one as a hostel for deaf students and the other for a deaf community center. At the center, I noticed a large pile of dirt under a stairway and inquired if that was going to be moved before we took possession of the building. No, I was told, because the landlady says that is a lucky pile of dirt and we need to preserve it. If we were in another culture, I would think the landlady was just lazy or didn't want to pay someone to remove the dirt, but here I suspect this landlady is of Chinese ancestry and this pile looks like some of the natural formations that are revered in Taoism, a big part of Chinese belief.
|
| Vegetarian Cakes...
...as opposed to ???
15 March 2010
 Every once in a while one runs into a sign with information that creates more confusion than provides enlightenment. This is a sign I saw last week in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. It suggests the following dialog in some Malay kitchen:
Mother: "What kind of cake do you want for your birthday tomorrow?"
Child (excitedly): "Oh, Mom, can I have my favorite, chicken chocolate cake?"
|
| Prieb So
New Jesuit Headquarters
28 January 2010
|
|
The Jesuits have been in Cambodia for more than twenty years and have been a powerful force for the growth and rehabilitation of the country, both in the physical sense and the spiritual sense. Today they had a dedication ceremony for their new residence and Jesuit center on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Their old center in the city will continue to be used as the base for their projects. The top photo shows an interior courtyard, a place of calm and quiet in noisy Phnom Penh. The bottom photo shows Fr. Gabriel Je, the Jesuit superior opening the ceremony with Bishop-Elect Olivier, Bishop Emile, and Bishop Anthony behind the table. |
|
| Catholic NGOs working with disabilities...
...look at the L'Arche model
27 January 2010
Today all the Catholic NGOs that work with people with disabilities were invited to the bishop's house for a meeting with Michael Noonan (dark shirt), the Asia regional coordinator for the L'Arche communities. He spoke about the work of L'Arche with people with intellectual disabilities and helped the Cambodia groups to look at what might be possible here with that model. Three of the four bishops of Cambodia attended the meeting in addition to the five or six organizations represented.
|
| Peg Vamosy
Checking out Cambodia...
25 January 2010
Peg Vamosy is a Maryknoll Lay Missioner who has been working in East Timor. The lay missioner presence there is being discontinued, though, so now Peg (middle) is investigating to which country to transfer. Now she is visiting Cambodia and today was at the Deaf Development Programme with Charlie Dittmeier and Susan Sporl, two other members of the Maryknoll Lay Missioners.
|
| Epiphany Dinner
Annual Gathering at the Bishop's House
3 January 2010
 |
Click here for pictures of the bishop's Epiphany dinner |
|
Return to Top of Page
Go to Mission Notebook for 2000-2001
Go to Mission Notebook for 2002
Go to Mission Notebook for 2003
Go to Mission Notebook for 2004
Go to Mission Notebook for 2005
Go to Mission Notebook for 2006
Go to Mission Notebook for 2007
Go to Mission Notebook for 2008
Go to Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page
| 
