Mission Notebook

Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler ...A Visit to Maryknoll Cambodia 1 June 2011   Since his installation as the bishop of Phnom Penh last October, Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler has been visiting all the church communities and the communities of sisters and brothers and priests and lay missioners.  Today he came to the Maryknoll community after their weekly meeting.  He spoke with the Maryknollers for 30 minutes or so and then celebrated a liturgy with the group and others who came for the mass.  Bishop Olivier was very relaxed and personable and it was a delightful visit.

School's over for the day... ...but she can't go home 24 May 2011 Today several of us had to go across town to Phnom Penh Thmey for a celebration at the Don Bosco Technical School.  Because we would be returning after dark, when there are no motorcycle taxis in such a remote area, we took a tuk-tuk and asked the driver to wait for us.  When he picked us up, his little daughter was with him and rode to the school with us.  Her mother works in a garment factory, so at the end of the school day her father picks her up and she rides around town with him until he finishes taking fares for the night.  She has her Cinderella school bag but I wonder if she has a chance to do any homework?  Of course, in the Cambodian system, she probably doesn't have any homework.

The Church of the Child Jesus ...The Catholic presence on the west side of town 17 May 2011   Phnom Penh has two Catholic parishes.  One is "the Khmer parish" near the Japanese bridge.  They meet in a second-floor hall in a complex of buildings that used to be the seminary before the Khmer Rouge era.  The other parish, with a new actual church building, is the Church of the Child Jesus across town in the area known as Boeung Tum Pun.  Fr. Mario Ghezzi is the pastor, seen here preaching at a Sunday evening liturgy.

Monthly Lay Mission Gathering ...with a visit to Bishop Emile 9 May 2011   Every month the lay missioners from various countries who work in Cambodia are invited to a gathering on the first Sunday.  This month the group traveled to the new house of Bishop Emile Destombs who retried in October of last year.  The diocesan-owned house is situated on the bank of the Mekong River and offers a beautiful view of the river.  With Bishop Emile are lay missioners from nine countries.

Dedication Ceremony ...Mennonite Preparation for Baptism 4 May 2011 Today the liturgy celebrated each week by the Maryknoll Catholic community was the occasion for a Mennonite dedication ceremony for Aaron, the seven-week old son of Lana and Andrew Miller, the lead couple for the Mennonite Central Committee in Cambodia.  Maryknoll and the MCC, as they are known, have had a long working relationship.  Indeed, several years ago, a Catholic married couple became the lead couple for MCC after they finished their term as Maryknoll Lay Missioners.  The Mennonites practice baptism but believe that the young person should choose it for himself or herself, and so in infancy they have a dedication ceremony instead, asking the parents and godparents and the community to dedicate themselves to a Christian life that will support the growth of faith in the heart of the baby.  Fr. Kevin Conroy presided for the dedication ceremony.

Lost in more ways than one... ...no identity, no family, no language, no home 28 April 2011 At least once or twice a year a young deaf person will show up at the Deaf Development Programme without any identification or ability to communicate. We have no idea who they are or where they came from, and they have NO language so we can't ask them. We use gestures, diagrams, acting out, etc., to ascertain what information we can and then try to trace any connections to a family or a place, but at present we have four people staying with us because they have no place else to go. This young woman appeared seven months ago. We could trace her journey to us from a place in a northern province where she stayed for a month, but we have no idea who she is or where she was before that. Then we found out she was seven months pregnant. Her baby was born two weeks ago and we found a family who will help care for the two of them until the woman can return to our school and job training. Our staff refers to these homeless deaf people as my children so I guess now I have my first grandson.

Only in Asia? 20 April 2011       When I was in Macau recently, I accidentally and unknowingly bought a can of Lemon Coke.  I didn't notice until I got the can home that it had a lemon on the side.  I've seen Pepsi with a Twist of Lemon here in Phnom Penh but never Coke with lemon.  Is this something unique to Asia or is Lemon Coke marketed in the United States, too?

Setting for a Wedding 19 April 2011 Yesterday I had a wedding--at 10:00 AM on a Monday morning--and the time wasn't the only thing that was different from a typical Western ceremony.  The time was late by Cambodian standards.  Most Buddhist weddings take place at 6:00 AM on whatever day of the week is considered auspicious by the astrologers.  My couple didn't worry about that, thank goodness.  We didn't use them as arranged, but notice that three chairs are set up for the couple and priest.  Everything is done sitting down in Cambodia culture, even religious ceremonies.  Yesterday the couple sat during a scripture reading, but the rest of the time all of us were standing.  And notice the edges of the mats in the foreground.  All those attending the ceremony sit on the floor on mats.  Also notice the low altar in the rear.  The priest sits on a small stool when presiding.

A Natural Phenomenon ...Almost Totally Ignored 3 April 2011 This is the Tonle Sap River which flows, during the dry season, to the right, joining the Mekong River before entering the sea.  But during the rainy season, as the rains first raise the level of the Mekong, the river reverses its flow and runs to the left into the Tonle Sap Lake near Siem Reap.  After the rains stop, the Mekong's level drops, as it has been doing since November, and the river again flows to the south (right) to the sea.  This rare natural phenomenon is not known to most of the people in Cambodia!  A sign that the river is about to change direction is the accumulation of clumps of green vegetation floating in the almost stationary river.  For the past few months, the river has been flowing left to right, draining the Tonle Sap Lake as the Mekong level drops.  Now rains are starting on the upper Mekong so its level is beginning to rise and the river is starting to flow right to left and will refill the lake.

Mass for Victims of Japanese Earthquake Visit of the Nuncio 22 March 2011 Archbishop Giovanni D'Anniello, the Vatican's nuntio or ambassador to Thailand and Cambodia, was scheduled to be in Phnom Penh this week, and when the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, it was decided to celebrate a special liturgy for the victims of the Japan tragedy.  The Japanese ambassador to Cambodia (seated, left) was invited to attend.  The nuncio presided at the liturgy, joined by all five serving and retired bishops of Cambodia.  The ambassador's wife is Catholic and known to many of us.

Wedding Tents in the Streets Indicators of more than celebrations... 13 March 2011   This is a wedding tent set up this Sunday morning in a very narrow street right next to the St. Joseph Church compound.  They started blasting music--and at full volume--at 5:30 AM, but that's considered normal here and I wasn't around so let that be, barbaric as it is.  But right on the other side of the wall on the right is the hall where we have our Sunday morning mass, not fifty feet from the speakers (on the raised pole above the truck).  It was an incredible noise, so much so that I couldn't hear the readers using our PA system nor the people trying to make responses.  That is not conducive to good liturgy. The social dimension of these tents set up in the streets for weddings and funerals is another issue.  I don't think the government of Cambodia should ever be taken seriously until they stop allowing both right-hand and left-hand drive cars on the streets and until they control these obnoxious tents. Basically the tents are a rural phenomenon because there are no large venues for celebrations outside the cities, but it's one of the customs that has been imported into an urban environment that is really troublesome. People don't have money to celebrate weddings and funerals inside buildings, but custom requires that the family provide a meal for everyone coming, so they erect these tents in the streets--and on any street, not matter how busy it is.  At best they leave a partial lane for people to get past, but many times they block the whole street.  Military and government officials are especially good at that, to show their power, wealth, and impunity. This morning the access lane wasn't enough to allow this truck to pass through.  Its rearview mirror is digging into the bamboo partition so the truck crew are taking the box off the electrical pole that contains all the meters for the houses in the neighborhood.  Of course, wiring boxes are not meant to be moved around, so even if no one was electrocuted on the spot, it's probable that some or all of the houses lost power, or will in the next few days.

International Women's Day ...What does it mean in Cambodia...or anywhere? 8 March 2011

Today is International Women's Day but I doubt that this woman and her daughter were aware of it as they made their rounds looking for things to sell for recycling this morning.  If she's lucky, the mother made a dollar or two.  The little girl missed school but learned some of the finer techniques of recycling trash to which she is probably doomed.
This woman got up really early this morning, made a charcoal fire in a clay pot at her house, and then cooked the food she then peddled along the street.  I don't know what she was selling but I do know woman carry unbelievably heady loads around the city all day long.
These are some young deaf women in Year 1 of the Deaf Development Programme education project.  In December they were in the villages, totally isolated, with no language.  We are happy that in three short months they can acquire sign language, develop friends, start an education, and begin to experience life.  We are sad as we reflect that for these deaf women, the three or four years they spend with us for education and job training may be the high point of their lives.  Very probably when they leave DDP, it will be back to the village, isolation, and abuse.

Japanese Lay Mission Movement New members in Cambodia... 7 March 2011   Today we had our monthly meeting of the lay missioners from various countries and the Japanese Lay Mission Movement introduced two new members to the group.  Mazahiro Aizawa (left) and Sakiko Ishida (center) arrived in January and are currently in language school.  The mainstay of the JLMM community in Phnom Penh is Miyuki Asano (right). The JLMM now number eight people in Cambodia and are the largest group of lay missioners.

Vision and Mission Statements Helping Maryknoll Cambodia work better... 2 March 2011   During the past month, Maryknoll Cambodia has been meeting to discuss and draw up a new vision statement and mission statement for our group.  Developing these statements helps us clarify what it is that we want to do as a mission group and how we want to do it.  Noel Matthews has been facilitating these days with us.  Lindsay Doucette is recording some ideas on the whiteboard.

The Year of the Rabbit ...the new year starts today 3 February 2011 A lot of people of Chinese ancestry live in Cambodia and in the days leading up to the new year (today, 3 February 2011) many people were burning spirit money and other objects as offerings for their ancestors. This new Vietnamese department store just opened a week ago, but the Vietnamese celebrate the lunar new year also (calling it Tet) and so this store was decorated for the holiday but closed to business. My "own" barbershop... ...Is that class or what? 19 January 2011 In other places in this section of the website, I have shown pictures of me getting a haircut out on the street, and that was my practice for the first ten years here.  But now the Deaf Development Programme has decided to do our own job training, and our first initiative along that line was setting up a barber training class and barber shop on a street near the Maryknoll office.  In my memoirs, it can sound like a rags-to-riches tale: I go from haircuts on the street to having my own barbershop! All the haircuts are free because we want many people to come to give more experience to our students so if you're in the area.... 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 Mission Notebook for 2009 Go to Mission Notebook for 2010 Go to Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page