Mission Notebook

New Year's Eve 31 December 2014 The CMT (Cambodia Mission Team) of Maryknoll Cambodia meets basically every Wednesday and has a liturgy and dinner together. Always other people from outside Maryknoll join us for the liturgy and dinner. Because it has become so unusual for Maryknoll to meet alone, the CMT decided to have a quiet liturgy and dinner together--just Maryknoll—on New Year's Eve. On a regular Wednesday there are so many people present that we could never sit around a table like this.

Two Good Guys 31 December 2014     Today I had to go to the Church of the Child Jesus to sign some papers for a marriage I witnessed there. Fr. Vincent Senechal (L) is the pastor there now. Fr. Mario Ghezzi, the previous pastor, was visiting. They are two of the finest priests in Cambodia.

Opening of a High School 15 December 2014 Today the Salesian Sisters in Cambodia opened a new high school on their Teuk Thla campus. The high school complements a kindergarten and primary school they have had there for years. In a telling scenario, the Governor of Phnom Penh arrived 55 minutes early, wanting to get the ceremony finished quickly so he could go to the airport to meet the returning prime minister. A flight of mine was held up a couple years ago because of the prime minister's arrival, and we sat on the tarmac for twenty-five minutes while all his flunkies lined up from his plane to the terminal door. They were there early to be ready greet him, he swept past them and entered the terminal, and then they all turned and left. Not a shining example of good government, IMHO.

Christmas 2014 14 December 2014 Click here to see some of the Christmas activities in Phnom Penh this year.

A Taste of Home 10 November 2014 This evening a group of Spanish-speaking missioners and people of Hispanic background got together for a Spanish liturgy. They are few and far between in Cambodia so it was an opportunity to gather and sing the "old" familiar songs and pray in a different language for one evening. Fr. Kevin Conroy who previously worked in El Salvador was the priest presider.

Violence Against Chilren Survey 30 October 2014 Cambodia was the first country in the Asia region to complete a survey about violence against children. Many NGOs and organizations have given partial information about violence against women and girls or about trafficking, but this was the first survey about violence against both girls and boys. It was quite interesting to hear the presentation of the results of the survey.

Extra Credit 25 October 2014 Teaching is a real commitment--at least for good teachers--and not just a few hours work each day. Here Maria Montello, a Maryknoll Lay Missioner, works with her university students at the Maryknoll office on a Sunday morning, helping them to prepare for a scavenger hunt around the city that will help them develop their English language skills. This is the commitment that makes teaching--and mission--effective.

Visit of Bishop Olivier 23 October 2014 This week Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler, MEP, came to visit the Maryknoll community at our office in Phnom Penh. This visit was like several before: he came and talked with us about various things going on, then celebrated the eucharist with us, and then joined us for dinner. It was a most enjoyable evening. (Missing: Fr. Kevin Conroy)

Dittmeier's Own #5 21 October 2014 Often I find that what people are most interested in about life in Cambodia is the ordinary stuff: where do you get clothes? what are grocery stores like? etc. I've started an occasional section called "Dittmeier's Own," where I identify places where I get various things done. The name is a take-off on "Newman's Own" that Paul Newman used for his recipe for salad dressing. When I first came to Cambodia I tried a tailor shop near my home at that time and the pants they made for me came with a big scorch mark from an iron. Looking around for the next pair of pants, I found Royal Tailor. I'm not sure why I chose them from among the many tailor shops but I've been using them ever since. Actually today I was to go buy some material for some new pants from them but ran out of time.   In fashion... 17 October 2014     Not much for safety but at least they're color coordinated.... Lunch on a Holiday 15 October 2014   Today was a public holiday to honor King Sihanouk who died in October, 2012. The Deaf Development Programme was closed and Vichet and Justin Smith invited some friends and staff to their home for lunch. It was a very enjoyable get together. What is a pope? 8 October 2014     Pope Francis is certainly much in the news these days and he has helped people to understand the role of pope in a new and different way. Here is a good description of that role from Sacred Space, a website of the Irish Jesuits:       Today we see in the pope the successor of Peter. He shares the same charism or gift of leadership, a leadership of service. Traditionally the popes have called themselves Servus servorum Dei , the ‘servant of the servants of God’. The pope is not a dictator with absolute powers, as he is sometimes depicted. He is limited by the faith of the whole Church. He is not the originator of that faith; he does not decide what we should believe. Rather, he communicates to the Church at large what it already believes. He is the focal point of unity of that one faith, the unity in the Spirit. The pope is the servant of that one community united in one faith. Learning New Music 7 October 2014 Franciscan Bro. Rufino Zaragoza is a musician and liturgical consultant with Oregon Catholic Press. He is based in California but spends half the year in Vietnam—with a few side trips to Cambodia. Recently he worked with our choir and musicians in a Sunday afternoon session of exploring liturgical music for the coming months. Another Deaf Day Celebration 2 October 2014 Because the Ministry of Social Affairs couldn't participate in Deaf Week in September, they held their own Deaf Day celebration today at the ministry headquarters. Here one of the DDP students gives a talk about her experience of deafness as VIPs look on. Caritas Australia at DDP 1 October 2014 One of our major donors at DDP is Caritas Australia. Caritas is the international outreach arm of the Catholic Church, and their Australian branch is very active and has been very supportive of the Deaf Development Programme and other Maryknoll projects in Cambodia. Yesterday some of the leadership of Caritas Australia came to visit DDP. They were a most pleasant, wonderful group to talk to, and it gave us a chance to thank them for their support. Synod Liturgy in Phnom Penh Thmey 27 September 2014 Yesterday ten groups from the synod of the Catholic Church in Phnom Penh visited various projects of NGOs to see "charity in action." Today all the participants had a liturgy and lunch together in the new buildings on the Catholic church campus being built on the north side of town. In three or four years, it will be part of Phnom Penh but getting there now is a real journey. We had to fight both dust and mud, both really bad! Visit to DDP 26 September 2014 Every year the diocese of Phnom Penh has a synod or special meeting to support the parish and pastoral centers in their work of living out Christianity. As part of this year's synod, on the theme of "Charity in Action," part of the larger group came to visit the Maryknoll Deaf Development Programme. Here this small group visits the DDP Deaf Community Center where our manager, Lek Sin Rithy, explains our work. Dittmeier's Own #5 25 September 2014 Often I find that what people are most interested in about life in Cambodia is the ordinary stuff: where do you get clothes? what are grocery stores like? etc. I've started an occasional section called "Dittmeier's Own," where I identify places where I get various things done. The name is a take-off on "Newman's Own" that Paul Newman used for his recipe for salad dressing. This is a little one-room wooden shack with a tin roof (and no electricity or water) on the corner of St. 101 near the office of the Deaf Development Programme. It's where I take my bicycle to be fixed. If I have a flat on the way to work or if a brake cable is not functioning, I leave it here on the corner and walk on another 100 feet to DDP and then go back later to pick up the bike. Notice the Pepsi bottles in the rack on the right. If you're motor driven, this is also a gas station and you can buy a liter of gas.   Something New in Town 23 September 2014 For one of the football (soccer) games near the end of the league season, we introduced a couple ideas from the United States. We have been wanting to keep our former students connected to the Deaf Development Programme so we designated the game as a "Homecoming Game" and invited deaf people generally to come. We added some games and activities and food before the game and then at half time we had a lucky draw (raffle) and an ice bucket challenge. Also we introduced the idea of cheerleaders, something basically unknown in Cambodia—even in Asia. We were looking for ways to get more people involved in the activities so one of the Maryknollers coming back from the US brought ten pompoms and then some of the Maryknoll group, including Maria Montello (R), showed our cheerleading recruits some simple moves. There were no actually verbal cheers because everyone is deaf but it was a lot of fun and I think that will develop more in the future. (We'll spell "Warriors" correctly then, too!) All the halftime activites definitely got the attention of the other team and the spectators but it didn't help the Deaf Warriors team who endured their worst loss yet. Pchum Ben Festival 22 September 2014 Most businesses and even most of the small shops are closed these three days at the end of the Pchum Ben celebration. Many, many families have gone back to the provinces for ceremonies honoring their deceased relatives. Those who have stayed in Phnom Penh are participating in a lot of smaller activities after they themselves have gone to the local pagodas. Here a family has a little picnic. It's interesting that they choose to locate themselves on the sidewalk rather than on the grass. Pchum Ben Festival 20 September 2014   Yesterday (Friday) was the last day of work for most people before the big three days of the Pchum Ben Festival. This weekend more and more people will go to the wats, like the people in this photo, to offer food to gain merit for their ancestors. Then Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be the final three and main days of the festival period and everything will be closed. Dittmeier's Own #4 18 September 2014 Often I find that what people are most interested in about life in Cambodia is the ordinary stuff: where do you get clothes? what are grocery stores like? etc. I've started an occasional section called "Dittmeier's Own," where I identify places where I get various things done. The name is a take-off on "Newman's Own" that Paul Newman used for his recipe for salad dressing. I'm not known as a spendthrift. Basically I'm tight and don't spend money easily, so when I saw this shirt shop open near the Deaf Development Programme office, I went in to take a look when I needed a shirt. They had a large selection--nothing but shirts--and each one was $3.50. I knew that the marked sizes can't be trusted here so I had measured the shoulder seam of a shirt that fits well and started measuring shirts I liked in the shop. I ended up buying two. Well...I had never thought to measure the sleeve length. One of the two long-sleeved shirts had a cuff that came just past my elbow. (Maybe it was sewn for one of Cambodia's many amputees?) The other was made of a material that had pin stripes. When I washed it, the pin stripes stood out from the rest of the fabric and it couldn't be ironed flat. I ended up giving both shirts away and now I'm more careful when I go back there.   Pchum Ben Festival 14 September 2014 We are about one third through the fifteen days of the annual Pchum Ben Festival the period each year when the Khmer people honor their deceased relatives. The main three days will be next week, but today many people flocked to the various wats around Phnom Penh to make offerings and earn merit for their relatives who have died. This is one of the wats along the waterfront, a wat frequented by the rich and famous who account for all the cars. LaValla in Takhmau 12 September 2014   Today Charlie Dittmeier and Justin Smith went to the LaValla School in Takhmau, 15 miles south of Phnom Penh, to talk with Bro. Terry Heinrich (L) of Marist Solidarity Cambodia about collaboration. The LaValla School has a farming project and the Deaf Development Programme is interested in starting one, and we discussed how the two groups might work together. The End of Deaf Week 6 September 2014 Today was our final activity day for Deaf Week and we brought deaf people from Phnom Penh and two provinces to the Seedling of Hope campus for a day of fun and games. Staff members were encouraged to teach a craft or make something and I volunteered to take photos and print souvenir photos with an "International Deaf Week" caption on them. I was trying to keep things simple but ran into a snag when the office printer wouldn't work with my laptop. Here Vandang, our DDP IT man, encourages the two to talk to each other. They finally did and lots of people got photos. Fr. Brendan 4 September 2014     Today Fr. Brendan Mulhall of the Mill Hill Mission group in England arrived in Cambodia to look around and evaluate future mission possibilities. Frs. Bob Wynne and Charlie Dittmeier met him at the airport, and the Charlie took him to the Deaf Development Programme where he saw some of the activities for Deaf Week and met Justin Smith, a fellow UK compatriot. Friends Across Borders 27 August 2014 The JustFaith Ministries program collaborated with the Maryknoll Lay Missioners on what is called a Friends Across Borders trip, bringing graduates of the JustFaith program to a mission country. The FAB is now finishing up their time in Cambodia and this evening they gathered with the Maryknoll Cambodia community for a final time before their departure back to the United States tomorrow. NGO Fair at ISPP 20 August 2014     The Maryknoll Deaf Development Programme has had several connections with the International School of Phnom Penh (ISPP) and today we participated in their NGO Fair. They invited various NGOs to come and explain their work and later students will be asked to do community service with the NGOs. Friends Across Borders 16 August 2014 The Maryknoll Lay Missioners have a program called Friends Across Borders (FAB) that enables interested persons in the US to visit mission sites in countries where the Maryknoll Lay Missioners work. Last night a group of FAB people arrived and this evening they attended our Saturday evening liturgy and then the local Maryknoll Lay Missioners went to dinner with them. Unfamiliar Transport 12 August 2014     Fr. Michael Sloboda is a Maryknoll priest based in Hong Kong. Last week he visited the Maryknollers in Cambodia, taking a look at our projects and also at some of the sights of Phnom Penh. Here he gets on the back of a motorcycle, something he's not likely to do in Hong Kong. Dittmeier's Own #3 2 August 2014 Often I find that what people are most interested in about life in Cambodia is the ordinary stuff: where do you get clothes? what are grocery stores like? etc. I've started an occasional section called "Dittmeier's Own," where I identify places where I get various things done. The name is a take-off on "Newman's Own" that Paul Newman used for his recipe for salad dressing. When traveling just 120 miles or so in a developed country, a person would just jump in a car and be there in two hours. Not in Cambodia. Going to Siem Reap is a significant undertaking, not difficult but requiring some thought and planning. The road there is terrible and the trip takes five to six hours. On an inter-city bus, the trip is really slow because the bus stops to pickup and drop off people on the way. Most of the time I take a small van from VGS Travel near my house. The trip is still long but it's faster than on the big buses. Costs $7.00.   Dittmeier's Own #2 22 July 2014 Often I find that what people are most interested in about life in Cambodia is the ordinary stuff: where do you get clothes? what are grocery stores like? etc. I'm going to start an occasional section called "Dittmeier's Own," where I identify places where I get various things done. The name is a take-off on "Newman's Own" that Paul Newman used for his recipe for salad dressing. Fr. John Barth and I lived together in a strange two-floor flat until he transferred to South Sudan. Then I moved to the smaller upper floor. It was cheaper but there was no bed so I bought a Khmer bed, one of these wooden platforms. They are a staple in the majority of Cambodian houses--simple wooden platforms used for everything. People sit cross-legged on them during the day, eat supper sitting on top of them, and then at night the whole family stretches out side-by-side. I bought a narrow bed from this streetside shop and got the motordupe driver to help me carry it up to the fourth floor, and it served me well till I had to move to the Maryknoll office. From my Hong Kong days, I was used to sleeping on a wooden platform with no mattress.   Deported Workers 16 June 2014 The government of Thailand is very unstable now after a coup and to stir up nationalism and try to stabilize society, the military junta is deporting all the illegal Cambodian workers in Thailand. In the past week more than 130,000 workers have been rounded up and trucked to the border, with no advance notice to the Cambodian government. It has created a real humanitarian crisis on the border as people with no money or resources are dumped at the border with no way to get to their former villages in Cambodia. The Catholic NGOs met today about coordinating aid for the deportees. Here this truck leaves the border area carrying deported workers to a remote Cambodian province. Dittmeier's Own #1 15 June 2014 Often I find that what people are most interested in about life in Cambodia is the ordinary stuff: where do you get clothes? what are grocery stores like? etc. I'm going to start an occasional section called "Dittmeier's Own," where I identify places where I get various things done. The name is a take-off on "Newman's Own" that Paul Newman used for his recipe for salad dressing. The name may not make much sense, but it just seemed somehow appropriate.   The last few weeks my bike gears started acting funny and today they wouldn't shift at all. I really use them a lot and since I was already out and on the road, I headed to the bicycle shop where I bought the bike. The young man was working on another bike when I arrived but took mine and in twenty minutes replaced the whole gear control setup, trued the front wheel (where it was hit by a motorcycle), and adjusted the brakes. His mother charged me $5 which I thought was a little high, but I was so pleased to have it repaired so easily and so quickly. I bought the bike about eight months ago and had to take it back another time. In this picture, the young man is taking it inside to replace the rear tire which had blown out. This whole street is full of side-by-side bike shops, each one about ten-feet wide. Mothers-to-Be 13 June 2014     "Blessed events" are certainly welcome in Cambodia and at the Deaf Development Programme, but it's an administrator's dilemma when five staff are pregnant at the same time. They won't all deliver at the same time but a lot of maternity leave will overlap. Country #98 11 June 2014     My Flag Counter widget has been going for more than three years and now 98 countries have been recorded as they click on the home page of this website. The latest was the Isle of Man. You probably don't know much about the Isle of Man; I didn't: Part of the Norwegian Kingdom of the Hebrides until the 13th century when it was ceded to Scotland, the isle came under the British crown in 1765. Current concerns include reviving the almost extinct Manx Gaelic language. Isle of Man is a British crown dependency but is not part of the UK or of the European Union. However, the UK Government remains constitutionally responsible for its defense and international representation. Catholic NGOs Meeting 9 June 2014 The Catholic Alliance for Charity and Development (CACD) is a grouping of all the Catholic NGOs and organizations affiliated with the church. We have quarterly meetings and today the topic was Cambodia's role in ASEAN which will change with the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. Pentecost Celebration 8 June 2014 The large English-speaking Christian churches have a joint service at Christmas time and their Easter service was moved to Pentecost. Today, Pentecost Sunday, the different congregations gathered at the International Christian Assembly church in Phnom Penh. Christina Valenti, a youth minister shared by the churches, had a short program for the children. Bob Toan of the Second Mile Community was the service leader. Musicians came from various congregations and Charlie Dittmeier was the speaker this time. A Holy Dump? 30 May 2014 Wats are considered sacred places in Cambodia. Even the motordupe drivers will try to take off their hats or helmets when entering the gates of a pagoda. And the bow tree has special significance for Buddhists as the tree under which the Buddha sat when he was enlightened. Outside this wat, though, the base of a bow tree has become a dumping site for discarded religious objects like spirit houses and small shrines for the home. I don't think the Buddha would be pleased. Buddhist Holyday 23 May 2014 It is easy to tell the important Buddhist holydays in Cambodia—there are many of them--because the vendors come out to sell flowers, incense, and other things to the faithful as they go to the wats to make their offerings. These women are selling lotus flowers and coconuts. This man--and several others nearby--are selling birds that devotees can set free to make merit for their family and themselves. Many of the birds come back to the cages, the only home they have ever known. Rising Skyline 20 May 2014       Phnom Penh is changing in many ways. One very visible change is taking place on the skyline. This is a stylized shot along Monivong Boulevard with buildings no one would have dreamed of ten or twelve years ago. Music Workshop 19 May 2014 Brother Rufino Zaragoza splits his time in music ministry between California and Vietnam—and when he's in Vietnam, he makes sidetrips to Phnom Penh to help our choir and musicians. This past weekend he was with us once again to energize and challenge us with his talents and enthusiasm. Taungtauk Pilgrimage 18 May 2014 Every year in May, the Catholic Church in Cambodia gathers to remember the Catholics who were killed under the Khmer Rouge. Many were actually martyred, killed because they were Christian leaders. This is a memorial for them set up in Tangtauk in Kampong Thom Province. About 1,000 people attended the Saturday morning service this year with the bishops and priests and faithful from all three dioceses in Cambodia. Sacramental Weekend 11 May 2014 Last weekend we celebrated two sacraments for the youth and some adults in our English-speaking Catholic parish. On Saturday evening, Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler came to celebrate the eucharist with us and conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation on thirteen youth and adults. Here he listens while Fr. Charlie proclaims the gospel. The next morning, at our other parish center at St. Joseph Church, ten boys and girls received their First Communion. Here a group of them get organized and take some pictures before the mass started. Lay Mission Meeting 10 May 2014 A group of international Catholic lay missioners meets every month and this month we invited Fr. Ashley Evans, SJ, (second left) to speak to us about the Jesuits' discernment and decision to build a school in Banteay Meanchey Province. It was really interesting to hear how the group worked through strong differences to come to a consensus. Cambodia Mission Team 2014 9 May 2014 This is a picture of the Cambodia Mission Team, the CMT, that is the group of Maryknollers actually working in direct mission in the kingdom. Front row: Kevin Conroy, James Havey, Karen Bortvedt, Hang Tran. Middle row: Len Montiel, Maria Montello, Steve Chinnavaso, Luise Ahrens, Mary Little Back row: Charlie Dittmeier, Bob Wynne, Olga Pacumbaba, Sami Scott, Dee Dungy, Ann Sherman, Meden Tan, Helene O'Sullivan, Nancy Davies Missing: Lindsay Doucette Getting Around 21 April 2014     People often wonder about daily life in Cambodia—what do you eat, what is the weather like, how do you get around, etc.? Well, here is a partial answer to the last question. This is Fr. Kevin Conroy, another associate priest, when he and Fr. Charlie Dittmeier went to visit a parishioner today. Life in the fast lane.... Changing an OS 20 April 2014 After Microsoft stopped support for the XP operating system, I had Windows 7 loaded on to my netbook (in the middle behind the vertical keyboard) in a local computer store. That was the easy part. Now I'm reinstalling all the programs and utilities that were lost in the reformatting of the hard drive. It's a frustrating and time consuming task as I transfer files back and forth and try to work out all the kinks and failures that pop up. Holy Week--Holy Saturday 19 April 2014 This evening we had the Easter Vigil service in the World Vision auditorium. We had to start before it was completely dark because of the rental agreement but the hall has heavy black drapes to enhance some of the darkness and light symbolism of the ceremony. Here Charlie Dittmeier is blessing the new fire. In the second part of the ceremony we baptized two young adult sisters and their mother. They were really excited about this move in their spiritual lives and I suspect will be faithful and committed Christians. Holy Week--Good Friday 18 April 2014 The Good Friday service is not a mass and it has some elements quite different from an ordinary Sunday liturgy. There is no formal opening rite. Rather the presider comes in in silence and prostrates himself on the floor in front of the altar for a couple minutes. Here Fr. Bob Wynne begins the service at the Korean Center. After a reading of the passion of Jesus from John's gospel and after an extended prayer of the faithful, there is a veneration of the cross. A large crucifix is held before the altar and all are invited to come forward and kiss it or reverence it in some way. Holy Week--Holy Thursday 17 April 2014 In recent years we have moved our Holy thursday and Good Friday services to the Korean Center because we cannot rent our usual venue during the week. A major focus of the HOly Thursday service is the washing of the feet. Fr. Charlie Dittmeier washed the feet of people tonight while Fr. John Mace was the presider. Another variation for this liturgy is the period of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament that occurs at the end after the ceremony is over. Here some of the Missionaries of Charity pray. They were the last ones to leave. The Return of a Colleague 2013 Six years ago Bryan Hambley (R) and his now-wife Jana came to Cambodia for a summer to work with Maryknoll as a part of their studies at Notre Dame University. Now Bryan has almost finished his medical training as a doctor dealing with infectious diseases. He is here in Phnom Penh on his way to Laos to do a one-month stint with a hospital there. Also going to work in Laos is Katie (second left) who is nearing the end of her surgical studies. Bryan and Katie met with Sr. Mary Little, Sr. Luise Ahrens, Jim McLaughlin, and Charlie Dittmeier who were all part of the Maryknoll community when Bryan was here in 2008. Deserted City 15 April 2014     Today was the second of the three days of the Khmer New Year and the city is deserted. Everyone is from the provinces and they all go back to the provinces for this celebration. It is almost eerie how few people there are on the street. It's great, though! The foreigners here love it! Holy Week--Palm Sunday 14 April 2014     Yesterday was Palm Sunday and here Fr. Bob Wynne blesses the palm at the beginning of our Saturday night liturgy at World Vision. DDP Media Launch 11 April 2014     On Tuesday, 8 April, the Maryknoll Deaf Development Programme had a Media Launch to promote DDP's new Twitter and Facebook accounts, their newly redesigned website, and to introduce their new documentary. Here Hang Tran and Steve Chinnavaso, two Maryknoll lay missioners, receive gift khramas as they arrive for the ceremony. You can see more at the DDP website. Chrism Mass 9 April 2014   This morning all the Catholic clergy of Cambodia, 5 bishops and another 55 priests, came together in Phnom Penh for the Chrism Mass, the annual ceremony for blessing the holy oils used in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, ordination, and the sick. Here Bishop Kike Figaredo from Battambang blesses the oil used for anointing the sick. DDP Media Launch 8 April 2014     Today the Maryknoll Deaf Development Programme had a Media Launch celebration. We have needed more public awareness of the program and our activities, and today we launched our Facebook page, Twitter account, and our newly redone website, and showed a new documentary about DDP. Here Veasna, one of our interpreters, holds souvenir khramas that we gave to our guests. The new (and still largely unfinished) DDP website is at http://DDP-Cambodia.org . Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults 29 March 2014   This year we have three persons, a mother and her two daughters, who will be baptized at Easter. Today they participated in the second of the "scrutinies" (the Latin name for a moment of prayer and reflection) at our evening liturgy at the World Vision auditorium. A Poem 21 March 2014 We wish to write “battle” on a leaf And see that leaf dry up with the fall and crumble away. We wish to write “anger” on the cloud So that it may rain and the clouds disappear. We wish to write “hatred” on the snow So that the sun may shine and the snow may melt away. And we wish to write “friendship” and “love” on the hearts of newborn babies So that friendship and love may grow with them and envelop the world.               –Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim poet     DPRK Comes Calling 18 March 2014 Today the Maryknoll Deaf Development Programme hosted a visiting delegation from a disability group in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). One of our partner NGOs, All Ears Cambodia, has already established a center in the DPRK and arranged for them to visit us. It was interesting. We explained our work with the deaf community and then they explained their work with disabilities and also somewhat about their system although I didn't fully understand their distinctions between a capitalist NGO and a socialist NGO. It was a pleasant exchange and at the end they gave us gifts of Volume 46 of Kim Il Sung's biography (1930-1933) and the latest issue of their Foreign Trade magazine. And they said they hoped to see me in the DPRK! Lunar New Year 2 February 2014 Click here to see scenes from the lunar new year celebrations in Phnom Penh. New Newsletter / No. 3 1 February 2014 People have really responded enthusiastically to the idea of a parish e-mail newsletter and especially the part about having photographs of the parishioners in it to help us identify each other. It hasn't even been a week yet, but we sent out the third edition of the newsletter this evening after photographing some parishioners at the Saturday evening liturgy at World Vision. If you'd like to subscribe to all the exciting news of the English Catholic community in Phnom Penh, send an e-mail to Catholic.Cambodia@gmail.com. One year old 31 January 2014       Today Isabella Keo Smith celebrated her first birthday and her parents threw a party. Here Isabella poses with her proud father Justin. New Newsletter 30 January 2014 Because our English Catholic community is so dispersed and so many work on irregular schedules on weekends, we have established an e-mail newsletter to better communications and create more ties among the members. We sent out one announcement earlier but today we sent out the first official issue. If you'd like to subscribe to all the exciting news of the English Catholic community in Phnom Penh, send an e-mail to Catholic.Cambodia@gmail.com. The Final Trip Home 29 January 2014 Recently an elderly woman died here in Phnom Penh, a woman from the UK who was to be buried back in England, and I presided at her services here. The last one was at a mortuary situated on the grounds of one of the government hospitals--way, way back in the corner, out of sight, because of the superstitions of Cambodian people. When I arrived there, I saw this sign, and I thought how did a monkhouse (whatever that might be) in Cambodia get a name like the John Allison monkhouse. Later I found out that John Allison Monkhouse is the name of an Australian-based international mortuary firm. They specialize in "repatriating" deceased people to their home countries for burial. John Allison Monkhouse is the only mortuary service in Cambodia. I wonder how they get enough business to survive since all the local people are cremated. I have had two foreign babies die here and they were both buried here but it was very difficult to find a place for them to be buried. And they weren't embalmed and didn't require any mortuary services but were buried within a few hours of their deaths. Through various embassies I have been contacted to provide some religious services for some foreigners who died here but most of them were not embalmed either. Usually their bodies were frozen while the paperwork was completed and then I had a simple ceremony at a Buddhist wat before they were cremated there, attended only by an embassy official or maybe a couple friends. Sadly, several of those funerals were for drug overdoses. Their families couldn't afford to come to Cambodia nor to ship the body home so I would have a service and then sometimes call the family to tell grieving parents that their son had at least a little Christian committal service. Country #96 28 January 2014 A couple years ago I found a little freeware utility called Flag Counter that records how many different domains and places click on a webpage. It indicates the different countries by posting each country's flag. Today I got a hit from Burma and that brings my country total up to 96 countries. You can click on the Flag Counter graphic on the homepage if you're interested in getting more information about the people clicking on the page. It's rather interesting to me. I don't know who the people are--except on rare occasions--but it's quite exciting to see some of the countries that have clicked on Parish-Without-Borders. Different kind of touring 27 January 2014     We get all kinds of tourists here in Cambodia and especially in Phnom Penh. Most are the group tourers, the package people, but then you run into people like this couple. They have their own custom-made bicycle for two, but with the second person in front and reclining--although still pedaling. They must use the bike for city touring because the only luggage they had is the day pack the woman was wearing on her chest. Pope Francis 24 January 2014 Lost but not forgotten 23 January 2014 Fifty-five years ago, when I was a high school seminarian in Louisville, I wrote to another high school seminarian studying in Seoul, Korea. As sometimes happens in pen pal relationships, our correspondence eventually dwindled and we lost touch--until this week when Peter Choi, now living in Canada, wrote to me. He left his seminary studies, went to university, and eventually married. It is great to be back in touch again! The Lee Family 20 January 2014   As the Lunar New Year approaches, the evidence of the large Chinese population and influence in Cambodia gets even greater. Chinese national and ethnic identity is very strong and that bond also unites those of the same family surname. Even here in Cambodia is this Association for the Lee Family. Go to Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page