Visitors to Cambodia

Visit of Lorna and Ard Crum and Fr. Bob Beirne February, 2013 The Maryknoll Lay Missioners had planned what is called a "Friends Across Borders" trip to Cambodia in February but the required minimum number of participants didn't sign up in time. Ard and Lorna Crum and Fr. Bob Beirne decided to come on their own, and the Maryknoll Lay Missioners arranged an abbreviated version of the FAB trip for them in mid February.

Sunday, 17 February 2013 Ard and Lorna Crum, from Dayton, Ohio, arrived in Phnom Penh by bus from Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday, 16 February, and met most of the Maryknoll Cambodia community at the Saturday evening mass. Then today they came to the Maryknoll office to see our center in Phnom Penh. As a welcome for the Crums, a boat trip on the Mekong River was arranged for Sunday afternoon. Here, after boarding the boat, the small group arranged the food they had brought along with them for the two-hour excursion. Lorna and Ard Crum on the Mekong River. After eating and enjoying the view from the main deck, most of the group went upstairs for a slightly different perspective. Lindsay Doucette, Steve, and Charlie Dittmeier posed for a picture at sunset with some of the new tall buildings of Phnom Penh in the background. Eventually the whole group was together topside: Lord and Ard Crum, Sami Scott, Nancy Davies, James Havey, Ed Riehl, Lindsay Doucette, and Steve.

Wednesday 20 February 2013 Fr. Bob Beirne, a retired priest from Providence, Rhode Island, and a former Maryknoll Associate Priest in Chile, was also scheduled to be part of the Friends Across Borders trip that was canceled. He also decided to come on his own and arrived in Cambodia yesterday afternoon. Today at the regular Wednesday Maryknoll meeting, mass, and dinner, he introduced himself while Meding Tan and Steve listened. During the same introductory period after mass, Lorna Crum (standing) and Ard Crum introduced themselves to the gathering. Today was special because Bob Beirne and Ard and Lorna Crum were with us, but also because Lorna and Steve (right) celebrated their birthdays this week along with Charlie Dittmeier. Maryknoll Cambodia celebrates all the birthdays within a month on one of our Wednesday gatherings and today was the day for cake and ice cream.

Thursday 21 February 2013 All week the Crums and Bob Beirne have been visiting Maryknoll projects. Today they spent the morning at the Deaf Development Programme. Nancy Davies (L), a newly arrived lay missioner, accompanied Lorna and Ard Crum and Fr. Bob Beirne on their visit. After listening to an overview of the Deaf Development Programme, the visitors observed a DDP classroom and then went downstairs to the DDP barber shop. Only two of the barber trainees were present today because the others had gone to a school to cut students' hair. The normal mode of transport for a group of visitors like this is a tuk-tuk. When Charlie Dittmeier was accompanying the visitors, it made for a full load for a small-engine motorcycle to pull.

Friday 22 February 2013 Today Lorna and Ard Crum and Bob Beirne went to the Maryknoll project at Anlong Knang and spent the morning there. Then this evening a group of lay missioners and our visitors met at the Sumatra Restaurant for dinner before most of the group went to a cultural performance at the Sovanna Phum center. (L-R): Dee Dungy, Bob Beirne, Art Crum, Lorna Crum, Steve, Lindsay Doucette, and Nancy Davies.

Wednesday 27 February 2013 On Monday the Crums and Bob Beirne went to Kampong Thom Province for a "homestay" experience where they stayed in a village setting and learned about life in a Cambodian village. Then on Tuesday they went to Angkor Wat to end their stay in Cambodia. Bob Beirne had an early Thursday morning flight to Burma so he took a bus back to Phnom Penh on Wednesday afternoon. He had dinner with Charlie Dittmeier and then went to the same guesthouse where he had stayed before for a final night.

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