MKLM Retreat

29-31 August 2014 The Maryknoll Lay Missioners in Cambodia have a tradition of an annual retreat or reflective experience together. This year the retreat was held at Malibu Estates in Kep in Kampot Province. The theme for this year's retreat was the exhortation the Joy of the Gospel by Pope Francis.

Friday, 29 August 2014 The group decided to return to Kampot Province this year but to a different guest house. This time we used Malibu Estates which is near the Gulf of Thailand in Kep. Here the group arrives in the van which we borrowed from the Maryknoll Seedling of Hope Project. There were ten of us in the group this year and most were doubled up in rooms to save money. Here some of the group head toward the main house to find their rooms. We arrived in the late afternoon so after getting settled, we took the van to a restaurant specializing in crabs on the shore of the Gulf. Hang Tran and Nancy Davies looked at a menu together. It was quite dark and it was hard to read the menu with no lights. The sensitive camera made it appear much lighter. The restaurant had some electric lights but they were only decorative, made from two coops used for keeping roosters and then hung on a tall pole. They didn't help with visibility at all but they looked nice. Here Dee Dungy, Karen Bortvedt, Sami Scott, and Hang Tran enjoy their dinners. The staff brought candles in the paper bags so we could get a glimpse of what we were eating. After the meal, the group had an opening session for the retreat back at the guesthouse. Charlie Dittmeier was the leader for the retreat again this year.

Saturday 30 August 2014 MKLM Cambodia is fortunate to have a really good guitar player and musician in Steve. Here Steve (L) practices some music with James Havey early in the morning, before the others appeared. The guesthouse where we stayed served a simple breakfast each morning but not lunch and dinner. Four or five kinds of sliced fruit, small soft baguettes, and eggs prepared to order kept everyone happy at the start of the day. Nancy Davies, Hang Tran, and James Havey fill their plates while Karen Bortvedt waits her turn. Here Nancy Davies, Sami Scott, Hang Tran, and Dee Dungy enjoy the ambience along with their breakfast. Because the guesthouse didn't have a meeting room, we came back later in the day to have our retreat sessions at this table also. Occasionally there was a conflict with another group eating a late breakfast, so for that session--a reflection session after the morning talk--we took our chairs downstairs to an open porch area. At the end of the day, we took the van back to the Crab Market on the Kep waterfront and ate at a restaurant called Holy Crab. We had to put some tables together to seat the whole group. The sun was setting over the Gulf of Thailand as we arrived at the restaurant and with the rain clouds disappearing, it provided a beautiful view of the sea and a clutch of offshore islands.

 

Sunday 31 August 2014 For our Sunday morning liturgy, Sami Scott (flute) and Steve (guitar) provided the musical accompaniment while Lindsay Doucette added some vocals. For the liturgy, we used one of the sleeping rooms. They were large enough and had enough chairs and benches and we had easy access to electricity. The latter was important because a final part of the retreat was watching a three-minute video from each of the participants about a significant idea in Joy of the Gospel. When the liturgy was ended, we piled into the van and went back to the Crab Market in Kep town. We walked around for thirty minutes or so. It's a fascinating place where the seafood literally comes out of the water and is cooked in pots thirty feet away. Ignoring the crabs, Lindsay Doucette and Maria Montello focused on Steve. There was a variety of seafood available at the market, especially crabs, but there were also different kinds of fruits and vegetables. Here James Havey takes an adventurous bite of some unknown fruit chip while Sami Scott adds moral support. Click here for more about the Crab Market. We didn't have a group photo that included our newest members, Karen and Hang, so we posed along the sea front. (L-R): Front row--Charlie Dittmeier, Karen Bortvedt, Sami Scott, Steve, Nancy Davies, Hang Tran. Standing—Dee Dungy, James Havey, Maria Montello, Lindsay Doucette. From Kep we drove 25 km to Kampot town and went to the Epic Arts Cafe for lunch. Here Dee Dungy and Karen Bortvedt look at some of the items for sale in upstairs eating area. Epic Arts is a UK-based NGO that works in performing arts with people with and without disabilities. Their cafe helps them to be self-sustaining and it also provides employment for people with disabilities. Here Charlie Dittmeier meets with two young deaf women who were students in the education program of the Maryknoll Deaf Development Programme and are now working at the cafe.

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