No rope, please…

Today this sign was up in front of one of the six elevators in the building where I live. I really hope they are using steel cables rather than ropes. It is interesting to see the various different words U.S. English and other Englishes use for the same reality.

Life in Cambodia

This is an illustration of what I like best about Cambodia–and what I am going to miss most when I leave. Here a technician from the apartment where I live and his partner fix a shower hose that stopped working. I sent a message this morning about the problem and suggested a time when I would be home, and immediately got a response that Vuthy and his partner would be there then. And I love the way they work. In the US, if I couldn’t fix it myself and had to call someone to work on it, it would take several days to get someone to the house, cost me $25/$50/$75 when he walks in the door, and then he would just pull out a new hose and charge me another $25 or $50 for it. Vuthy got out his channel-locks and needle-nosed pliers, took the hose apart, repaired it, and fifteen minutes later the water was back on. And no charge. I’ll miss all that.

ANM Day 5 (February 21) #2

Today’s meeting focused on finalizing a work plan for 2026-2029. Here Vanna offers his comments.
We have frequent breaks for the benefit of the sign language interpreters. Interpreting is very fatiguing because of the concentration required. Here Julie Lawler talks with the DLTP deaf staff during a break.
At the afternoon break, the students brought out a birthday cake and fruit they had prepared for me for my birthday tomorrow. The best part of my job is interacting with the students but I don’t have much opportunity for that now.
After the cake, I said goodbye to Katarina and Rebecca and then headed for the airport. the Phnom Penh traffic is terrible now and it took an hour to go the four or five miles. These are some meat vendors along one of the major streets near the airport.

ANM Day 5 (February 21) #1

I’m in Bangkok, just arrived, for a trip to get a new visa. We had ANM meetings all day in Phnom Penh and then at the afternoon break, the DDP students brought out a cake to celebrate my birthday. These young people are such a delight! Then I hastened to the airport to fly to Thailand.

More tomorrow…

ANM Day 4 (February 20)

Katarina and Soknym check their notes before the morning session begins.
One of the trainees offers her thoughts in the discussion.
Colin presents some notes on the work plan for 2026.
A tradition at these ANMs is to have a meal together, getting away from the meeting room for a few hours.

ANM Day 3 (February 19)

The morning session was a meeting between Katarina from FAD and all the deaf participants in the Deaf Leadership Training Program, without any management present.
The meeting is complex because we are using English, Khmer, Cambodian Sign Language, and Australian Sign Language. Here Rebecca (L, the Auslan interpreter), shows her sign language name to Srey Mom (the CSL interpreter), and Anh (the Khmer-English voice interpreter).
DLTP and DDP staff setting up the projector before the meeting began.
Soknym, the DDP director, reported on the progress negotiating an agreement with the U.N. Development Program.
Later, Colin spoke about the action plan for DLTP for 2025.

ANM Day 2 (February 18)

ANM stands for Annual Negotiations Meeting.

The Finnish Association of the Deaf funds our project to establish a national association of the deaf and also some community development activities. Here Sophary (standing, left) informs the group about the activities since last year in the Phnom Penh area.

At the break, Julie Lawler (L), a Maryknoll Lay Missioner working in the Education Project, speaks with Katarina. Her suitcase had still not arrived!

Next on the program was a report on community development in the Kampong Cham area, given by Solydem (L), the center manager there.

ANM Day 1 (February 17)

Every year (when there’s no Covid!), our project coordinator from the Finnish Association of the Deaf comes for a week of meetings to review the past year and plan and budget for the coming year. Today Katarina, from FAD, arrived in Phnom Penh–minus her luggage–and within two hours was leading an opening meeting with us at the DDP office.