Welcome to Cambodia, and….. – Page 126 – Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page

Post-Lockdown Day 9

One of the problems with controlling the spread of Covid-19 in Cambodia is the porous nature of the borders with Vietnam on the east and Thailand on the west. A good number of Chinese make their way to Vietnam and then illegally cross the border into Cambodia while on the Thai border, there are numbers of people going both directions, some with the reported help of the Thai military.

Post-Lockdown Day 8

When several hundred protestors showed up at a Red Zone barrier, today the police let them through! Red Zones have the strictest controls over movements; people are not even allowed out of their houses. At least that is the way it was enforced before. Now people saying they needed to get to banks to collect their salaries and to get vaccinated were allowed through the barriers. Such erratic enforcement is not unusual in Cambodia.

Post-Lockdown Day 7

Grilled fish–always a favorite whether in lockdown or not.

Post-Lockdown Day 6

There are lots of new sights and scenes around town because of Covid-19 and all the lockdowns and restricted areas. There are some bananas hung up for sale on a wall along a street near the big market that has been closed because of many infections.

Post-Lockdown Day 5

Today was our first day back in the office after a three-week lockdown and we had a staff meeting to catch up and plan for the coming weeks. We are mostly working from home with just three to five people in the office on most days.

Post-Lockdown Day 4

During the lockdown the big open public markets were closed so resourceful people opened up little stalls in their neighborhoods to supply the needed fresh meat and vegetables–and to make a little money. Click here to see the results.

Post-Lockdown Day 3

On Wednesday three weeks of lockdown ended for Phnom Penh and there was an explosion of pent-up energy and activity as people were able to get out of their houses after a long confinement. Traffic noticeably increased as pictured here on a street leading out of town.

The Maryknoll office guards are now in zones where they are free to come and go to work so we have guards 24 hours a day again. During the lockdown they came only at night because it was so difficult to get through the security roadblocks coming to the office.

Post-Lockdown Day 2

Today, on behalf of the Maryknoll Deaf Development Programme, Sr. Regina Pellicore signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Social Affairs to renew DDP’s permission to work in Cambodia for another three years

In previous years MOSVY would arrange a small celebration for the signing of MOUs, but this year, because of Covid-19, three ministry officials met with Sr. Regina and Mr. Sau Soknym (far left), the program manager of DDP.

Post-Lockdown Day 1 (May 6)

Last night at midnight, the government redrew the yellow, orange, and red zones that indicate the levels of Covid-19 infection within Phnom Penh. The Maryknoll office (arrow) was in an organge zone but now is yellow which allows fewer restrictions on activities.

Recent Developments

The revision of the color zones was good news for most people and only a few got the bad news of becoming a red zone. There seemed to be fewer snafus than usual in people’s moving around today.
Our DDP program manager was able to talk his way out of his home’s red zone and get to the DDP office along with our accountant. Together they were able to prepare the authorization papers to allow the banks to direct deposit the April salaries of the DDP staff.

Lockdown Day 21

Some of the parishioners of the English Catholic Community suggested that we have an online prayer time and we tried the first one tonight. We had eight or nine people–on three continents!

Recent Developments

The government continues to politicize their handling of the lockdown and other measures dealing with the pandemic.
Today was the last day of the three-week lockdown, but no one is sure what the rules are for tomorrow.
The area where the Maryknoll office is located was downgraded (upgraded?) from an Orange Zone (moderate infections) to a Yellow Zone (few infections).