“No ticket”… Say what?

Last week the Cambodian government said that foreign diplomats, UN officers, staff at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asia Development Bank (ADB), and the World Bank (WB), as well as staff of international NGOs would be in a priority category to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Maryknoll Cambodia is an INGO, but the government hospital I went to on Sunday morning said they were closed because they had such crowds on Saturday. At another hospital on Sunday, this sign was posted (above): “No ticket. Please go to your own embassy to take application form before you come here.” No one know what it means. What ticket are they talking about? The embassies say they don’t know about the form referred to on the sign.

The government of the Kingdom of Wonder….

Language Student’s Nightmare

Quite a few superlatives can be written about Cambodia. One of them is the bane of anyone trying to learn to read and write the Khmer language: The written script has 74 letters and is officially the longest alphabet in the world. Above are some of the letters

Notable Quotes


Looking for something to give up this Lent? Disappointment, resentment, frustration, and anger must all be given over to Christ or they will consume us–and our world.

Richard Rohr, OFM

A good friend’s funeral…

Last night, Cambodia time, a funeral was celebrated at the Maryknoll headquarters in Ossining, New York for Fr. Ed McGovern. Ed was a former prosecutor for New York City courts but made a career change and became a Maryknoll priest and was assigned to Cambodia in 2004. He and I lived together until 2008 when he was elected to the General Council for the Maryknoll priests and brothers group. Good guy. I’m going to miss him.

In the photo, Fr. Ray Finch, the Superior General of the Maryknoll priests and brothers, incense’s Ed’s coffin at the beginning of the funeral in the main chapel at Maryknoll, New York.

New Manager

Today the Maryknoll Deaf Development Programme welcomed a new program manager, Mr. Sau Soknym. Soknym had previously worked for the Maryknoll Seedling program until it closed so he is well known to many of the DDP staff and the Maryknoll community. He will be in charge of managing the day-to-day operations of the DDP Administration and the five projects. Welcome, Soknym!