Watch your step!
Getting ahead of trouble…
This is a common site on the streets of Phnom Penh—one woman picking lice out of the hair of another woman or girl. Women here wear their hair long and it provides a natural environment for the lice which are extremely difficult to get rid of. For guys, they just shave their head to solve the problem which is perfectly acceptable and not so uncommon, but for women the search-and-kill approach usually gets tried first. The lice make one quite cautious in borrowing another’s motorcycle helmet.
Money Trumps All
Unfortunately too much of life in Cambodia comes down to money. Not much happens here without money–often LOTS of money–being part of the deal. Cambodia is moving from a developing country into the lower middle income bracket and that generates lots of opportunities for gifts and bonuses and outright graft. The prime minister is known by some business people as Mr. Ten Percent. Things that would be free of commercial taint, like traffic signs in other countries, become income generators here.
Mystery Cargo
Wearables on Wheels
Justice, not Charity
A deeper look at the parable of the Good Samaritan
This article is a really good look at the difference between justice and charity, and an explanation of how theology and politics are related. I recommend it to your attention. It is very appropriate as we listen to the Good Samaritan story today.
DDP Menagerie
Our new office for the Maryknoll Deaf Development Programme is much an improvement on our old location. It is notable for the increased space we have and the different uses it makes possible. And it is noteworthy, too, for the accumulation of stone animals the landlord deposited around the grounds when he first developed his property. Here are SOME of them!
Corn to Go
Pandering to the Populace
(waiting on the sidewalk for a red light, but that’s another problem).
Khmer Times (newspaper): What kinds of vehicles cause the most traffic accidents in Cambodia?
Colonel Visal (Chief of the Traffic Police Office): “Causing the most accidents is motorbikes, including the ones used to drag a cart and tuk-tuk. Accidents caused by motorbikes account for 70 percent of all accidents in Cambodia. The new law states that motorbike drivers whose rides are 125cc or less will no longer need a license, yet our statistics prove that it is that kind of rides which cause most of the accidents in the country.”
Cambodia averages five or six traffic deaths a day, with many more injured. The government’s response? Eliminate the need for a driver’s license for the largest category of vehicles (by far) on the road. It makes the locals happy because they don’t have to pay for the test and bribe the test official, and it makes the government happy because it gains them votes. It’s like, in the United States, if the government said that no driver licenses would be needed for any vehicle selling for under $40,000.
A little girl’s dream…
When I worked in a girls high school in the United States, it was every girl’s dream to be a cheerleader. Here in Cambodia, the girls dream of being Apsara dancers–and they start early.