COVID-19 Notes

50 kg bags of rice, with different prices for the different grades of rice

There are many poor people who live in the Boeung Tum Pun area around the Church of the Child Jesus. At the St. Ambrose Center at the church, the Maryknoll Sisters work with some of these children and their families. These families had little money before the COVID-19 pandemic, but now because of the closing of so many small shops and because of the economic downturn, these families are in very difficult situations.

The sisters sometimes give rice to families to help them survive, and, knowing the families’ problems, the sisters developed a plan that will give more help to the families without anyone knowing about it or without the families feeling they are beggars. The sisters know the owner of a small rice shop in Boeung Tum Pun. Many poor families go to her to buy rice. To make sure that they get enough rice to feed their families, the sisters buy a 50-kg bag of rice and leave it at the shop. When the poor people come to buy 1 kg of rice, the owner of the rice shop doesn’t say anything but gives them 5 kg of rice instead of 1 kg. The sisters check with the rice shop each week, and when their bag of rice is empty, they buy another one.

The poor family is happy, the rice shop owner is happy, and the sisters know that these families will have enough to eat.

Press Freedom

Recently Reporters without Borders ranked Cambodia at #144 of 180 countries evaluated in their survey of press freedom throughout the world. That was a drop of one place since the last ranking.

May 4, 2020: This was the prime minister’s contention in his acknowledgment of World Press Freedom Day.
April 9, 2020: Sovann Rithy, the editor-in-chief of TVFB, an online news outlet, was arrested for quoting a public statement of the prime minister. He was charged with incitement “to cause chaos and harm social security.” TVFB’s license was also revoked.

Invitation to Reflect….

The COVID-19 pandemic causes much pain and suffering. It may also offer us an opportunity to reflect on who we are and what we do as God’s children, as the church. Maybe we shouldn’t go back to “normal.” Maybe the old “normal” wasn’t so good but was just the path of least resistance, the easiest way to get by.