Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page
There are currently about 15,000 foreigners basically trapped in Cambodia. They were here for vacations and business and other reasons, and while they were here their flights out were canceled as countries closed their borders and stopped flights because of the COVID-19 disease. Now they’re stuck here, away from home. This article today is about a petition to the UK government to help them get out of the Kingdom of Wonder.
Notice where the wet track marks go in this picture…. They don’t go to the gas pumps. Instead they go THROUGH the gas station. Click here to see how Cambodian drivers shortcut through the stations.
The only way to stop the spread of COVID-19 infection is to stop contact among people. It may seem staying at home has no effect but it is the only way to prevent a full epidemic infection wherever you are.
Fr. Kevin, who lives with me at the Maryknoll office, likes to watch the news, especially CNN, to keep up-to-date about the coronavirus.
The bad news: the TV remote control stopped working while he was watching CNN and he had to unplug the TV to turn it off.
The good news: the TV was tuned to CNN and not the Cartoon Channel when the problem developed!
The Economic Times reports on a “corona burger” being offered by an eatery in Hanoi in Vietnam. It’s marketed with an “Eat it, to beat it” slogan. Looks pretty tasty actually.
Phnom Penh is slowly shutting down because of the COVID-19 disease, even without a lot of pressure from the government. Schools and museums and churches and beer gardens are officially closed but the hundreds of garment factories and the small shops can still operate. It’s the small mom-and-pop shops, though, that show things slowing down. More and more of them are shuttered every day, many as worried parents take their children to the supposed safety of remote villages in the provinces.
The closings mean loss of jobs and income, and that is starting to affect many people. Levels of fear and anxiety are rising. Fr. Kevin, our resident psychologist, has offered some links to sites that can help people deal with stress. Here is one resource we offered in the newsletter sent out today.
I have never seen any mention of such accidents or heard of it happening to anyone, but I often wonder how many Cambodian children are injured each year when they inadvertently stick a foot in the spokes of a motorcycle wheel. I’m sure there must be a good number who lose their toes or their whole foot since kids are kids and there are no guards or barriers on motorcycles.
