Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page
How many rolls of tape do you think it took to secure a van load of vegetables for the trip to Phnom Penh? I would think there would be a cheaper, more efficient way keep the load together but maybe it’s the best, most reliable way they have found and the price of tape is just the cost of doing business.
The new Vatican nuncio (ambassador) to Cambodia is Archbishop Peter Bryan Wells who is from Tulsa, Oklahoma in the United States. Today he met with King Sihomani at the royal palace to present his credentials.
I think I would be happy with a little less of the fancy dress and diplomatic niceties on the part of the church. We could probably carry out the mission of Jesus of loving each other without all that.
When the budget cuts took effect at the Deaf Development Programme, we put up a small office and classroom building to eliminate the high rent we were paying. The building was behind schedule but it turned out OK–except for the floor. The workmen did a terrible job, leaving us with a real mess.
The floor had large areas of discoloration, paint drippings, and even started to disintegrate in spots after a week or two. I kept thinking the contractor would come back and do something but it soon became apparent he considered that job finished.
The pork is ready and the delivery man is waiting.
Today, Seminarian Nguyen Do Thanh (standing at left by window) was ordained a deacon, the first sacramental step toward becoming a priest. He is part of the Jesuit community here in Cambodia.
As in so many other cities around the world, the Covid pandemic created an army of delivery people, perfect employment–except for the low income!–in a society that is built on motorcycles. This evening a heavy downpour was drenching Phnom Penh, making it more difficult for this driver to confirm his delivery destination.
Currently the Southeast Asia Games are taking place in Phnom Penh, and yesterday the Philippines team that is participating came to our Sunday mass. We wish them good luck in their competitions!
Every month lay missioners from many different sending groups and different countries meet in a support group in Phnom Penh.
In the meeting today, Maryknoll Sister Regina Pellicore gave a reflection on the rosary. It was both interesting and substantive because most people just start saying the rosary as children and no one ever explains or discusses how to pray with it.
The lay missioners gathered today came from eight different countries.
Maria Montello worked out an activity, actually making individual rosaries as part of a prayer together. The activity was followed by a dinner prepared by Maria and Kila Reimer.
This is Dr. Long Chhour, an eye specialist, who has been testing and treating me for Age-related Macular Degeneration in my left eye. AMD in my case causes a fuzziness to appear in my central vision in that eye. The electronic unit is for testing with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). I have been lucky to find Dr. Chhour in Phnom Penh.
These are the OCT test results. The shallow part of the green curve indicates degeneration of the macula. It is a really interesting testing procedure.
Today I decided (sadly) that it is time to start carrying my rain poncho in my bike basket again. The rainy season is on time and we’re starting to get both daytime showers and heavier rains at night.