Welcome to Cambodia, and…..

When you’re thirsty….

Phnom Penh has Starbucks now, but for most of the country, when you’re really hot and thirsty….

The traffic in Phnom Penh is beginning to rival that of the infamous bad-traffic cities like Bangkok. There are multiple problems behind the traffic mess. One is the sheer number of vehicles that increases significantly every year. There is no place to park or drive the vehicles we have, but last year more than 200 vehicles were registered per day on average. So far in the first six weeks of this year, the average is 876 per day. Another reason is government incompetence. Everyone knows there is a huge problem but even the most simple remedies, ones that don’t even entail spending any money, are ignored. The above article is from a new newspaper, Capital Cambodia. An article in the past week in another paper lists several steps that the government is finally going to initiate. There is little expectation of change because of the way the government functions–or doesn’t function.

Topics: Culture

Street Signs

U.S. street sign telling you you have reached St. 105A

Street signs in Cambodia are erected and used in a different way here than they are in other countries. Click here for some samples of Phnom Penh street signs.

Notable Quotes

Trump’s wall has become a false god and a symbol of all that is not great with America. Our desire for power over people instead of power with people. Our unwillingness to be governed by our own laws. Our disdain for the faith-based principles calling us to care for one another, found in all sacred texts.

~ Traci Blackmon and Caleb Lines in Sojourners

Another Day at Work

A man reupholstering chairs from a little shop in his house, with the street as his workbench.

Staff Meeting at New DDP

Just a day or so after making the move to our new DDP office site, we had a staff meeting on the large front porch. Normally we would have used our meeting room but the staff complained it was full of mosquitoes–it was!—so we moved our first meeting in the new building outdoors and Sokly explained about some of our personnel policy.

Lay Mission Gathering

Every month a number of lay missioners from various mission communities in various countries get together in Phnom Penh in a type of support group. For the February meeting, Sr. Len Montiel was invited to speak of her many years of experience in the kingdom. She is preparing to be reassigned with Maryknoll in the United States in March.

Here Len, wearing a Year of the Pig crown, shows her goodbye gift from the group
as Miyuki (L), Lieke, and Kylene look on.

Bi Salon at Work!

DDP has a Job Training Project and one of our placements for training of young deaf women is at Bi Salon, where ten of our students are trained in various parts of the operations of a beauty salon. Ms. Kem Khemara, a local businesswoman who spent seven years in Japan, owns the salon and has been the driving force in welcoming and training our students who have done very well under her tutelage.

Last week Khemara surprised us by bringing her stylists to DDP and cutting our students’ and staff’s hair in an impromptu salon on our new front porch. It was a wonderful experience, especially for many of the deaf young women who seldom if ever have their hair cut like that, and we sincerely thank Khemara and her staff for their generosity with their time and their talents!