Cambodian Election 2018

Today is the first day of a three-day holiday for the Cambodian national elections.  The actual voting takes place tomorrow and the day before and the day after were declared holidays to allow people to travel to the provinces to vote.  There is no absentee balloting. Campaigning was allowed up to yesterday.  Today–what the officials call a “clean day”—no campaigning or demonstrations are allowed. Passive signs like this ruling party sign–on public property–can be a passive voice for the parties although the ruling party is the only one that can really afford them.

Another Farewell

This evening Maryknoll Cambodia said goodbye to Sami Scott, a Maryknoll Lay Missioner who has been with us for ten years.  She is transferring to a new Maryknoll mission in Haiti.

At the airport (L to R): A friend, Op Siphal, Len Montiel, Sami, Regina Pellicore, Ann Sherman

Topics: Trinkets

Every Sunday there are a couple people who put down a tarp on a riverside sidewalk and then arrange a display of trinkets for people to peruse and buy.  They may make a little money but they also provide a drop-in center for people to come and admire and chat and enjoy a Sunday morning.  Click here to see some Sunday photos.

Graduation 2018

Today the three Salesian Sisters technical schools for girls had their graduation, for a little over 100 young women.  Two of the schools are in Phnom Penh where one focuses on office skills and the other provides training in cooking, sewing, etc.  The third school is Battambang and it provides more of the technical skills like cooking.

Before the ceremony, these young women–like graduates everywhere–got pictures of their friends whom they never see again.
Then it was time to march into the auditorium for the 24th graduation ceremony for the Salesian Sisters’ training programs for young women from poor areas.
After an opening report on the school year, the first year students sang a song of farewell to their old sister students graduating from the second year.

Speaking Truth When Trump Won’t

Jim Wallis is one of the strongest, clearest, and most authentic Christian voices speaking out now about the travesty that is the current president and his Republican administration. Wallis is the director and main voice of the Sojourners movement that is now promoting a Reclaiming Jesus campaign to counter the abuse of Christianity by Trump administration officials.

Here is a quote about Trump’s Helsinki lies and the walk-back lies put forward by him and Sarah Huckabee Sanders:

“…it very much appears that Republicans in Congress will take Trump’s half-hearted walk-backs and word games as good enough to leave the matter there. We will now see what the Republican leaders will say about the breaking New York Times story last night, that before his inauguration, Trump was shown intelligence indicating that Russian cyberattacks were personally ordered, by Putin, to sway the election. Trump was briefed. He knew, and has been trying to cover up that evidence since the beginning of his presidency.”

~ Jim Wallis, Sojourners