Welcome to Cambodia, and….. – Page 263 – Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page

Children’s Hospital

I was a little disconcerted to see this photograph in the newspaper of a bed at the Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital in Phnom Penh. Dr. Beat Richner, a Swiss doctor, set up the first Kantha Bopha hospital in 1992 to give free medical care to children. There are now four or five Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospitals in the country and they are the first choice for all parents with sick children. I have encouraged many families to take their sick children there. The hospital rules are strict; they won’t allow foreigners into the hospital, and I don’t know why but I figured if they were doing a good job, they can make up rules like that. But then I saw this photo with three children in one bed and it gave me pause. Kantha Bopha may be the best hospitals in the country for children but we’ve still got a long way to go!

Motorcycle Loads #231

You should have seen the motorcycle wobble as several hundred pounds of liquid sloshed around from side to side when he was making turns.

Notable Quotes

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.”

~ Voltaire / French philosopher

Topics: Motorcycle Skirts

I want to start posting some articles about changes I’ve noticed in Cambodia since I arrived seventeen years ago. This first one is a change within the last six to eight months when motorcycle skirts became a fad. Click here to read about it.

Salesian Girls Schools Graduation

Today was the 23rd graduation for the students of the two Salesian Sisters girls technical schools in Phnom Penh. One school teaches food service and sewing; the other teaches secretarial and business skills. Both have two-year programs. This year only three girls came from the school in Battambang in the north of the country. Previously they would have 30-40 graduates but now that school has almost closed because it is easier now to get across the border to work in Thailand and the families of the girls pressure their daughters to work in Thailand to make money for the family–instead of going to school.

The graduates gather, happy and excited, before the ceremony. The sister there to congratulate them is one of the fixtures of the Salesian ministry to youth in Cambodia. She is 96 years old and still active and about everyday.

After the national anthem, these students performed the blessing dance that begins every formal function. Notice the words in red on the wall at the right: Together we Build a Peaceful Society. They are a sad indicator of the unease and turmoil in Cambodia because of the actions of the government.

A special part of this graduation day was the recognition of these women–mothers of students at the school–for participating in a wonderful literacy program. All of them have advanced through Level 1 of the program that enables them to read and write. Another sad indicator–the lack of literacy–of the failure of the present government that has been in power for thirty years.

A Scooter with a New Twist

Today I ran into this motor scooter with a new twist in ran protection. I’ve never seen anything like it before–and I doubt whether it gives much protection from the raindrops–but at least it’s a creative and different approach to riding in the rain.

Supper on the Street

The sun is down, it’s starting to get dark, there’s a light rain falling–and it’s time to start grilling meat at a street stall near Tuol Sleng, the Khmer Rouge torture center.

Motorcycle Loads #230

“We’re still under the wires. Throw a few more on top!”

Mission: Down to Basics

Fr. Kevin Conroy is a Maryknoll associate priest like me–a diocesan priest on loan to Maryknoll. We live together in Phnom Penh. He is a doctor of psychology and has started a mobile mental health team that especially tries to find and work with mentally ill people who are chained up or put in cages (like the woman above) because their families and society don’t know what to do with them. Read about his ministry in Maryknoll Magazine.

What, me worry? 2

In other countries, one would think the guy in the chair is just playing around while his buddy finishes loading the wagon. In Cambodia, he’s probably telling the buddy “OK, I’m ready. Let’s go!”