Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page
Maryknoll Sr. Ann Sherman returned to the United States today after ten years of ministry in Cambodia. She regularly attends the masses I have with the Missionaries of Charity and today at the end of mass we said goodbye and took a group photo–with some of the orphans who come to the mass.
After the students had eaten and it started to get dark, the musicians took the stage. There were three music groups who performed for 2+ hours.
Musica Felice held their most recent concert–an event to benefit the Deaf Development Programme–at Exchange Square Mall in Phnom Penh, a change of venue from the usual 5-star hotel setting. It was quite a new experience for our deaf students in various ways.
Yesterday Musica Felice held a benefit concert at Exchange Square in Phnom Penh to help the Caritas Deaf Development Programme. In October DDP also benefited from a previous Musica Felice concert and this week Miwako Fujiwara presented the proceeds from that event. Thank you, Miwako! Thank you, Musica Felice!
Today Musica Felice, under the direction of Ms. Miwako Fujiwara, organized an outdoor benefit concert at Exchange Square Mall in Phnom Penh, with the Deaf Development Programme as the beneficiary. It turned out to be quite an evening and at one point, as Sea Wolf, one of the premier bands of Cambodia was playing a song, a group of our deaf youth spontaneously ran up on to the stage to dance with them.
This is the 75th year since the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights was promulgated and this evening the local Office of the High Commission on Human Rights had a reception at a big hotel. Our Deaf Development Programme works a lot with OHCHR (I have a meeting with them at 9:00 tomorrow morning) and I was invited.
It was quite a production and a nice meal at the end. It was good to note some of the achievements in the last 75 years but disheartening to see how little we have progressed. There’s still much to do. [The sign language interpreter on the right of the stage is one of my staff.]
Since 1991 when Maryknoll first came to work in Cambodia, all the Maryknollers in the kingdom have met on Wednesday afternoons for a meeting, a liturgy, and then a dinner together. When I first came in 2000, there were 25 to 27 people gathered in the living room of the Maryknoll house every Wednesday.
Everything has changed now and Maryknoll Cambodia, the International NGO, will cease to exist in a couple weeks, and today we had our last Wednesday meeting forever. The Maryknoll priests and sisters just don’t have the personnel to send to Cambodia. The Maryknoll Lay Missioners will continue here with four members. A sad day.
December 4 was the anniversary celebration for the pastoral center in Homantin for people with disabilities. Because the center is not so large, the mass and dinner were held at a high school.
Tomorrow will be a gathering of all the disability groups to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the center but today the deaf people gathered in the afternoon. It was wonderful simple event that was one of the most affirming days of my life.
