Welcome to Cambodia, and….. – Page 36 – Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page

U.S. Elections 2024

From a commentary by David Frum, staff writer for The Atlantic

U.S. Elections 2024

From a commentary by E. J. Dionne, Jr., Washington Post columnist

Last Friday, Dr. Raymond Leos, vice president of American University of Phnom Penh, died suddenly. Today at the school there was a funeral service in English. Tomorrow there will be a Buddhist ceremony at the pagoda. Raymond was a member of our Sunday English Catholic Community.

Another first

It’s not unusual to see something new and different in Cambodia, something that isn’t so common in other places.

This is the first tuk-tuk I’ve seen with a bike rack! This addition will hold two bicycles.

Morning Ritual

Every morning, starting about 6:00 AM, this woman steams a little dumpling-like concoction on a charcoal burner on the sidewalk.

And the customers come!

This little piggy….

If you’re thinking about lunch, Street 143 might be able to help.

Country Development

Cambodia has been a least developed country but the government is pushing aggressively now to move the kingdom into the moderately developed category.

There is progress but there is still a long way to go. The GDP of the United States is $85, 370 per capita. Cambodia’s GDP is $1,553 per capita although it is expected to jump significantly in 2025.

Moving Time–Truck it

Today I moved all my stuff from Street 410, from the Maryknoll office building which we are closing, to a flat in the Boeung Tum Pun area. I had way too much stuff that had to be moved but our small crew got it moved within five hours. Now it is going to take WAY more time than that to sort it all out and find a new place for it in my new home.

Sharing expertise

Today a group of speech therapists from the UK visited the Caritas Deaf Development Programme to learn about deaf people in Cambodia and what DDP does. DDP uses only sign language and has no oral training and so there are few intersections between the work of the two NGOs but it was good to talk and learn.

Actual Coronation Day

Today is the actual 20th anniversary of King Sihomani’s coronation in 2004.

This is the most frequent face of King Sihomani as seen by the Cambodian populace. He is always smiling the same tight-lipped smile. It is almost as if he had plastic surgery and cannot do anything except smile. But smiling is probably his most important responsibility as king. He has no legislative or jurisdictional power but is a symbol of the royal family and in that role he gives a human–smiling–face to an otherwise dour government.