Welcome to Cambodia, and….. – Page 44 – Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page

Priest Meeting (December, 2023)

Bishop Olivier has quarterly meetings of all the priests in the Phnom Penh diocese and today it was a less formal, more social gathering.

After an opening prayer, Bishop Olivier led the group to a former hearing clinic that has been remodeled into offices for the vicariate staff.

Bishop Olivier introduced the staff and explained who would work from this new office center.

Then we had the official meeting but it was low key, noting so much that is going on in the vicariate.

Once we got into the dining room, Bishop Olivier recognized those having birthdays and other special occasions in the lives and ministries.

Under the Christmas tree in the dining room was a gift bag for each of the priests at the meeting with cookies and handicraft gifts from Bishop Olivier’s social enterprise in Takeo Province.

Farewell to Ann

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.

Exciting Day for the Deaf

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.

First on stage was Musica Felice who presented songs from the musical *Les Miserables.*

During that first set, the deaf people–who could not hear or understand the vocals of *Les Miserable*–gathered together to talk and enjoy this different venue.

When Musica Felice had finished their performance Miwako came down to be with the students and a lot of selfies were taken.

Then Sea Wolf, a prominent rock group in Cambodia, took the stage and our students got energized by music they could feel even if they couldn’t hear it. Some of them jumped up on the stage to dance.

The third group to perform was Kai, from Thailand, and they were well received, too, and brought out the dancers. This was probably the first rock concert the deaf youth had ever attended and the setting was perfect for them to get an experience of exciting music.

Exchange Square Concert

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.

Our students arrived early in order to have time to eat before the music started. The outdoor venue was a parking lot of Exchange Square fitted out with a music stage and various stalls for food vendors.

Miwako Fujiwara, the concert organizer, gave each of the students $10 so they could buy their own food at the various stalls. That was a BIG deal for them, to have that much money and the chance to try Mexican or other new foods. Here Oula, our teacher, gave out the money.

There were several food options available from different countries but a lot of the deaf students stayed with the Khmer food they know best.

Hamburgers and quesadillas for this group.

Musica Felice Donation

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!

Exciting Day for the Deaf

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.

Human Rights Celebration

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.]

Final Meeting

Standing: Sr. Ann Sherman, Kylene Fremling, Charlie Dittmeier, Julie Lawler, Sr. Helene O’Sullivan. Seated: Sr. Regina Pellicore, Sr. Mary Little, Fr. Kevin Conroy. Missing: Hang Tran.

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.

Hong Kong Trip

Departure

Today I returned to Phnom Penh from Hong Kong. I have more photos to show from the trip but i ran into multiple problems when I came home and needed to reinstall some apps and that took up too much time. For today, this is a view at 7:00 in the morning on the way out of Hong Kong city across a new bridge, heading out to the airport built on some islands.

Hong Kong Trip 3

Pastoral Center Anniversary

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.