Christmas Event

When I first came to Cambodia, there were very few Christmas events and most of them were small private gatherings at churches or Christian schools. Now Cambodian society has learned there is money to be made recognizing Christmas and there are Christmas trees and Santa Clauses everywhere. And many of them have already been set up for this coming Christmas season.

Tonight the Phnom Penh Choral Ensemble perfromed Christmas songs in a charity concert at the Oakwood Premier Hotel. Almost all of the ensemble are members of our Catholic community so they invited me and I gladly attended.
The opening Silent Night song was accompanied by a ballet dancer who had wings sparkling with fairy lights.
At the intermission, refreshments were served at an outdoor courtyard in the building complex which is quite new and modern.
At the closing, Hannah Lyn Bandalan, the conductor of the Phnom Penh Choral Ensemble, gave a very well written thank-you and tribute to the people made this even possible.

DDP at Christmas Fair

Every year the Women’s International Group hosts a Christmas fair that has become a major seasonal event. This year’s gathering at the Canadian International School was no exception.

This year was the first time the Deaf Development Programme had a booth at the fair. We sold some handicrafts made by deaf people, sign language books, and various foods prepared by deaf staff. Here DDP staff assist some customers.

Some deaf people came just to enjoy the Christmas fair.

This was my first time to attend the WIG Christmas Fair and I was surprised at how large and complex it was. This is a gymnasium area where smaller NGOs like DDP displayed their wares.

In an open interior courtyard of the school, some students performed songs, adding gestures and sign language to some of them.

In another part of the expansive school grounds, families took photos against a Christmas tree backdrop. It’s quite probably that many having their photo taken here had no idea of the meaning of Christmas and its celebration.

Getting Ready for the Game

Every year the International Starfish Foundation organizes football (soccer) tournaments for deaf teams from around the country. Today their representatives passed out uniforms and football cleats for the upcoming games. Almost all of our deaf students in the DDP hostel will play and now these three young women have their kit!

November Trip to Bangkok

My trip to Bangkok was rather simple, just a consultation with the surgeon who removed part of my kidney in May to make sure all things are going well. There weren’t a lot of exciting photos!





The focal point of the trip was BNH Hospital in Sathorn in Bangkok. A good hospital with really good staff and good medical care. And a garuda mounted over its front entrance.

I was at the hospital from 9:15 AM to 1:00 PM and had eaten nothing since supper the day before because of the required blood work. When I left the hospital, I was headed for Subway (a required stop on all my trips to Bangkok) but on the way I decided to just eat at this sidewalk food stall. Got a really big, really good meal for a really good price.

The next morning I was up at 3:00 AM to get to the old Don Mueang Airport for an economy airline flight back home. In one of the main passenger areas there was this large Buddhist depiction, just to remind travelers that they are in Thailand!