| Maryknoll in Cambodia
20 August 2008  Some people were not present last week for the previous photograph of the Maryknoll group but had returned today, and also some people had reflections on their glasses last week, so we took another photo today.
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19 August 2008 Maryknoll in Cambodia identifies itself as the CMT or Cambodia Mission Team, a group that includes the formal members of the Maryknoll priests, sisters, and lay people groups and also those individuals or members of other mission groups that work with Maryknoll as partners. We try to take a group photograph regularly to record who is here in any given year. This is our latest photo, taken in August, 2008. Because we have grown so big, it is almost impossible to get everyone on any given day and five members and partners are missing from this photo.
Maryknoll in Cambodia
An area needing improvement
11 August 2008 Medical care in Cambodia is improving but is still unavailable in many areas and still primitive in many areas where it is available. Almost all foreigners living in Cambodia have evacuation insurance and are flown to Bangkok or Singapore for any injury more serious than a simple broken arm. Sr. Luise Ahrens, pictured here with Vin McNamara, recently broke her wrist and was flown to Bangkok to have it set and pinned and then again to have it checked.
Medical Care in Cambodia
John Barth
John Barth served in Cambodia for almost ten years before being called back to New York to be on the Maryknoll Society's General Council. He spent his vacation this year in Phnom Penh, brushing up on his Khmer language before returning to Cambodia at the end of the year.
Bob Wynne Bob just returned to Phnom Penh from Maryknoll, NY where he celebrated his 40th anniversary as a priest. Here, after cleaning several weeks of dust from his room, he checks to see if his computer is still working. Before Cambodia, Bob worked in Hawaii.
More Maryknoll Travelers
in Phnom Penh Catholic Community
7 June 2008 Although we are a small community compared to parishes in North America, the English-speaking Catholic community in Phnom Penh every year has enough new young people to have a First Communion class. Here Sr. Regina Pellicore speaks to the nine youngsters who received this sacrament for the first time tonight. The children are from Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, the Philippines, and the United States.
1st Communion Sunday
6 June 2008 One of the joys of working as a priest is meeting so many good people who become friends. Recently I have helped prepare two Korean girls for baptism and today they and their mother invited me to dinner at their house with several other friends from the Korean Catholic community in Cambodia. It was a delightful evening!
Korean Family Dinner
Renewal of Temporary Oath
28 May 2008 Most people are aware of the oaths or promises that Catholic priests make when they are ordained, e.g., celibacy and obedience to their superiors. Maryknoll seminarians make a commitment to religious life within the Maryknoll community at the beginning of their association with Maryknoll, and while they are still in their seminary formation, they renew this oath annually. Today Rodrigo Ulloa renewed his temporary oath to serve within Maryknoll for another year. Accepting the oath for Maryknoll was Fr. Ed McGovern, holding the oath for Rodrigo to recite.
Rodrigo Ulloa
24 May 2008 Today I had two weddings. The first was for two expatriates living in Cambodia and the second was for two deaf people. The latter was unusual because this is only the second time that two deaf people have been married with the full Buddhist ceremony. Both the bride and groom have been part of the Deaf Development Programme, and I have been almost like a father to Samnang, the bride, who came to us with no family, no home, not even a name. We put her in our education program and she was the first deaf person in our hostel. When it was time for her to marry, she brought her future husband and his father to me to ask my permission and approval for their marriage since she had no parents to take that role in her life. More pictures and story will follow.
Samnang's Wedding
Ed makes it home!
21 May 2008
New York City/Bangkok/Phnom Penh
Getting out the message about PMTCT
7 May 2008 Tom Heller (yellow shirt) is a doctor from the United States, a partner of Maryknoll, who has been working for several years in the rural areas of Cambodia with HIV/AIDS, especially in Prevention of Mother-to-Child transmission of the virus. As part of his efforts, he has produced a thirty-minute drama about two couples infected with HIV that conveys the essential message in a compelling and interesting way. Today he showed the film to the Maryknoll community and answered questions about it.
Dr. Tom Heller
3 May 2008 The Catholic Church managed to regain control of the property that used to be the French-run seminary in Phnom Penh after the Khmer Rouge were defeated, and today it is the site for St. Joseph Catholic parish, until a few months ago the only Catholic parish in the capital city. This small chapel was the seminary chapel. Today it is used for small services because the congregation for the Khmer parish has grown and uses a large upstairs hall for their Sunday liturgies. This picture was taken during a priests' prayer day recently.
Together at prayer
30 April 2008 Every Wednesday Maryknoll Cambodia meets together from 3:00 to 5:00 PM, and then at 5:00 PM we have a liturgy together, joined by another 10 or so friends who appreciate the opportunity to celebrate mass together in the middle of the week.
Maryknoll Cambodia
| A sad scene:
Old people on the streets 27 April 2008
The sign on the fence behind the old man announces a new era of luxury and prosperity for Phnom Penh, the advent of the city's first skyscraper, the 42-story Gold Tower. Right now it is just a hole in the ground as construction begins. It will be a reality far removed from this old man, plopped down on a busy street corner with all his possessions probably because he's just too tired to go farther--and maybe because he hasn't any place to go. Some of the saddest scenes on Phnom Penh's streets are the elderly people, often a husband and wife together, begging for food and assistance.
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| Phnom Penh English-speaking Catholic Community
Our worship space in World Vision building 21 April 2008  In the late 1990s, as the first few foreigners started to trickle back into Cambodia, they were all forced to stay in one hotel and the first Maryknoll priest had mass for a handful of Catholics in his hotel room. Now the English-speaking crowd has grown to more than 400 persons who meet every Saturday evening in the auditorium of World Vision. There are few venues big enough to accommodate such a group that also provide security, parking, and are affordable. This auditorium is full to overcrowding now every week so we are looking for another venue we can use on Sunday mornings, adding a second liturgy for the English-speaking community.
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| More picture possibilities
...courtesy of Bill Carmean 19 April 2008
I usually order my cameras online because it's cheaper, but then getting them to Cambodia presents a problem. The problem this time was solved by Bill Carmean (center) who was traveling with his son Elliott (right) to Phnom Penh to visit a family friend and Maryknoll lay missioner, Adel O'Regan. Bill graciously consented to carry the camera with him and I was able to start using it this past week.
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I use my digital camera a lot here in Cambodia and have it with me all the time. I have carried a backpack everywhere I go mainly to keep my big camera with me and ready for all the interesting sights and scenes Cambodia provides. But still there were many times when it was too much trouble--or too slow--to get my camera out for an inviting shot, so I ordered a new, smaller camera online that I can carry in my shirt pocket. This Samsung S85 was my choice, a compromise of large megapixel count, digital zoom, image stabilization, and price.
| Bernadette Duggan and Bob Wynne
Half a century of commitment 9 April 2008  50 years ago Bernadette Duggan (with statue) entered the Maryknoll Sisters congregation and Bob Wynne entered the Maryknoll seminary to begin his studies for the priesthood. Today the Maryknoll Cambodia Mission Team celebrated their anniversary with them and presented them with wood carvings of a madonna and child done by disabled artisans at the Jesuits' Banteay Prieb skills training center.
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| Korean Mission Society
A youthful presence in Cambodia 6 April 2008
The Maryknoll mission group helped the Korea church found their own Korean Mission Society to work in mission outside of Korea. This evening the four members of the Korean Mission Society in Phnom Penh invited the Maryknoll priests over to their house for supper, a delightful evening. Two of the four lived in our Maryknoll center when they first arrived in Cambodia and we have maintained a close and friendly contact with them.
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| Day of Recollection
23 February 2008
Every month the Italian lay missionary group has a half day of reflection, usually at the Salesian School in Teuk Thla. This morning I presented two reflections to the group on the subject of the eucharist in our spirituality. Here a couple of them take some time to reflect privately in the time between the two reflections.
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| Ramesh from Singapore
Demonstrating a mime's skills 19 February 2008  Next week is the Spotlight Festival of inclusive arts for disabled and non-disabled people in Asia. The festival will have performances in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. One of the acts is Ramesh, a deaf mime from Singapore. Here he performs a little skit at the DDP Deaf Community Center to show the appreciative deaf audience what they can expect next week.
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| Global Democratic Primary
First time to vote in Phnom Penh 9 February 2008
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| Kathy Morefield
Returning to the US 2 February 2008
Kathy Morefield (right) is a Maryknoll Affiliate from Seattle. She and her husband John spend about six months of the year in Cambodia, John as a trainer of school administrators and Kathy as a teacher and spiritual director. John left earlier this week and tomorrow Kathy joins him in Seattle. We anticipate seeing them again later this year but tonight at the English-speaking mass, Lisa Pirie, Helene O'Sullivan, and Alice Marianito said goodbye.
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| A work visit to Kampong Cham Province
and great hospitality at the Catholic Church there 25 January 2008  Today three of us from the Deaf Development Programme made a quick trip to Kampong Cham Province to meet some education officials where we are going to open a new deaf classroom and to talk with one of the deaf people there. We met at the Catholic Church in Kampong Cham and were graciously invited to lunch even though we arrived unannounced!
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| Association of the Blind Cambodia
Inauguarating a new project 20 January 2008  The Association of the Blind Cambodia is an independent disability group that began with Maryknoll's help about ten years ago. Bun Mao, seen speaking here with a Japanese interpreter taking notes, is the president of ABC. Visitors from the Nippon Foundation in Japan came to ABC to inaugurate a new phase in their massage training project.
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| Welcome to Cambodia!
18 January 2008
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Sue Moore (center) is the president of the Maryknoll Sisters, working in New York, but she attended the retreat and meetings in Thailand and then came to Cambodia for a visit. Today was her birthday so she was included in the celebration to welcome Sami Scott (right) to Cambodia. She has transferred from Venezuela. Lisa Pirie (left) was part of the welcoming activities.
| China Disabled People Performing Arts Troupe
...an amazing performance! 16 January 2008
UNESCO is having a three-day workshop on inclusive education here in Phnom Penh, and tonight they sponsored the China Disabled People Performing Arts Troupe in a two-hour extravaganza that was superb! There were deaf people, blind people, and physically disabled people in a variety of performances that were exquisitely staged. The troupe is something that China can justly be proud of and it has been named a UN Artist for Peace. This photograph is of a deaf group in the opening dance number. Truly amazing!
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| Wat Phnom: Cambodia's Spiritual Center
Buddhist nun tying ritual strings on children 1 January 2008  Many Asian cultures tie strings on the wrists of people in rituals with various purposes. Here a Buddhist nun ties ritual strings on young boys' wrists at Wat Phnom, the temple in Phnom Penh which is the spiritual heart of Cambodian Buddhism.
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