Last month the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) contacted us to invite to join a book launching for the memoir of Marcy (Weber) Ninomiya. Marcy, her husband Akiie, and Naoko from JICA also decided to visit the MCC Cambodia office a few days before and catch up on MCC’s work in the region. Marcy is…
Tag: History
Visiting Oudong in 2008 and 2023
Oudong was the capital of Cambodia for almost 250 years until it was moved to Phnom Penh by King Norodom in 1866. Oudong was largely abandoned after the capital was moved but the monasteries, pagodas, and stupas remained in use. Only some 21 miles northwest of Phnom Penh, Oudong with it’s ancient structures and beautiful…
30th Anniversary of the Paris Peace Agreements
Tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements. In 2019, the anniversary of the Paris Peace Agreements was removed as a national holiday but the 30th anniversary is being commemorated with a 30,000 riel bill. Like most Cambodian currency, it features the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk. Notably, it is the first…
Documentation Center of Cambodia
Last Thursday I visited the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) with Annaliese. She’s a SALT participant working with long term MCC partner Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the Cambodia Peace Gallery in Battambang. She scheduled the meeting with DC-Cam’s Information Technology Coordinator, Morm Sophat, to ask DC-Cam for recommendations on archival databases, how…
Fred Kauffman
This morning I received an email from MCC Cambodia alumni Carol Buhrman letting me know that Fred Kauffman had passed away suddenly. Fred had a long history with MCC and with the Mennonite church, but we feel a special warmth for him in Cambodia. Fred and Minh were the first MCC Cambodia personnel. They arrived…
School-kits to Kampuchea
In July, MCC East Coast published a set of cards telling the story of school-kits to Kampuchea. These are a fantastic Sunday School resource that illustrate how children (and teachers) can change the world. In 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia (then Kampuchea) and overthrew the Khmer Rouge regime. The new Cambodian government that resulted had very…
Who is Ruth Keidel Clemens?
Ruth Keidel Clemens is in Cambodia right now as part of a learning tour. But who is she? She is the current International Program Director for MCC US – our supervisors’ supervisor – but her connection to Cambodia goes deeper than that. Ruth and her husband Jonathan came to Cambodia (then Kampuchea) in 1988. They…
Saltiness
Last week we had a meditative devotion on Matthew 5:13-16. Throughout the service the verse on “the salt of the earth” was read several times and we were asked us to reflect on “saltiness.” You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make…