Recently, I returned to live in the United States after almost 42 years working as a Maryknoll Associate priest in deaf ministry in India, Hong Kong and Cambodia.
The ministry with deaf people there is not finished — it never will be — but I felt there were compelling reasons for my returning to Louisville at this point in my life:
I am 81, one of eight brothers and sisters who are very close to each other, and in the last few years, I have thought a lot about being nearer to them and my larger family and friends, who have been very important to me.
When I had surgery for kidney cancer three years ago, Maryknoll was there to help me through the treatment and recovery. Now, Maryknoll is gone from Cambodia, and if I were to get sick, caring for me would become a problem for the Cambodian people, and I can’t risk creating a burden for them.
When Maryknoll left Cambodia, I lost my medical insurance, and it is almost impossible at my age to get a new policy for medical coverage.
I will definitely miss being in Asia in ministry, but I can look back happily on wonderful opportunities and endeavors I was part of.
For example, in Bangalore, India, I worked in a technical training center for deaf youth and was able to organize activities for spiritual growth and for development as good human beings.
In Hong Kong, I arrived at a time when a generation of young deaf Catholics was coming of age, and we were able to develop a lively deaf parish. And when the British colony of Hong Kong was returned to control of China, I was able to heed the bishop’s request for us foreign missioners to stay through the handover to provide an element of support and security to the people, justifiably concerned after the Tiananmen Square massacre.
In Cambodia, I was fortunate to arrive as the kingdom was recovering from the devastation of the Khmer Rouge era, and society was struggling to deal with the huge numbers of war victims. As the only person in the country with foreign experience with deaf people, I was able to ensure they were included in services for people with disabilities. Those early initiatives led to the Deaf Development Programme, the only program serving the whole deaf community in Cambodia, and to the creation and promotion of the first sign language in Cambodia.
With support from Maryknoll, I was also pastor of the English-speaking parish as it morphed from a mass station into the largest and most active parish in the country.
Some of my activities were deliberate and intentional, like establishing the Deaf Development Programme. Others were more about being in the right place at the right time and finding opportunities.
One of the latter was having cataract surgery at an eye hospital set up by Maryknoll. I was the first foreigner to have that surgery by Cambodian doctors after the German surgeons who trained them had left. Because I trusted them, it was like I walked on water. It was one of the most meaningful things I did in 25 years there.
I hope my time in India, Hong Kong and Cambodia was as good for the people I worked with as it was for me.
Having the support of Maryknoll and my family, having wonderful Cambodian colleagues, being presented with timely opportunities, we tried to live out Gospel values and bring the Good News to the poor.
Father Charles Dittmeier is a priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville who recently retired from decades of service as a missioner, most recently serving the deaf community in Cambodia.
