2010 Update
It has been ages since I last sent out an update, but I recently received one from a friend in Germany inspiring me to let you all know what I’m up to on this little half of an island of Timor-Leste.
I type as I lie here on my bed on a Sunday afternoon rather contently due to my appreciation of today’s consistent electricity, running water (its been running out lately but today it seems to be aplenty) and sunny skies despite the intermittent monsoons that are fairly regular this time of year keeping the hills a lovely green.
Sean, who is now working on event management and tourism promotion with the Office of the President, has been out since 8 am. Even on a Sunday he gets to look after his various work-related visitors - magazine owner who is in from Singapore and film-makers who came over from Bali who will be filming the next Tour de Timor (think Tour de France but in a prettier and much hotter locale). It’s always very high profile when you work for the head of state so to most people’s surprise Sean can be regularly spotted running around town in a suit and tie. No one envies that uniform in this climate.
Two months at home over Christmas was a good start – Sean and I spent time in Seattle and Bellingham and also visited Vancouver, Portland, the Oregon coast, Port Townsend, Friday Harbor, and Eastern Washington around new years. It was all fabulously different from warm tropical underdeveloped Timor-Leste. We ended the trip with two weeks in New York City catching up with friends, going to museums, swank clubs, central park in the snow and even my first time to a Broadway show (I never seemed to find the time with all my studying when I actually lived in NYC). I went to New York to speak at Columbia University about Timor-Leste and Ba Futuru, and also had the opportunity to speak with students at an alumni event at the International House. Sean was maybe even more popular than I was as someone for up and coming professionals to chat with for career advice.
On return to Timor my dad came along to get started on a research project looking at Cuba’s contribution of health care workers and its effectiveness in comparison to cash assistance. He was a pleasant addition to the Timor-Leste social scene for the 10 days he was here, and I put him straight to working giving out medical consultations.
Since being back I’ve started painting again and writing more and trying not to stress too much about our difficulty in raising funds this year - it has been rough thanks to the financial crisis’ impact on bilateral aid. In contrast two the last two years where Ba Futuru managed projects of around ½ a million each year, this year we are scraping by, but our doors are still open. Last month we put on a conflict mitigation skill building training at our center for 200 youth and elected community leaders from reintegration and high-conflict areas, as well as for government and international organization staff. We did a lot of outreach to encourage participation but were surprised to have so many turn up. We never seem to do things halfway at Ba Futuru. The training was a great success despite some very exhausted staff that learned how hard they can work and what they are capable of accomplishing in just five days.
The same week we had evening activities to promote as we were the beneficiaries of a theatrical production directed by the sister of one of our long-term volunteers from Australia, Lucy Kaval. Lucy’s sister, Kallista Kaval (an actress from Australia), wrote the script for this monologue show from interviews with Timorese and international women based in Timor-Leste. I went to see it opening night and it moved me, and many others, to tears. It tells various heart wrenching stories about women’s lives (most of which I know personally) over the last 10 years, including the story of one young woman who witnessed hundreds of people being killed around her in a church during the Suai Massacre in 1999.
Kallista also worked with youth at Ba Futuru’s Seroja Center to put on a drama performance called “Scared Cool”. It was like nothing seen before in Timor-Leste and received a standing ovation. Together these two theatrical events raised $3,000 for Ba Futuru, which was much appreciated.
Part of keeping happy this year, has meant spending a lot of time out of Timor-Leste… I accompanied Sean to Darwin and Singapore, and I’ve been to Bali a couple of times with friends and now this week with my mom who has just come over for a visit. In Singapore I got a chance to catch up with my cousin Melissa and her baby Petra, as well as to attend the Asian Diver Expo. Sean is ramping up to organize Timor-Leste’s first ever underwater diving competition, which will result in photographic exhibitions in London, Singapore and New York in National Geographic’s flagship stores, drawing people from around the world to the beautiful underwater sights of Timor-Leste.
As many of you know my younger brother Matthias spent 5-months here last year helping with a project on Atauro Island – built Ba Futuru a house/beach shack in only 3 weeks! In March he returned for a while to do a bit more work on the Atauro house and also do some IT related health work in the mountains at the clinic he and Andrea volunteered at in 2008. Matthias was here about 6 weeks - fixed the internet at our office (which was a relief after 3 months of it being down) and helped some friends in the mountains to get a mesh network up and running to provide internet and intranet for critical information sharing to clinics throughout the mountainous region of Ermera. They seem to have done a better job than the telephone network at providing coverage, as even in areas where there is no telephone signal people can now communicate via wireless. My little brother’s usefulness in this environment never fails to amaze me, and, on a personal note, I loved having him here. He kept me from feeling too lonely now that Sean is so busy running off to different countries every other week for work.
I recently redesigned the Island of Adventure website promoting tourism on the little Island of Atauro, check it out www.islandofadventure.tl and let me know if you have any feedback. And do come visit our new beach shack on the island.
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