There are two seasons in Timor-Leste, Tempu-Udan (Rainy Season – December to May) and Bailoron (Dry Season – June to November). We have had a lot of rain and lower temperatures these past few days. Some roads become like rivers and it seems we have power outages more often. I AM happy that the temperatures are cooler though.
I feel my Tetun skills may have gone a little in reverse over the last few weeks. The preparation for the English classes and my Kids “Clubs” has been intense with little time to really study my Tetun and concentrate on improving. My volunteering organization has a “reconnect” meeting in Dili in March where I need to show that I have reached an “Intermediate-Mid” in my Tetun language proficiency. I am hopeful (I was rated at “Intermediate-Low” in December). Some recent “Kids English Club” photos below
So far, the whole USAID and Trump Presidency pullback on foreign aid has not effected us with regard to being “sent home” but it does mean that any support grants from the USA will be frozen. These are grants that we apply for, and implement, with our organizations/communities to make improvements to peoples lives and improve the economy here. Hopefully we will get back to a normality in a few months. Below is a 2023 total US foreign aid split with $42.5B going to USAID with my organization coming in at only (relatively) $500M. I think my organization has a lot more transparency (from what I can see) than USAID, so hopefully we ride the storm.
My family are sweet. I feel very lucky. They are kind to me and care about me. Life is hard for them at times. Water, and food are often short. Money is ALWAYS short here in Timor-Leste for the vast majority of people. My host Mum, Mana Berta, made me some pizza, for breakfast, a few days ago (photo below) as a surprise, and she said it was to remind me of America :). She did a good job!!! I’m not sure where she found the cheese (may be the first cheese I have had in Timor-Leste). Mana Berta bakes bread buns every morning, in a small electric oven she has, so it can be sold in the kiosk by Senor. It’s very popular with the local neighbors. I think its 5cents per bun.
I’m becoming very aware that I am teaching English pronunciation not only an English accent but a “Scouse” (Liverpool) accent 😁. I can’t really help it. My accent is not as strong as it used to be, but as the class students repeat back to me in English, it’s definitely a Liverpool accent I am giving them 🙄. I suppose there are worse accents to have and it might be the legacy I leave Fatuquero…….
At EAMO, one of the organizations I support, we graduated a bunch of students from a 3 month English course they attended at EAMO, specifically to help them move forward and apply for a seasonal work visa in Australia. Timorese who travel to work abroad, send money (cash) back (via MoneyGram or Western Union) that contributes roughly a whopping 10% to Timor-Leste’s income! Its a large percentage. Below is a pic we took after their final exam. I wish them the best of luck. Maun Mario, their Teacher, did a great job 👍.
Below I show one of my colleagues at EAMO Maun Jacob. He is so skilled!! Here, he found a bunch of scrap bent steel rods (offcuts from a local house construction). He was able to straighten them, with a hammer, and then weld them together (end to end) for use as shelving in the mushroom production at EAMO. Basically he was able to make the shelving for zero cost. Pretty impressive. I had to take a photo to capture the moment!!
On may way back home last week I met these children and noted one had a Liverpool shirt on 😁. Pretty cool. They were super happy kids and we chatted a while.
As a final photo, below, I rode to meet fellow volunteer Ruby in Railaco last Sunday. Great mountain ride. After having a coffee, I came to my bike to find this guy wanting a ride on my handlebars (a Praying Mantis). It took quite the effort to push him off. I was thinking about starting to ride to see how long he would hang on 😄.
Until my next post, say safe out there!!!!
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