Yesterday marked the 1 year anniversary of our volunteer group “staging” event in San Francisco. The day after that, we flew to Taiwan and then Timor-Leste. As I look back at the photos of those days we all definitely had a little more “fuller” faces 😁 compared to now. Has it gone fast/slow? I’m not really sure. Reading back on this blog is a nice way for me to remember and put into context everything that I have experienced here in Timor-Leste. We still have 14 months to go until we finish our service, but it feels like we are about to start look forwards to that point.
My Health
A couple of weeks ago I “passed-out” as I was using the ATM in our local bigger town of Gleno (I had cycled there). It’s only the 2nd time in my life that has happened (the other time was when I had dengue a few months back). The good news is that my volunteering organization were really helpful by giving some full rigorous heart and health checks in the capital Dili (I was there for over 1 week). The additional good news is that all is OK with my health. After all the checks, our organization doctor believes that I am malnourished relative to the activities I am doing (cycling, running etc.). I have lost about 14lbs since arriving in Timor-Leste. The diet in my host family is, often, limited and augmented with lots of white rice. Moving forward, I need to accept that I need better nutrition and that I will have to supplement my host family meals with available protein (like canned tuna and eggs) and fruit (much easier to come by) and take ownership of that so my health does not suffer. I think this type of situation is dealt with by many volunteers around the world working in developing countries.
My Birthday
One of the facts of life is that a birthday rolls around once a year. And this was my first birthday in Timor-Leste. I tried to keep it low-key and just told my host family sister Mana Cidalia. Consequently all the children in Fatuquero seemed to find out 😂. I had asked, fellow volunteer, Shelby to come and see my Wednesday morning kids class at EAMO. I knew there was something going on immediately as I arrived as there seemed to be kids running in and out of the kitchen in EAMO. At the end of class the kids covered my eyes and brought in a surprise birthday cake with candles!!!! They then did the Timor tradition of hand feeding me the pieces of cake 😁. THEN they brought in rice and some fried sausage which I think they had brought from one of their homes, which means a lot to me. After food the kids had a dance party. Both Shelby and I were exhausted after we finally managed to send them on their way home 🥱. Some photos below. It was probably my most memorable birthday.
I also received some fruit and a sweet hand made birthday card from two of Mana Berta’s grandsons and a neighbor (all of whom I teach) that same evening. Also I had one of the best haircuts ever in Gleno on the same day! It was a good day indeed!
Betano Trip
As it was also the birthday of my fellow volunteer Katie, I was invited to visit her in Betano (located in the municipality of Manufahi) for the weekend! The map, above, shows Betano is directly south of Dili and on the south coast of Timor-Leste. Katie is probably the most “remote” volunteer of our group when you take into account how far she is from Dili and how difficult transportation to Betano is from Dili.
I was also particularly interested in Betano because it is one of two locations (the other is Hela, Dili) where Timor-Leste generates electricity using diesel fuel powered generators which were imported from, of all places, Finland. Diesel fuel is primarily imported from Singapore. Almost every household (99.7% according to Google) in Timor-Leste has access to electricity, which is actually truly remarkable for a developing country like Timor-Leste. In the guest house in which I stayed in Betano I could hear the “drone” of the generators during the night and met some of the workers who support that facility.
The coast in Betano was also beautiful and empty (of people). There was a fuel transportation ship anchored for, I believe, transporting diesel fuel to the power plant.
The landscape in Manufahi was its own. That is a common theme as I have travelled around Timor-Leste as the landscape changes between municipalities. A nice YouTube video of the winding landscape from the back of an anguna is shown here.
Below was a fascinating abandoned building next to the beach in Betano. It was dated January 1978 which would have put it right about 2 years after the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. The word “Pasmar” on the large marking stone refers to the Indonesian Marine Forces and, I deduce, this was an Indonesian occupation Marine Forces base. Now, just a hollow shell with memories the people of Timor-Leste would rather leave in the past.
Betano is also remembered for its role during World War II, specifically in September 1942, when the Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS Voyager ran aground while offloading Allied forces. The ship was deliberately sank, by the Australians, and apparently it can be seen from the beach at low tide (we thought we could see it, a dark shadow in the water). Another Australian warship, HMAS Armildale, was sunk by Japanese bombers while attempting a rescue mission near Betano in December of that that same year. So, lots of sad and heroic history here.
We left Betano and had one night’s stay in a town further north named Same. It felt like a slightly more affluent area of rural Timor-Leste with the market center having one or two shops which we don’t see much of in the rest of Timor-Leste (cake shop, an air conditioned small clothes shop and other clothes shops with organized new clothes). We stayed at an absolutely awesome guesthouse named Hotel Umaliurai (literally translates to house of the King). It had a swimming pool (I don’t know anywhere else outside of Dili that has a pool) hot showers and clean rooms, as well as a great evening meal. Rooms were $35/night (upwards) and was great value compared to other options in Timor-Leste. Some choice photos below 😀.
In Same we also found a Protestant church. With only 2% of the population of Timor-Leste being Protestant it’s an unusual site. I thought it was a great piece of architecture. Photo below:
Ermera Timor-Leste Transportation 😭
I don’t want to make this into a rant 🤐 but!!! There is a general transportation issue in Timor-Leste that needs to be fixed before any type of tourism can take hold here (I’ve ranted before). Both, fellow volunteer, Shelby and I have a tough time getting from Dili back to Gleno/Fatuquero due to the bus passengers being “controlled” by the “Konjaks” (we seem to have given them this name 😁 which actually refers more to the busses than people) who are guys at the bus terminal (normally a location along a dual carriageway or in a market) who intimidate passengers by cramming them onto overcrowded buses and basically deciding who even gets on the bus. Passengers are normally the more venerable elderly, women and children (vast majority of others use motorbikes) who the Konjaks are able to push around. I believe the Konjaks are paid by the owner of the bus to cram-in as many people in order to make as much money as possible for the owner.
Last Monday, when returning from Dili, I tried to get on a bus from Dili to Gleno. When I arrived the Konjacs opened the bus door and there was zero room. They then started pushing a visibly upset younger teenage girl, into a space that was not there, to make room for me. I told the Konjaks “no way” and that the bus was full and they need to leave for Gleno. This upset them, so I decided to not hang around and to go and hitch hike my own transport (not easy as the Konjaks seem to also be the muscle for stopping others picking up in that location). It took me about 1.5hrs, but I managed to flag down an anguna full of “stuff” with two women in the back. They ran a kiosk in Gleno and had bought some stock from Dili to sell. I managed to get a seat on a comfy sack of rice and made it back to Fatuquero before dark.
The Timor-Leste government need to know about this and do something about this transportation issue. For me, travelling TO Dili is much easier as I typically am able to take a 10 minute microlet (mini bus) and then flag down an anguna on its way to Dili. I have even had luck just making eye contact/greeting people driving cars to Dili to get a ride. Below are two such kind souls (Sunny + friend) who stopped for me, took me all the way to my hostel in Dili for free AND bought me a coffee along the way! So.. my rant is complete with a happy ending 😁.
I will leave you with a photo of our new puppy and his mum 😍, two of the brothers who come to my Sunday class 🤗 and my FJDE class today where we had another fun round of learning to tell the time in English 🤔. Until next time!
Leave a Reply