I’m writing this blog from Dili the day after running the Dili Marathon (we ran the half marathon) yesterday morning. I ran with 5 of my fellow volunteer friends. The theme of the marathon was a “run for peace”. The actual full marathon had about 30 people running (these were proper runners and all Timorese), with the remainder running the half marathon (221 people).
We were sent off by the President of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta, who had awoken from his slumber to see us off at 6am. The run took us along the coastline of Dili and it was quite an epic route. The President even drove his blue jeep (with white soft-top) along the route to cheer us on as we were running. I shouted “botarde maun” (“good morning brother”) and he gave me a cheeky smile. That was at about the half way point. I took the run easy as I have had limited training over the last few weeks. I managed to run all the way and finish in just under 2h30min. Thankfully no aches or pains. Overall it was really enjoyable. I met a lot of people and was able to greet people and race volunteers on the road side who had come out to watch.
Some photos, below, of the event and my fine friends who all ran much faster times than I 😊.
Mathematics Fun!
This week fellow volunteer, Shelby, and I kicked off a fun mathematics class for the ~10 year old’s I teach English to at EAMO. The goal is eventually to incorporate some personal money management skills that the children can apply to their future. It’s also a fun way of improving their numerical skills and is something the children asked for. We ended up with about 12 children for the first class. It was fun and I really appreciated co-teaching with Shelby as it both took the pressure off and allowed us to work better with supporting the children with their individual activities. I like to think that we are also teaching critical thinking during these classes as this is an important skill and habit that the children can use in many different areas of their lives. Some photos of our first class below 😊.
Manusae Fatin Turizmu Google Maps – So near and yet so far 😪
I had a re-visit to the small village of Manusae to see Maun Eddie and his Fatin Turizmu. Another grueling 16.4mile climb of 2539ft elevation to cycle there over really bad roads/tracks. The mission was to deliver a new sign I designed and record a video for Google Maps and put the Manusae Fatin Turizmu on the map 😉. The ride there and back was with my good friends Maun Mario and Maun Mateus (they rode motorbikes) and it was a tough but fun ride. We stopped for coffee on the way there and on the way back, as I was waiting for them to descend, I got chatting to some local youths and exchanged some BMX skill techniques 🚲. Some choice photos below:
The story has an unhappy ending. We did manage to record the video (I thought a great video) needed by Google (video is tagged with the GPS location of where it is recorded) but after 4 days I received a message that they had reviewed the video and needed more information… i.e. another video 😒. So, I think I will have another visit to Manusae in my future soon.
This seems to be a reoccurring theme in Timor-Leste. Doing anything “outside the box” takes a huge effort. The simplest of things like having water to wash or food to eat for dinner are often huge tasks for many many families here. I have come to accept the difficulty and not be disheartened by it. People generally have relatively tough lives here and the experience of living here has made me forever grateful for the privileged life I have had so far.
EAMO Mushrooms
A quick update from EAMO, the mushroom growing organization I support, spend a lot of time at and teach from. They have been making efforts to increase production and keep on track with the cycle of grow bag preparation and maintenance. The team all have their own activities and so keeping a constant effort is challenging. They have just hired a new person to work and be dedicated on the production activity as well as starting to grow a new strain of pink oyster mushrooms. The vines which were planted earlier this year to help with temperature control in the growing building are also now taking shape. I’m happy to see EAMO business progressing and I hope more good news soon. Some photos below.
I will leave you with a couple of photos of my host family younger children. The younger children were scared of me when I first met them (I look strange at the best of times, but my skin tone is odd to them) but they have since warmed to me. Also a photo of Mana Berta with a cake she made for our Xefi Suku daughter. Mana Berta works so hard every day and is very talented (matenek loos!!).
Until next time! Thanks for reading 😁.
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