Challenges & Highlights

The past week I had a few challenges but many highlights. Feeling a little sick all of the time-challenge. Walking along the beach and seeing 3 baby goats- highlight. Here is a brief recap from the last week.

Sunday was Jim's birthday. We joined some friends in Liquica, where we swam, ate, and relaxed. But it seemed like the whole day lead up to bringing out the homemade chocolate magnificently frosted T-rex cake. It was delicious.

One of my favorite days was when I went to drop off Ela, the nanny, at her home. Ela has sort of been my window into Timorese life, so far. She speaks really good english and translates for me. Plus, we like to chat about life, her new economics classes, our families, and eating good food. When we pulled up to her house there were her 2 brothers, 4 sisters, and 2 nieces out on the patio. They happily welcomed me in and greeted me with a kiss on each cheek, the customary greeting. She showed me around the house, which was similar to Alda's, but with more rooms. I loved sitting on the porch with the family while the dog and kids ran around.  They brought out an old photo album and shared pictures of their childhood and a few of their parents' wedding photos. They even showed me their pet pigs and piglets! The whole trip made me very happy. 

I finished my first project for TRM this week! My project included creating a system so their client's can give them feedback or report a complaint and creating a privacy policy for client data.  I hope to present my work within the next week, although I'm a little nervous. Challenges of my first few weeks included learning to communicate without knowing the language, not knowing anything about TRM's operations, and frequent power outages. Even though I've only learned a few words in Tetun, smiling goes a long way here. I've been doing a lot of smiling.  I'm lucky some of the staff speak english and are happy to explain the business to me.

TRM staff

Highlights of the first few weeks include when the CEO told me he is very thankful I'm there helping out and that now I'm part of the family, being greeted every morning with big smiles and "Bondia"  (good morning), and a going away party for one of the employees. The party was a great way to meet some of the staff that I don't get to see very often. There was delicious fried food, cake, and champagne. They played music, took tons of pictures, and presented gifts to the man that was leaving. When we were ready to eat they looked at me and pointed to the bottle of champagne and said "Mana, please" ( sister, please) I watched the other guy shake up the other bottle and I followed him; the top blasted off and champagne exploded everywhere! It was party time!

I went to Tracey's for dinner this week, too. This is the place I will be calling home for the next two months. Beautiful garden, quite a few cats, and an endless supply of new people to meet. One of the first things I noticed when I walked in was a huge framed portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The possibility of acquiring a British accent while I'm there is something to look forward to.  I move in this weekend. 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the week. 

Look!

Here are some pictures I took around town this week.

Fat Tuesday celebration on the beach

City of Peace

selling coconuts

Kiosks and shops

New houses being built

kids playing at the beach

Pope John Paul II

                     

Bondia! Botarde! Boanoite!

That's Tetun for: Good morning! Good afternoon! Good night!

Tibar Bay 

Other than the major rain storm, having to drive through extremely flooded streets, and frequent power outages, this weekend was really cool. I got to attend a meeting about building a new port in Tibar bay. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) worked with a private consulting firm to research the environmental and social impact building a port will have on the local community. It was fascinating to listen to the research about the rich coastal environment and hear the why Tibar bay is the best place for the new East Timor port. The current port is in the heart of downtown Dili; this is bad for traffic and leaves no room to expand the port without bulldozing houses and businesses to make room. With a growing population and increase of exports and imports, the port needs to be expanded.  Since these were just the initial findings, much more research is needed, along with approval from the government, before a port can actually be built here. It was great to see the local people, fishermen and business owners, here to listen about the potential port plans and communicate their opinions and feelings. This meeting really got me interested in social impact work and I'm looking into what this really means (i.e. career options).

Tibar Bay Port meeting

As for work, I'm adjusting to the pace. It is much slower here than I'm used to. Which means that it must look like I'm working at lightning speed! Last week, I went home early a couple days due to major power outages, which are normal here. Then I got home and power was out there, too. Once it came back on I thought I would take a quick shower, only to get half way through and the water completely shut off. So, even though I'm staying in a comfortable house, I'm reminded every now and then that this is East Timor. On the way to work today we were stuck in traffic for about an hour due to cleaning up the mess from the weekend flooding. I guess I could say I'm used to sitting in traffic from growing up driving in LA and living in California, but I don't think traffic is ever comfortable. On the bright side, there was a gorgeous view the entire way!

Traffic on the way to work

The highlight of the weekend was when we hosted a fabulous dinner party! This was to get me acquainted with some of my Aunt and Uncle's favorite people in East Timor. The food isn't always great here, but this night is was! Pork loin with garlic, fresh baked bread, delicious cheese ( which is hard to find here), and two fresh salads! It is hard to get delicious fresh fruit and veggies here, so anytime a fresh salad is served I'm perfectly happy. I met Tracey Alexander, the women I will be staying with for the rest of my trip. Tracey is the Honorary British Consul for East Timor; after a night of chatting with her, I'm definitely looking forward to moving into her place and having many more great conversations!

having fun with my Aunt

chatting with Tracey

That's Timor!

In the past two weeks I've heard native Timorese say sheepishly "that's Timor" when they were looking at a piece of bad fruit or when a child ran up to them asking for money.  They realize their country is not as fruitful or prosperous as it could be.  But, now when I look around and see cool things I say, "That's Timor." 

Look at these vans! How awesome are these!?

And these multi-colored buildings. Super cool!

Tuba Rai Metin

This week I started working at Tuba Rai Metin (TRM), a Microfinance Institution (MFI) that provides financial services to small businesses and entrepreneurs.  I was graciously welcomed into the office by the Angelo, the CEO, and Subhash, the Transformation Advisor.  I was assigned to learn about the Smart Campaign, create a system to implement the principles of the Smart Campaign, and train the staff on these principles; this is all to be done within my 2 1/2 months here! 

Street view from my office

A little background on microfinance: 

Check out this great video! 

Microfinance was created to help people, usually the very poor, who do not have access to traditional banking services. The idea of microfinance purposes that if given access to financial services, these people will be able to lift themselves out of poverty. However, it is understood that microfinance is not the only answer to ending poverty. 

The Smart Campaign was created to protect clients of the microfinance industry. They have developed 7 Client Protection Principles that responsible MFIs should follow to ensure their clients know their rights as consumers and are prevented from falling victim to over-indebtededness. This is the first industry‐wide client protection initiative and I'm excited to be helping implement these ideas!

My job is to provide TRM with the tools and resources they need to deliver respectful, transparent, and prudent financial services to their clients; I will get these tools and resources from the Smart Campaign. Specifically, one of the things I will look into is how TRM can create a system so their clients can give feedback, make a complaint, or ask questions so they can be served more effectively.  

The Smart Campaign is important because the people who use these financial services- small loans for their businesses, savings accounts, and micro-insurance- are already a vulnerable population and they must be protected. It's important to ensure that the women and men who use these services, are not only able to repay their loans on time, but in doing so are not making huge sacrifices- like going hungry or selling items that are valuable to their business. The Smart Campaign is designed to prevent these huge sacrifices from being made. 

I understand this is a very complicated project to address a huge complicated issue, but I'm really looking forward to learning more about this industry and I hope that my work will go on to benefit the people of Timor-Leste. I'll be sure to keep you updated on the progress! 

Dili

Right off the plane!

It's great to finally be here! My first impression of Dili is that everyone is so friendly! If you smile at anyone you get a huge smile back. Yes, it’s poor. Yes, the city needs a lot of support, but the people are very kind and helpful. 

The flight in was not very comfortable-in the middle of 2 seats, low air-conditioning, and a bumpy take off and landing. Yet, I arrived happy, although sweaty, to Milissa and Jim at the airport. They promptly gave me the tour of Dili; we drove along the main beach road, looking out to the beautiful ocean on one side and on the other, a row of government offices, embassies and NGOs. Then, we then drove to their beautiful home.

I was very excited to settle in and get started with my internship. I had been waiting to hear back from the UNESCO office and Kirsty Sword Gusmao, the Prime Minister's wife, about my start date and my project. However, things have gotten off to a slow start because of a tragic situation with Kirsty. About a month ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Within weeks she had a lumpectomy and is now undergoing chemo and radiation treatment in Australia. This all happened very suddenly and people here are still trying to make sense of it all. I know how complicated, confusing, and difficult it is to have a family member go through chemo and radiation treatments, as my mom struggled through the same process last year; my love and prayers go out to her and her family during this challenging time. 

With Kirsty in Australia, the UNESCO Mother Tongue project, the project I was assigned to work on, is put on hold. I have been in contact with the UNESCO office and they're having a tough time dealing with the unfortunate news about Kirsty. While I’m still open to helping in the office, it really won’t be the same without Kirsty here, since I would need her input and guidance. In the meantime, I decided to look for another opportunity.  

I thought of the mircro-finance institution(MFI) Tuba Rai Metin (TRM) who I’m familiar with through my work at Kiva, as TRM is a field partner with Kiva. TRM does really amazing work helping women and families in East Timor. They provide credit, savings accounts and micro-insurance to more than 7,000 clients -- 98% of whom are women.  I connected with them and they have requested that I start at the TRM office Monday morning to help work on client feedback and the Smart Campaign. Not sure specifically what I’ll be doing, but it sounds good to me!

As for the rest of my week:

On Sunday, we took a drive out to the beautiful beach town, Liquica, to Black Rock Restaurant and enjoyed swimming, a gorgeous sunset and eating the catch of the day, Mahi Mahi. The owner, Tanz, made sure we were well taken care of.  It was interesting to see how Black Rock is still working out the kinks of running a restaurant in this newly developed country; training the kitchen and wait staff while trying to maintain consistent business. The food was really good, location was perfect, and service was excellent.

Sunset in Liquica

Enjoying the island life! 

On Monday, as I was still figuring out the logistics of my volunteering project, I had a day off to lounge around. Knowing that it was SuperBowl Sunday back in the U.S. I was very bummed to not have anywhere to watch the game, especially since I was a new 49ers fan this season! However, my uncle Jim made special arrangements for me to watch the game at his office at USAID. Which was very cool! I strutted in with my red and gold proudly. I was cheering, clapping, and calling “Pass Interference!” (the only call I know) all alone in the huge USAID conference room. It wasn’t quite as fun, I have to say, as being in San Francisco.  But, when the clock ran out and the 49ers were left going home empty handed, I was happy to walk out of there and not be in the heartbroken city. 

Later that day, Milissa suggested I take a trip out to see some of the houses in East Timor, as her house is not a good representation of the norm here. The driver, Jacinto, drove me to Alda's house. Alda is the housekeeper. She welcomed me in and showed me around. The house was made of concrete, with a tin roof, linoleum floors, one bedroom, and the kitchen and bathroom were outside. There was no running water. When I found out that 12 people live here I couldn’t help but try to figure out where they all slept. After looking around at the other houses around, it was obvious that this house was nice house compared to the others. 

Alda inside her house

Alda and her garden

Alda is very proud of her house. Just when I thought the tour was over, she offered to have me stay longer and brought me a strawberry Fanta. We sat out on the front porch chatting about her life, despite the language barrier. She looked me in the eye as she spoke and really wanted to make sure I understood what she was saying. I met her 4 children who were playing outside; they were peeking around the corner of the house to catch a glimpse of the strange guest (me). I smiled and waved and they ran off giggling. Alda likes to garden and has a very healthy garden that grows papaya, bananas, and beautiful flowers. I learned that she works 5 days a week mornings and afternoons, and her husband is a security guard at night.  She has decided to go back to school on the weekends to get a degree in economics. This was awesome! 

On Thursday I went to the Resistance Museum. The museum documents the tragic history of Timor-Leste. Even after knowing some of the history, it is still shocking to see the video footage, photos, documents, and statistics. I was especially surprised to learn that the international community supported the Indonesian invasion in 1975. Some other alarming facts: From 1975-1999, there were over 250,000 deaths, 1/3 of the population. Nearly 70% of all buildings, homes and schools destroyed, and an estimated 75% of the population was displaced. It’s so sad to meet these people and think that every family has been deeply affected by this genocide. I'm still processing all the information I learned and I'm sure it will hit me even harder when I start working more closely with the people of this country.

Ubud

After my jet lag wore off, I was able to actually process the rich culture and really begin to appreciate the colorful villages and warm people. I visited at the time of the full moon, when there are many ceremonies and offerings to the Hindu gods. The women of the village make daily offerings made out of leaves, flowers, and grasses, and place them in the entrances of homes, businesses, and temples.

This was also the week where they gave thanks to all things metal and machines, by decorating these things with offerings, too. It was really cool to see motorbikes, cars, faucets, and the stove covered in beautiful, intricate decorations. Although, I wish I would have made an offering for my computer because a few days later my computer crashed! Something to do with the RAM. But, Jackie came to the rescue and called a friend who could fix my computer for about $55 USD. 

I spent my down time sleeping, lounging, eating well, and enjoying the beautiful and lush Ubud, Bali. The week's highlights include:

Riding the motorbike all around town- zipping along narrow, two-lane roads, through villages and jungles. 

A tour of Green School- A sustainable school all made from bamboo where their 200+ students are not only taught the standard subjects, but take part in growing their own gardens, raising livestock, composting, and re-establishing the endangered Bali starling;  their aviary has produced 70 new birds in the last few years!  

Visiting the cashew factory, Alamente- The factory sits in the mountainous region of Desa Ban, Bali where most families have an average income of $2/day.  East Bali Cashew company saw an opportunity to employ the people of this region, mainly women, to help improve their lives and teach farmers to maximize their production and improve the poor soil.  In the first three months of production, Alamente is off to a really successful start and now employs over 100 people from the surrounding villages. They grow, pick, steam, dry, shell, and flavor their cashews at this factory. These are seriously the best cashews I've ever tasted; I didn't know cashews could be this soft, creamy and delicious! 

Participating in the bathing ceremony at the water temple, Pura Tirta Empul (Temple of Holy Water)- Although we had to wake up at 4:30 AM and drive 45 mins, it was a experience of a lifetime. Pura Tirta Empul spills out sacred spring water from 12 fountains which fill a large rectangular pool (with koi fish!) Worshippers come here to make offerings, bathe, and pray. I was lucky enough to be invited to join the bathing ceremony! When we arrived the sun was barely coming up and at 6 in the morning the water is freezing!  I had to wear a traditional sarong for the bathing, where we all got into the pool and dunked ourselves under each fountain. Then we walked to the other side of the courtyard and did some more offerings; this time we sat and prayed, burned incense, put flowers behind our ears and finished with wet rice on our forehead and throat (called Bija). A really awesome experience.

And not to be forgotten- eating huge, fresh avocados off the tree in the yard; eating fresh mint and basil from the garden; trying snake fruit, passionfruit, mountain apple, mangosteen and rambutan for the first time; waking up to rain storms and huge lightning and thunder storms; seeing bugs everywhere! butterflies in my room in the morning, a praying mantis on the top of the toilet in the afternoon, the sound of 1 million cicadas at dinner, lizard mating calls in my room all night, massive ants, spiders crawling on the floor, and a mosquito or fly on your skin every couple minutes. I've made sure to put my hair up in a braid or bun not only because of the heat but to avoid little critters making a new home on my head. The heat and humidity- today was 86 degrees with 74% humidity, but my skin loves it.  Even after all the bugs and the heat, I loved seeing the colorful buildings and houses; all the village roosters and dogs; the statues, temples, and offerings; rice paddies, jungles, and trees with dangling, pink roots; And the men and women in traditional ikats and batiks. 

Now I'm ready for the next part of my trip, Timor Leste. I fly into Dili tomorrow morning.