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.