COUNTRY: Timore-Leste
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching, Healthcare & Development
WRITTEN BY: Alisha, Zoe & Holley
Botardi!
Apologies for the hold-up on week ones blog, free time has been scarce! Where to start on the last week and a half in Timor-Leste…
As a tiny group of only three, and the first Antips team to hit East Timor, we arrived on the 30th of June fresh-faced with no idea of what to expect. Flying over Timor and into Dili airport, all of us were breath-taken by the beautiful, mountainous country that is Timor-Leste. Once off the plane, we were hit with the heat and chaos that would be ours for the next month. Thank goodness for Paulo, our in-country partner, who has helped us navigate our lives in the weird and wonderful city of Dili!
After a day of exploration and learning about the history of the country, it was time to jump in the deep end and begin our placements. The only way to describe this was purely “feeling our way”, with Zoe arriving at a school where not a single person spoke english, and Holley and Alisha beginning at HIAM with both directors away and the manager of the rehabilitation centre on annual leave. Thus, our journey to-date has been filled with both tears and triumphs! However, as each day passes and each new day begins, our love for the culture and people that make up Timor-Leste only grows.
Each of us have chosen our most valued triumph so far, and they are as follows:
Alisha - Despite her fear that this would be the case, not a single child has run away from her screaming because of her blonde hair! Not even when she visited two rural districts :)
Zoe - Getting through her first day of teaching when she was led to a classroom of about 60 students (plus the multiple children standing outside gawking at the tall blonde white girl!) and left by herself for two hours while the teachers vacated the school.
Holley - Not getting too upset when we arrived at placement on Thursday and weren’t greeted by our favourite little seven year old, Nando, because he had left and nobody had told us!
We also can’t go any further without saying that, as a whole, we can’t help but see the sheer amount of rice we have managed to consume, as a triumph in itself!
Like that of beginning our placements, Timor-Leste is just beginning to feel its way as one of the newest countries in the world, and much of this shows. For anyone considering this placement, if nothing else, Timor will teach you patience and that sometimes its just better to laugh. It has an untouched beauty that is rare, with pristine water and beaches, and rural districts in the mountains which are stunning. While you might have to get off the beaten track (onto things you can barely call roads) to see much of what Timor has to offer, you are rewarded ten-fold.
Our time in Timor-Leste so far is hard to sum up in a single blog. From Alisha and Holley being involved in SISCA programs in the districts, to Zoe starting up a crazy dance with her students, to climbing up to the Crista Rai statue and seeing the incredible views it offered over the coastline of Dili, to attending a wedding, and going to visit a sick woman in hospital even though we had no idea who she was...it is hard to believe we have only been here for a week and a half! But now it is time to start packing ready for our weekend adventure to Balibo! We can’t wait to see and experience some of the north coast, west of Dili.
Adeus,
Alisha, Zoe & Holley
(Timor-Leste Antips #1)
a
ReplyDelete