Arrival

Arrival

It takes 2 days to get here, we flew via Bali and had a wonderful night in a lovely hotel at the airport.

On the plane flying along the coast of Timor-Leste I was astonished at how dry and brown the land looked. We landed and had another long queue to get into the country and then we were here.

Met by the wonderful Victoria and Novi who are the team for VSA in Dili and who look after us so well.

We were taken straight to the Timor Telecom shop to get new sim cards for our phones which is located in a luxury newly build air conditioned shopping mall. Passing along the way shacks where families were congregating outside under the shade of the trees in the heat and the dust.

A country of contrasts, and many more to come.

A brief History of Timor-Leste

We have spent the time so far learning about the history and story of this new country- officially recognised with its own government in 2002, after a bloody conflict and occupation stemming back to 1975 when the Portuguese left and the Indonesians marched in.

At the Resistance Museum, which details the long struggle, the genocide and mass killings, the displacement of people and the starvation and death of a third of the population, I was struck by a map that showed where the Indonesian army put most of the population after they invaded -into concentration camps- 53 of them. This is a country of such a small size. 

So the adult population today are in several strands, the oldest who were there when the Indonesians marched in and had 25 years of occupation; the next layer of people who are parents today who were born during the occupation; and the young people- approximately 60% of the population today who have been born at the tail end of the occupation with the struggle for independence- or have grown up in a free and emerging country. 

When the Indonesians eventually had to leave, once the vote for independence was decided– in an election that saw intimidation and violence but still 98% of the population voted and the vote was almost ¾ for independence, the Indonesian  army blew everything up, went on the rampage and killed many people and then left the country in tatters.

So when I look  at the contrasts here I am amazed at how they have managed to achieve so much in such a short space of time…16 years,  with so little.

Meeting many of the other VSA’s last night was a tonic. Such a positive and dynamic group of people who are doing what they can for this country and I feel lucky to have the opportunity to be part of this group.