The First Investments

we acquired, meantime, a small truck and a concrete block making machine, that will ensure the livelihood of 8 Timorese. We will use them in the construction of our future facilities and sell, part of the production, with the objective of being able to raise some more money for the development of each stage of the project.

Many of the stages of this project were authentic challenges that made me have an even more persistent attitude, in an attempt to find a solution…because, in my opinion, the greater the challenge, more tenacious I become in facing it!

Life taught me that, in reality, we don't grow when things get easy, we grow when we face our challenges. Maybe that's why I like, in a particular way, of the serious challenges…

speaking of challenges, the last, quite provocative, was the construction of 5 sheet metal and iron molds that I made together with “Master” Joaquim Mota, my father-in-law who, together with your wife, my dear mother-in-law, kindly were willing to come from Portugal to help us start the first phase of the work, of our project.

Although we are no artists in the field, along 6 months of work, many times we had to undo and redo some parts that were not, really,  one hundred percent, because these molds are in fact five females and five males that, so that we can produce quality parts, must be built and tuned, In such a way, so that they are synchronized even to the millimeter! Otherwise, "I worked it"! This term in Tetum, the first official language of Timor, it means in current portuguese: Does not work!

There were many times when we had the opportunity to learn new things., but in certain more complicated moments of the work we had feelings of discouragement and, until, of mistrust that we would be able to bring all this to a successful conclusion…

However, the desire to savor the final moment of our feat prevailed and, as I usually recognize, only through the wisdom and power that God has given us can we face this challenge!

We did, also, sheet metal molds for the production of pillars, in reinforced concrete, to fence off the land and to sell.

One of Bill Gates' pieces of advice was a great encouragement to me.: “try a, two, three times and if possible try the fourth, the fifth and as many times as necessary. Just don't give up on the first few tries., persistence is the friend of achievement. If you want to get where most people don't, do what most people don’t.”