New Friends
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New Friends

Due to visa extensions/applications, we needed to travel quite often to Dili, as you might know by now, it’s a ride full of beauty and at the same time full of obstacles…. But the trips are worthwhile – when you have friends at both ends of the road. In Dili, we got to meet some…

A Sad Day

A Sad Day

Today was a sad day… we got a call and found out that the owner of our rental in Gleno passed away. He was a good man, he helped many people in the village, and whether young or old.. everyone knew Mr Paulo Maia. He was a policeman during the Indonesian occupation and then became…

The Goal of this Trip
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The Goal of this Trip

ok.. so we’re in Gleno… but why? Our volunteer work here is to design and raise a radio tower, and also to organise the construction of a residence / area where the locals can come and learn about agriculture and a better lifestyle- VIVA MELHOR; in 2013 an estimated 90,000 children under 5, or 50percent, suffered…

First day in Gleno
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First day in Gleno

On the first day in March and we travelled to Gleno, but after an interesting ride – many areas of the road were sunken, collapsed, washed by the floods, etc… but knowing that Luke is one of the best drivers I know, I was also enjoying the unique views of Timor – which are magnificent!…

Daniel & Celia

Daniel & Celia

Landing in Dili is always exciting. It is like coming home: the familiar sights & sounds, the warm humid rush of air as you exit the plane, the walk across the tarmac to immigration & customs trying to remember your Tetum language skills as you prepare to greet the immigration officials. But this time it…

Scenic Route to Timor

Scenic Route to Timor

If you thought getting to leave Australia was a challenge (with cancellations, delays, rescheduled flights, requests for exemptions, tests, etc)… you would be right… but I think that was only to prepare us for what was to come 😉 On the evening of 27.02.2022 we arrived at the hotel in Darwin after a full day of flying……

The State of the Nation

The State of the Nation

As a young nation, only 4 months away from turning 20, Timor-Leste has a lot of growing to do as a nation, along with its population of approximately 1.3 million people. The median age is only 20.8 years; both country and people are infants in the history of nations. The nation lacks skilled workers in…

A Brief History

A Brief History

The Portuguese first arrived on the shores of what is now Timor-Leste in 1515. In 1556 Dominican friars established a mission on the island and in 1702 the (half) island nation was claimed by Portugal and became a Portuguese colony – the Portuguese and Dutch fought a number of battles over the island and in…

~Tais~

~Tais~

A while back, I promised to tell you how I found out about Timor-Leste, but if you have read our purpose, you might already know that… and it was Luke’s passion that inspired me and made me love the Timorese people even more. When he first came from Timor, Luke (my then friend, now husband…