Walk seemed shorter

Hello dear friends,

Today, knowing that the walk to work was four kilometres, not three, I set off in my most positive frame of mind. And Lo and Behold, it didn't seem long at all. Okay, there was a point after the bridge that the statue of Nicolau Lobato seemed further away than it should.

Nico, as I like to call him, was the founding president of Timor Leste -- back in 1975 when the Portuguese left.  There was a short period of independence before the Indonesians filled what they saw as a void. Suharto had been president for some time, having deposed Sukarno nine years earlier (this would be a good time to either watch or read “the Year of Living Dangerously”).  The Indonesians were supported by the Americans, who saw the threat of Communism everywhere in those Cold War times.

Anyway, Nico proudly stands at the junction of the airport spur and Comoro Road (don't try to look it up on a map -- Comoro Road is the common name, not the gazetted name). And his 20 foot high statue is my landmark. Only 400 metres to go.

I reached Nico before crumbling in a ball of sweat today.

At Ba Futuru, I had trouble opening documents on my iPad, so Sierra found me a computer and a desk. Yippee. When I needed a break, I joined the four and five year olds for a couple of stories. It's so refreshing to spend time with them.

I still haven't found the nun’s bakery, but made the trek to the mall for lunch without trouble. When there, I checked the weather report, since it felt rather hot. 34 degrees. Yup. It was indeed hot.

In the afternoon, my eyes glazed over only a few times. I've gotten out of the habit of reading reports. Of all the skills to lose…

So I stopped at the mall on the way home to take advantage of the air conditioning. Much to my delight, Jocko from dinner on Tuesday night comes over to my table. He and Tony were having a conversation before going to their respective homes. Remember Tony?  He's the one who said he can't afford to get married -- the cost of the wife and the party guests is just too high.

I knew that joining them would be fun. This time, we talked about ways to capture the benefits of all that overseas education. Or to be more precise, the need to apply the education gained overseas to the Timorese economy. It's a tremendous resource that's being wasted.

It's also a world-wide problem. It's just more acute and obvious in East Timor, since the country is so young, and the population is one of the youngest in the world. East Timor has as an unemployment rate of 40%. Four out of ten people don't have jobs. There's virtually no local agriculture, although coffee and rice are grown in two separate districts. In the city, there are jobs in the government, commercial and hospitality sectors. The construction industry is not thriving. Young people are encouraged to go to university, which is great, but there isn't much to do once they get out.

The Timorese that I've met are kind, generous and happy. The family-focussed society serves many people well. At the same time, I spent the day reading about initiatives aimed at reducing violence, and I remember the militia-based violence of 18 years ago. Even eight years ago, group based violence (I don't want to use the term gang violence, since that conjures up a misleading image) was rampant. The reports I've been reading make me think of a theme in Canada’s Truth and Reconcilliation Report: people didn't get good parental modelling. They missed out on the everyday lessons on how to succeed in a family unit, and how to solve problems together. Despair and frustration set in, and violence is the easiest expression.

Ba Futuru has done some truly admirable work, starting with individuals within communities, to come up with locally-relevant examples and situations. Their training model is conversation-based, where they listen, reflect and engage. They don't talk at, they talk with.

I'm quite honoured to be writing their annual report, and hope I can do it justice.

The weekend’s here. I have no Great Adventures planned. I'm sure I'll come up with something that doesn't involve Mad Dogs and Juliettes Going Out in the Midday Sun.