Banda Aceh Update Week #6

Following on from last week’s stories about things that I have done for the first time – well here’s the biggest thing yet that I have done for the first time: I have accepted a job offer to be the Country Director for Plan (my current employer in the UK) in a country called Timor Leste (or East Timor). Much of my week has been spent coming to the decision to accept the offer and considering what it all means. I had applied for this role just before I left the UK in April and had an interview in May, so my Mom was aware I was interested in working there; thankfully she was very calm when I called to let her know that I had received/accepted the offer :-)

I am still planning to continue my sabbatical as planned until early July, and then return to the UK to visit friends and pack up my belongings and prepare to move, and then spend some time in Canada to visit family and friends there too. It’s all happening very fast, and I am sure that June and July are going to be very hectic...

Many people have been asking me for some information about East Timor, so here is a little introduction based on these 2 websites: http://www.osolemedia.com/easttimor/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Timor

East Timor consists of the eastern half of Timor Island, which lies within the Lesser Sunda cluster about 300 miles north of Australia and at the eastern extreme of the Indonesian Archipelago. It also covers Oecussi (or Ambeno), an isolated area within Indonesian-controlled West Timor, and two smaller islands (Atauro and Jaco). It lies in the middle of the world’s richest marine ecosystems and has beautiful coral.

The most widely-spoken local language is Tetum, which is one of its 2 official languages, the other being Portuguese. English and Bahasa Indonesian are also used in government and business, so my language lessons in Bahasa Indonesian here in Banda Aceh will be coming in handy :-)


East Timor has endured a very troublesome history. After being colonized by the Portuguese for many years, their abrupt departure in November 1975 allowed East Timor a brief window of independence before being annexed by Indonesia as its 27th province in December 1975. Throughout Indonesia's 24 year occupation of East Timor, the vast majority of its people waged a constant resistance battle until the United Nations secured an agreement from Indonesia to allow Timorese to choose, in a referendum, between integration with Indonesia or independence. East Timor’s citizens opted for independence and the United Nations stepped in to provide an interim government between 1999 and 2002, and worked with a number of humanitarian aid organizations to rebuild the country and prepare it for self rule. East Timor officially became the world’s newest country on May 20, 2002.

I will be living in a city called Dili; with a population of 150 000, it is East Timor’s largest town. Apparently it is a busy, bustling place situated along a crescent beach at the base of steep hills. Before leaving this part of the world in early July, I am going to try to visit Dili for a few days to get a sense of what it is like.

Whew! Besides making a decision to move from one continent to another (!), this week I have been busy painting, spending time with friends and protecting our house from cockroaches that have decided to try to take up residence with us :-(

I have not had a chance to take many photos this week, but here are just a few scenes around the centre of town, stuck in traffic, at the main intersection (‘Simpang Lima’) at night and of some girls returning from school: