STORY - "Phone home (from) ET."

In April Cheree and Michael Flanagan of City Pastoral Region travelled to East Timor to work for two years under the auspices of Palms Australia, which supports the preparation, placement and ongoing needs of Australians working in developing nations for the reduction of poverty through skill transfer. Cheree and Michael’s report is an edited version of that published in the Palms newsletter.

Dear Friends,

We live with the Director of Ahisaun and his family. Ahisaun provides housing, outreach and training for young people with disabilities. The director’s name is Mario, his wife is Ervina and they have a baby Emiliana. Also living with them are Mario’s nephews Obinu, Osamo and Joao. There are nearly always other friends and family whom they put up for the night or for a meal. Off the verandah at the front is a prayer room with a statue of Mary and every night without fail they light a candle in front of Our Lady.

The first week was a shock for us, despite having had a long time to prepare and being really excited about what lay ahead. Along with the language difficulties, we felt very alone and isolated and at times wondered if we’d be able to manage two years. On top of that there was a huge protest in Dili and we were warned to take extra care at this time. Looking back now we value that time very much.

Firstly, we have some sort of appreciation for what people face when they arrive to live in a different country and we were reminded of all our refugee friends who had been forced to do this. Secondly, it forced us to trust people we didn’t know and couldn’t talk to, reminding us of our spiritual relationship with God. And thirdly, we value that time because we can appreciate even more all the little victories we have in ourselves and with our work.

Life settled down after that first week, and we began finding our feet. On our first Saturday we celebrated the baptism of Mario and Ervina’s baby which was a joyous occasion, being with our new family and their extended family. We have since settled into life here, marvelling at the differences between the culture we came from and the culture here, finding our way around Dili and getting into work at Ahisaun.

One of the big challenges has been learning the language. There are two languages that are widely spoken here – Tetun, the native East Timorese lingua franca and Bahasa or Indonesian. Portuguese is the official language but is not widely spoken yet, while English also is only spoken by a minority of local people. The language we are learning is Tetun. We find the challenge of a new language really fun and are doing a bit each day. We can get across what we want to say in Tetun, but are not yet able to converse naturally.

We have spent the first few months trying to find out as much as possible about our new workplace, history, aims, future goals. We have also been busy networking with other NGOs, both local and international, forming connections and learning about the way things are done here. In addition, we have begun the task of seeking out funds for Ahisaun and writing proposals to prospective donors.

After consultation with the members and staff, we have both taken on special projects at Ahisaun. As only boys are housed at Ahisaun, the members and staff identified the need to involve the female members more and to explore their wishes. As a result, Cheree has started a weekly creative women’s group, called “Feto Grupu.” Michael has taken on a special project of English teaching. After diving in head first to get an idea of the standard of English, he has set about gathering resources and setting a syllabus.

In peace,
Cheree and Michael

Write to Cheree and Michael c/- Palms Australia PO Box 54, Croydon Park NSW 2133 or c/- brendan@palms.org.au

Many overseas communities are unable to cover all the costs involved in getting and keeping a volunteer in placement for two years. You can help fund a volunteer placement like Cheree and Michael’s by contacting Palms Australia on (02) 9642 0558 or via email.

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