Liddles In East Timor

When we came to Timor I didn’t know much about what I’d be doing. One friend very experienced in mission work said something like, “if you can be patient and flexible, God will find a use for you.” Really good advice and sometimes hard to follow! Teaching English came up right away when we got to Lospalos as something the church community wanted for the church youth and clinic staff. I’ve been working hard to put together a practical program mainly focused on practicing how to speak the language. Recently we’ve also been doing a little writing. I like it because I also like to study the Tetum language and it gives me lots of opportunity to do that as well as develop friendships with people.

The students began their studies in October. The first two papers students have written are about their “typical day” and “something you know how to do.” Below are two short essays which also give a glimpse into the lives of the people in Timor.

The Life of a Fisherman
Asala is a member of the IPTL Church in Teino, a fishing village an hour away from Lospalos. He comes to Lospalos during the week to study English at Immanuel Church. Below is his reflection about his life as a fisherman.

“The good time to fish is at night because at night we can get a many fish. Frequently, we also go fishing in the morning but sometimes we must care to prepare the tools of the fishing because very important like hook, rope, dragnet, oar, petromax and special boat. In the sea we shall be up against many problems like the wind, the wave, the rain and also the flow but it isn’t new one for us. As fishermen we are already invulnerable/immune from that, but we must be careful because sometimes weather is good and sometimes not. In my life the sea is like a bank for us because from it we can get money to support the family needs. We go out at 8:00 and come back at 6: 00 in the morning.”

Planting Corn
Mary is from Kupang, Indonesia (the Western end of Timor) and is a member of Immanuel Church in Lospalos. She is also a student in our English class. Mary is a seminary graduate and soon to be an ordained pastor in the IPTL. In addition to her pastoral work, like many Timorese, she is also a farmer. Below is her reflection about planting corn.

“Before I plant corn first of all I must clean my garden. After cleaning, I must wait for rain because if not rain, I am not plant corn. At the same time wait for to rain I prepare seed corn when it rain to plant. Usually after plant, I weed and clean my garden because in the garden too many weeds. After cleaning I wait for crop to harvest my corn.”

A few weeks ago I was in the “toko” (shop) right beside our house buying something and I saw a peculiar sight on the shelf – a black and gold 12 oz can with the word “Guinness” written on it. Imagine my surprise and joy; sometimes you can’t get rice or clean water in town but you can get a Guinness! Wow! Yesterday another miracle happened. We were at dinner with some friends from Samoa who told us about a family right near our house that makes fresh bread every afternoon. That was great news because up to now I’ve not been able to find good bread in the mornings, which is unusual in Timor. Usually one can walk out on the street and find fresh, warm “paun” in a basket or box for sale. That or a guy comes riding a bike or walking each morning yelling “paun, paun, paun” and you jump out of bed and run and buy some. Until now though I’ve been buying the only bread I could find near our house which is sort of like Wonder Bread except in the shape of a roll and could well be imported from a Sam’s Club in Minneapolis. Now I can get my bread in the evening and have my favorite Timorese breakfast the next morning – fresh bread and local coffee!

Christmas in Timor

Along the roadsides throughout Timor people have been building nativity scenes for weeks. They are made of bamboo, wood and various grasses. Additional touches are loud speakers and lights to turn on when the electricity comes on at night. At Immanuel church we started on the 23rd with a trip to the small Protestant Church in Illilopa. This village has only about a dozen Protestant families, down from Indonesian times when it was full every Sunday. Nowadays the church is largely empty and has no pastor, so each week a few from Immanuel go there to hold a service for the few folks who come. This afternoon there were more who came since it was Christmas (actually Dec. 23). As usual the service was held in 3 languages; Tetum, Indonesian, and Fataluku the local language. Often times older people speak only the local language, so most of the time there is translation of some kind going on.

Outside the church at Illilopa is a bell which calls people to worship on Sunday. The bell is an old bomb from the World War 2 period when the Japanese invaded Timor and fought the Australians and Timorese for 2 years. The bell is reminiscent of the bell at our local church, Peace United Church of Christ in Duluth, MN. There we have 3 bells from war ships, once part of the destruction of humanity which now signal the start of worship each Sunday. Each time we hear them, we are reminded that one of God’s hopes for the world lies in the transformation our weapons of war into instruments of peace. (Is 2:4).

On the morning of the 24th we loaded up the truck with about 12 youth and drove down to the village of Livie, on the sea about an hour and a half away on the road to Dili. Like the church in Illilopa, this church does not have a pastor and has been largely abandoned, in fact today’s service was the first held in 5 years! About a dozen people came, half of them children. After the service a few of us went to a members house across the street where a family member has been sick for a long time. We prayed for her health and I interviewed her about the illness so I could inform Monica about it. Next time we pass by we’ll stop and Monica can consult with her.

Christmas eve services at Immanuel Church in Lospalos started somewhere between 6 and 7. At last minute request, I did the opening prayer in Tetum, the youth did all their performances in Indonesian and Tetum, and recent seminary graduate preached for about 45 minutes in Indonesian and it was translated to Makasse. The clinic nurse sat next to me and translated the Indonesian into Tetum!

The two local languages most common here are Fataluku and Makassae (though there are several other smaller languages). Unlike Tetum, which is an “Austronesian” language like Indonesian, Fataluku and Makassae are both“Papuan” languages, originating from the eastern end of the Indonesian Archipelago and having nothing in common with Tetum, though Fataluku it is a very simple language so loanwords from Indonesian, Tetum and Portuguese are used with it. Fataluku is spoken by most of the people in the Lautem district of Timor, the far Eastern end of the island. In the Western part of Lautem district, most people speak Makassae, so in Lospalos about 20% are ‘ema Makassae’ (a Makassae speaking person). With the exception of older people, most people in Lautem now speaks at least some Tetum, one of East Timor’s two national languages (the other is Portuguese). Throughout East Timor, linguists estimate that about 80% speak Tetum as a first language, or fluently as a second language.

A week ago, Saturday afternoon, the clinic was officially closed, a grandma brought her 1 year old granddaughter to us who had been playing with a rooster, and attacked by the rooster.  She had chicken scratch marks on her face and head.  As Delfin, the clinic nurse, was gone at the time, I asked Tom to help me with this child.  I cleaned her bloody face off, and found 3 wounds that needed to be stitched.

As you may know, I have stitched plenty of perineums for my birth clients.  But faces: well, let’s face it, everyone sees your face , every day, for your whole life.  I have stitched an earlobe in the past, but this was going to be my first face repair, and on a 1 year old at that.

Fortuneately, Delfin walked into the clinic just as I was preparing to inject some lidocaine (numbing medicne).  He jumped in and helped the grandmother hold the child still for this procedure, while Tom took the easier job of handing me gauze and other items.

Within a relatively short time, the little girl’s face was clean, a stitch under the nose, and 4 facial stitches were secured.  She was sent away with tylenol and antibiotics, and told to return on Monday for a checkup.

Tom was ready to leave the room well before I told him I was done with needing his help.  Delfin, unshaken, helped me wrap up.  there is a wonder to working in an environment where the daily suffering is such that, to help, you turn off your senses to the sounds of crying, terrified children, and just get the job done.  And, I will say, we do not have to dehumanize the patient, the person, to do so.  Gentleness and kindness are almost always possible.  Delfin and the rest of the clinic staff have mastered this, much better than providers I have seen in other places, both here in Timor and the States.

How’s the girl? healing well, last I saw her.

I’ll try to attach pictures soon.

Monica

The past few years on Thanksgiving Day we’ve gathered with my family or good friends in Minnesota for turkey, potatoes and all the fix-ens that go with it. We all love the meal, but the best part is always the fellowship, and since many of us like to cook, we also like the preparation. This year was different since we’re not in the United States. This year I spent the day preparing land for a community garden project with the youth and pastor of Immanuel Protestant Church. When the rain starts we will be planting corn, beans and pumpkins. Next spring, during the dry season we will grow vegetables.

Our plot before we began cultivating it.

Earlier in the week we’d begun by cutting down some trees on the land beside the church. Our ‘toos’ is about 30 meters by 20 meters. Today’s work started out by chopping up the remains of the trees with machetes and setting the branches aside, while keeping the larger ones for fencing and housing material. The ‘katana’, or machete is the most commonly used tool here for most anything having to do with agriculture or the forest. The tool is not like your typical machete. This one is shorter, heavier and has a blunt end which is used for digging up weeds and splitting bamboo.

Clearing the plot.

After we chopped up the branches we used brute force, leverage and team work to move the massive trunks out of the way. Then we commenced clearing weeds and turing the soil by hand with hoes. The hoe, or ‘enxada’ is a heavy tool with a sharp edge, it along with the ‘ai-suak’ – like a crowbar yet heavier and straight – is used for turning soil and digging things up. As a carpenter, I’m used to manual work so I know how to perform a strenuous task all day, but the past few months I’ve been teaching English so the work was hard on me; by the end of the day my hands, having gotten soft already, were sore.

Building a Fence

Midday we stopped for lunch. Our meal was standard Timorese fare: rice, cooked greens, corn with beans, and “ai-dila matak” – the papaya fruit cooked as a vegetable before it is ripe. It is therefore very bitter, which is a hallmark of East Timorese food. Aside from the unique taste, the bitter foods, especially the leaves of the papaya plant are also medicinal, used to both prevent and treat malaria. Along with that was “ai-manas” – a chili based hot sauce that accompanies almost everything. About 8 of us sat down to eat together, but before we ate we prayed together as we always do. We gave thanks for the food and asked for God’s blessing on our food and prayed for people who don’t have food. We also gave thanks for our work.

Breaking Ground and Planting Crops

Like most people, I’ve done my share of work that didn’t feel like a ‘blessing.’ Fresh in my memory are days driving to work in the dark to build a house in the snow and near zero temperatures of Duluth, Minnesota! Yet, meaningful work is something God intends for us (Gen. 2:15, Eccl. 3:13, etc.) because there is dignity in work, and dignity is God’s desire for all humanity. Work and education give tremendous hope and purpose especially in a place with such a traumatic recent history of violence and poverty.

Ironically, despite the fact that I’m on the opposite side of the globe from my home in Minnesota and working with people who don’t know what the Thanksgiving Holiday is, it felt like one of the more authentic Thanksgiving Days I’ve had in a while. After lunch those of us working in the field went back for a few more hours despite the fact that it was “loro manas” – the hot time of day. We swung our hoes until late afternoon, chatting occasionally about the project while listening to the kids playing and singing nearby and went home hot and tired but full of life – and gratitude!

Caralee was just here for a visit in Lospalos.  Caralee was in Timor together with us last year, and it was a sweet treat to have a friend come and slide right in, not surprised or afraid of the heat, the insects, the toilets, the lack of electricity.  When she and Jacinta (her Aussie friend/midwife/nurse) arrived last Sunday, the water wasn’t running, and the tanki (the water storage container in the bathroom) was running low, but we all managed to find what we needed to bathe, flush, and clean the dishes with, until it turned back on again Monday afternoon.  Not exactly how you hope to welcome a visitor: sorry, the water’s not on; but, there you have it.  We are lucky to have running water in the house, truly, as most in Timor carry it from near or far for everything they need.

Caralee and Jacinta were welcomed to spend time helping out in the clinic on Monday.  A good thing, as we saw 130 patients, and we were short staffed by 2 people.  As they’ve both been just in Bali, their Indonesian language skills made them assets for the day, and the week, actually, as they stepped in much of the time, and were invited back by the staff!

I love the clinic.  I always have an assistant to help with translation, and I love these women.  They are hungry for knowledge, know very much by practice alone, and are very sincere and kind to the patients.  Lots of worms here in Timor: moms come in complaining of the child/ren pooping worms, or even vomiting worms.  fortuneately, there is medicine for this!  Sadly, every day I see very malnourished children.  Mothers either don’t have the money to feed children, or don’t understand how frequently they need to feed their non-breastfeeding 1 year old.  Painful abscesses come in; or rather, children adn adults with big, swollen infections, from the noses to the eyelids to the feet.  The naturopathic physician has a real appreciation for simple antibiotics in this environment.

So, Caralee got to see lots of this.  Also, a 55 year old woman with a uterus the size of a basketball.  I sent her for an ultrasound, and the results came back to me: ” a great uterine mass”.  Hmmm.  I knew that without the hightech USG.  So, I will consult with dr.Dan in dili, and I am thinking the woman may have tuberculosis.  this would be better than the alternatives, as we can treat TB just fine here.

I was treated to a blessing ceremony/dinner last night by Caralee, to celebrate the coming baby.  All of you in the birth community in duluth were present, via candles lit in your names!  I appreciate all the prayers, well-wishes and support over these next months as we prepare for yet another transition, Baby number 2!  Hannah is ready.  By the way, she is speaking Tetum very well now.  Time to go, lots of love, Monica

After 7 weeks in the capitol, Dili, we moved out to our village, Lospalos.  It is 180 km (@120miles) from Dili, and takes 5 hours to drive, plus whatever stops you want to make.  LP is cooler, with less mosquitoes, few cars, virtually no internet access, and much more limited produce and packaged food available.  I would say, the season dictates the fruit availability out here, and bananas are pretty much it.  Also, eggs, tomatos, potatos, greens, of course, some carrots, peanuts, garlic onions chilis, rice, dried corn, beans.  In another month, it will be mango season, and perhaps others will come: papaya, pineapple, I hope.  

We are the only Malay (foreigners) in Lospalos, other than the UN police stationed out here, who are from all over: Africa, Bangladesh, Portugal.  They don’t speak the language, and do not interact with the locals, according to a conversation Tom had with one of them.  Our Tetum continues to improve (Tom is better than I am at speaking), and we have every intention of participating in the Timorese community as fully as we can, which means learning at least Tetum, probably more.

Hannah is learning Tetum quickly; it takes her about 5 minutes to make new friends. She has a new best friend in LP, Asiu, who is maybe 10, (I asked her how old she is, and she said she didn’t know, but agreed with me that she is around 10).  She is very smart, and very happy, and she and Hannah play dolls, play house, run around, and generally do what kids do.  Here in Timor, your neighbors’ kids come around about 8 in the morning, saying, “Hannah! Hannah!” Then Hannah is done eating her bread and jelly, and gets on shoes and races out the door to play. ……Sounds like the old days, doesn’t it?  No phone calls needed, you just show up, and see what’s up.  

The clinic is good.  Despite the fact that water may not be running to wash your hands, or that the electricity may not be on, patients are receiveing good care…..and ths is not my doing; I am here to participate, but the staff here are dedicated, committed, and do great work.  I started last Monday morning.  Patients start showing up around 7am, clinic opens a bit after 8am, when the staff are all arrived and ready.  Before seeeing patients, the staff stand in a circle, read ( in Bahasa Indonesia) a scripture passage, then share a prayer for the days’ work.  The clinic sees about 90 patients a day. The clinic director/sole trained nurse, Senhor Delfin, consults, and I consult with the assistance of Esther, who is a nurse with no schooling but years of clinical experience.  She is in charge of the DOTS TB program, so patients come in daily for their TB meds which she administers, and she also consulted along with Delfin before I arrived.  A lab technician collects malaria and TB samples.  The electricity last week was only on from 6pm till around midnite, so the staff would actually come back in the evening to process the labs.  Lots of malaria, even though it is the dry season, still.  Anyway, over the weekend, someone brought the part to fix the broken generator, so maybe the generator will be running during clinic hours now.  What are clinic hours? About 8am till the work is done, which is maybe 1 or 2 or 3.  That is when the patients are all seen, and the paperwork is done, the charting complete, meds restocked.  As I am new, I expect that, like Delfin, my work won’t really ever be all the way done in a few months, once I am more integrated, and more fluent.  There is just too much to be done.  I have yet to meet the Lospalos hospital Cuban doctors and Timorese staff.  Also, there are lots of NGOs in LP doing health related work, and I have not yet met them, either.  

There is not currently a maternity program at the clinic.  Few pregnant woe=men come in, but for other reasons than pregnancy: a sick child, back pain.  I am checking Blood pressures and speaking with them about follow up care, and they seem receptive, so I will continue to slowly , or quickly, begin the process of getting a system going again here. I believe the only option for care is thru the local hospital.  Most women stay home, unattended, because midwives from the hospital don’t go to peoples’ homes, I am told.  Thus, there needs to be care for women not in teh hospital system.  If the clinic could become another birth center in town, that would be great.  The closest C section is a 2+ hour drive down a bumpy, curvy road.  Makes the drive between Grand Marais and Duluth in an ambulance seem reasonable.  This is in Baucau, the 2nd biggest city in Timor, and a Kenyan surgeon with a good reputation is always there.  Of course, communication between LP and Baucau hospital is a big question mark, so how quickly an emergency could be addressed is another question.  

In Timor, there is a relatively new system with air transport, Mission Aviation Timor, or somethnng like that.  A missionary from Australia will fly rescue flights from whereever there is a prepared runway (LP has one, in the last year), to Dili National Hospital, or Baucau Hospital, the only 2 hospitals in the country with major trauma or surgical services (except for the military, and UN, of course, but those are essentially unavailable for common people).  LP is not using the service much, but I will find out the situation, as I know this will be essential for some maternity and other situations.  In the developing world, there is so much more to health care than just having a nurse or a doctor nearby.  Issues of transportation, of water, sanitation and nutrition, of language barrriers, of trust in the system, and of competency in every singly area are so critical.  Things one takes for granted in USA, Europe Australia, seem like luxury here.  Makes a world of difference.  And, Makes my work interesting, challenging, and requires grassroots investment to make lasting impacts.   

Lovin’ every minute of it, Mon

Thanks for tuning in….what can I say since I last wrote that captures my world?  The honeymoon ended, the reality settled in, is still settling, and perhaps, at this point, 6 weeks postpartum…er…post arrival in Dili, I am adjusting.  I always tell my mothers (aka midwifery clients), “Just expect it to take 6 weeks to feel sort of normal again”; and alas, I am having this same phenomenom here in Timor. 

Hannah wants to share some news about her world: Hannah is enjoying killing mosquitos with the electric raquet.  Though we largely have them under control inside our house, somehow every night, we kill more inside our China Tour Tent (fancy mosquito net) before we lay us down to sleep.  She had diarrhea one day, but very minor: she complained about a tummy ache Monday nite, did not eat dinner, but I gave her my favorite gut remedy: charcoal tablets (equivalent to bentonite, but these were chewable tablets; Libby, you know the ones).  she fell asleep. then, the next morning, she had two good squirts, and then was fine.  Ate a little breakfast, and was back to her usual habits after that.  I am amazed this is the first episode of runny poop, as she eats with her (often dirty) fingers despite her parents incessantly reminding her to use her spoon at every meal. Not to mention the other germ ridded activities she is involved in.  what can I say: the girl is solid!  

yesterday I visited an old friend who works at a foundation focused on women’s health issues in timor.  they are starting programs similar to La Leche League, here in timor!  Believe it or not, these groups are really necessary.  Women here have misconceptions about feeding their babies, and we are in the context of haveing to boil water to clean it.  Imagine, making formula properly when you have to go to the spicket, perhaps a block away or more, to first get your water, then boil it to sterilize it, then make formula for a new baby.  You would think this would make breastfeeding so appealling that it would be the obvious choice.  But, things like, myths about colostrum being bad for the baby, thinking sugar water was adequate, or giving rice gruel at 2 or 3months of age was a good idea, these ideas are pervasive.  and perpetuated in families and communities.  So, there is much work to be done.  Once I get to Lospalos I will fill you in on the birth scene there.

It is almost 2pm Friday, and we are on our way to Lospalos for the weekend.  Our house is not yet ready, so we still have not moved yet.  However, I was given an orientation, so to speak, this week: organized a stock of medicines for resupply, met others in FUSONA, the organization I am assigned to work for (which is connected to the Protestant Churcch) , and reviewed some great documents about the clinic I will be working in, as well as about health in Timor in general.  Upon reading these materials, I am assured again why I am here. I have been training and preparing for this work for many, many years, though I did not know I would be led here, precisely.  

On a high note, last weekend we all headed up to the mountains: a 2+ hour drive, and spent the nite at sort of a guest house/community retreat center.  30 young women live there to learn and have a place to stay while attending high school.  Spending the nite with a cool breeze  , without a fan, and a lite blanket: aaahhhh.  Meanwhile, all you duluthians are beginning to prepare for another big freeze, no doubt. 

My ride is waiting, so farewell for now! Love, Moni

We have been in Dili for 2 weeks now. Novelty has turned to reality, and my reality now is finding functionality in this new world of mine. (Tomr is a bit more deft than I am but this is no surprise). We have a spicket for water just outside the back door. This morning, Tom realized that a perfiect task for Hannah is to supervise the filling of 5 gallon buckets, which we then carry into the bathrooms and kitchen to fill the larger buckets (25 or 30 gal themsellves) to use to bathe, flush toilets, laundry and dishes. We had a hose (have) that ideally would carry the water into the house for us, but the pressure is too low, and it takes too long. The water is reliably on in the morning hours, than often stops running in the afternoon and evening, so I have got my morning task cut out,eh?
My favorite appliance is: The Fan! It is a good bug repellent when it is blowing directly on you, and it cools you down adequately, most of the day. I use it also at night, because even though we sleep inside our China Tour Tent (i.e. fancy mosquito net with poles and zippers), I prefer to be cool all night, not just in the wee hours of the morning.
I have taken to letting my 5 year old girl have strawberry Fanta at lunchtime along with her meal of rice, chicken and vegetables many days. Wouldn’t be allowing such things in Duluth, but, heck, it’s hot, she’s getting adjusted too, and her diet here is pretty darn clean! Speaking of diet, we eat the standard fare for asia: white bread with jelly, peanut butter, and coffee tea milk. Hannah has quickly learned to enjoy powdered milk, bioth white and chocolate-with room temperature water. We do not currently have a refreigerator, nor do we know if we will get one, but we are getting used to buying food for one day. That is, vegetables at the market, tempeh from the kid walking by at 5pm yelling TempehTempeh, theese things for dinner, or beans, or corn, and haveing only a few non-perishable items in the house. We bought a 25lb. bag of rice, and, so far as I can tell, nothing has crawled into the bag yet. Hannah did discover yesterday that ants like sugar, but not powdered milk or Timor coffee. Our little tableside cups for these 3 items were, after nearly 2 weeks, discovered by the household ants, and I had to throw out the sugar. Now we will store it in a sealed recycled peanut butter jar.
I hope you yourself are enjoying your coffeepots, your washing machines, and your cars (we don’t have one yet), and please don’t take them for granted, and don’t forget about all the good exercise you are missing out on by having running water in your home! Love hearing from you, please keep writing,
Monica

Thursday 13 August: I arrived at Bairo Pite Clinic for rounds in the morning and was soon called upon to attend a breech delivery. My first birth in Timor went great, supervising the midwife (fairly new midwife, by Timor standards) as she caught the 5+ pound girl with no problem. This is what happens in Timor: you show up, and something interesting is waiting.
We made a spur of the moment decision that afternoon to go to Los Palos, where we will be living longterm. Took us 6ish hours to get there, the road is fine,as long as you know where the bumps are to slow down, and use your horn around the corners. A beautiful drive, really, along the sea, and then inland, up a bit, to LP, were it does feel abit like the wild, wild west: lush, though, trees, small villages only, not really many other cars, mountains in the distance. We arrived at 8pm, then were fed rice, greens, and small fried fish. In the morn, we scoped out where we might live, and I worked with the clinic staff for an hour +, seeing at least 5 patients with likely tuberculosis, pulmonary and extrapulmonary. There is much work to be done, and god willing, we will get LP set up online and keep you posted.
Monica