I have had the pleasure of once again visiting the area of Bei Cala in East Timor and catching up with the community and progress on our school project. There has been some delays in the building progress which we are hoping have now been addressed. Number one was the weather and I arrived to yet more rain and mud, but luckily after a day it cleared away and we had some fine days. The second delay had been lack of transportation. Our workers walk from their village 8kms to the site of the school morning and evening and have to carry any equipment with them. This has meant it was not always easy to get building materials onto the site such as cement, bamboo siding, roof beams and trusses. While I was there we had hired a Triton twin cab tray back which did a mighty amount of work. It was taxi and work vehicle all wrapped into one neat bundle. We had a working bee on the Friday I was there and many students came and helped move rock which was part of the flooring, Grub Club provided lunch. Thanks must go to the teacher who cooked all the food. I was very appreciative to see so many there to help. I also met with teaching staff to iron out a few small building issues.  As I was leaving on the Monday the 10m roof beams were raised and they for surging ahead with the rest. it should be  finished within the month with final touches still to be added. Once this stage is reached Luciano, Adino, Nelson and Santino our main core of workers will also build tables and bench seats for three classrooms, hang doors and blackboards and bring building up to a useable standard. The plaque provided by Grub Club will then be attached to the building and a small ceremony to commemorate the occasion held. Jino will represent us at this ceremony.

I also had the pleasure of visiting two Primary schools Escola Kaisera and Escola Boramba where I handed out exercise books, pen and a chocolate to students. Teachers are preparing for exams at the moment. Students were doing their very best to get a good education under some trying conditions. I had the opportunity to extend my knowledge of the area and found out that many primary school students walk any where up to two kilometres to school, junior high students walk anywhere up to 10 kilometres to get to our school Escola Pre-Secondaria Foho Ailico while students who wish to complete Years 10, 11 and 12 could be walking up to 25 kilometres to get to a senior high school at Same or Huto-odo. There is no public transportation provided. The teaching staff have written to the Education Ministry for permission to extend the Junior High to include Senior students as well. This would be a great encouragement to students to keep extending their education.

I was also able to hand over a guitar to Escola Pre-Secondaria Foho Ailico to start a fledgling music program and hope to add more instruments over time. They are very talented musically and I witnessed this first hand.

My eternal thanks must go to my host family the Perierra's. Jino, Arbena, Anisetto, Jacky, Eddy, Paul, Nelson, Lili, Luciano, Asoya, Ika and all extended family members. They ensured my stay was very comfortable and I was well cared for. Every person I visited put out the hand of hospitality and before I knew it I was having a meal or helping someone with their English. They are humbled by our generosity and in turn I am humbled by theirs.

May I encourage you all to consider East Timor for a travel destination. Yes, it could be considered off the beaten track but the rewards are endless.

Deb, July 2012.