The Oaktree Foundation

Catching the public ferry to Atauro Island was definitely an experience. Firstly we arrived at the docks at 8am as advised although the ferry didn’t end up leaving until at least 10am! Atauro Island, however, was more than worth it. We arrived in total paradise! The beaches are so pristine and beautiful and back by ragged mountains. Barry’s Eco [...]

The Action for Change Foundation was a highlight for many of the group. Started by a local Timorese man the centre aims to provide an alternate non-formal education, specifically in the areas of languages of languages and IT, reinforced by industry-based internships. We all broke off into groups to assist with basic English conversational skills – [...]

Today was one of our busiest days with five straight meetings. The first of these was with the Alola Foundation, an organisation founded by Kirsty Gusmao focussing on women’s rights, educaion, and maternal health. Although Kirsty Gusmao herself is Australian we were all impressed by the fact that the CEO and other key staff all appeared to be Timorese. For us, combined with the strength and professionalism of the organisation, this [...]

Waking up at Fatumaca Technical College we were all looking forward to spending a relatively  relaxing morning in the historical Bacau. Our first stop was at the shop of CTID, the girls school we had visited on our last trip to Bacau, to pick up a few locally produced ethical souvenirs. Next on the group’s itinerary was a visit to the stunning Bacau beach. [...]

Another early start this morning, after a wonderful nights sleep in Guesthouse Malita, we meet with Vidi for our second Red Cross activity. This troopie ride, with our new driver Fidel (or Castro as he liked to be called), takes us along a bumpy road to a secondary school in one of the villages just outside of Bacau. We spend the [...]

We woke up this morning in our respective homestays – Lizzie, Briony and I were put in a bedroom located inside the office at the weavers cooperative. Most of the women slept on the floor outside our room that night, explaining that they were there to protect us as young women. They stayed up all night, again telling the story of [...]

Today was one of the highlights of the trip! We began the day travelling from the stunningly beautiful Tutuala and Jaco Island beach huts to the historic town of Lospalos. Lospalos played a critical role in the country’s resistance during the time of Indonesian occupation which has left the walls of building decorated with resistance artwork and graffiti mixed in with the [...]

Our second Saturday in Timor-Leste was reserved as a relaxation day to be spent in Tutuala and on the pristine beaches of Jaco Island. We spent the morning travelling from Baucau to Tutuala, critically engaging with the poor quality car-paths and the walls of the troopie. After problem solving the fallen tree that blocked the only road to Tutuala by finding an alternate road (rocky clearing), we arrived at [...]

Today we visited a vocational training school for girls run by the Canossian Sisters in Baucau and the whole group was really impressed by the quality of the school. Girls who go there learn technical skills like cooking, sewing, hospitality training and computer skills. There was an entrepreneurial feel about the education as well and some graduates had started really successful small businesses [...]

Waking up at 3am we started early on our hike of Mount Ramelau, Timor-Leste’s tallest mountain, in the hope of seeing sunrise from the summit. We ended up missing sunrise and could only really see a few metres from the summit due to the intense rainclouds (and rain). Nevertheless the general consensus was that the climb was well worth the [...]