My Birthday Present!

Dear Friends and Family!


Just a few days ago it was a very special day - my birthday! On Sunday, June 28th, I turned 23! In the past few years I've had some pretty awesome birthdays and this year was definitely top 3. But birthdays are no fun unless you share them, so Brendan and I are going to ask you to return all the expensive gifts that you bought for me ; ) and consider helping the people of East Timor instead!

There are 3 ways that you can help someone - by giving them the 3 T's. The 3 T's are your Time, your Talent, and your Treasure. I'm especially fond of giving Time and Talent in service, but as I get older I realize more and more that money is an important part of the equation. Not much can happen without kind-hearted, generous people providing financial support behind the scenes.

Brendan and I have spent more than six months really digging in and finding out what the biggest needs are. To be completely honest there are many, but for simplicity's sake we have narrowed it down to the top 2 needs we have seen with our own eyes in the places were we work.

Canossa University - the Institute of Professional Development Canossa


Students go to school for 3 years in the Computer Technician or Office Management programs. Brendan teaches English to all of the second year students here and works in the library, preparing the new computer catalog system for use.

The top needs here are:

1.) Scholarships for Students
With food and housing being the top priority, it's difficult for many students and their families to find the money for education. Some of Brendan's students go to school all day, go to work until night, and then study until 2 in the morning. They make big sacrifices, knowing that education is their key for the future. Currently the cost of a college semester is $90 - nothing compared to our college tuition, yet almost unreachable here.


2.) Library Improvements

The IPDC was started in 2004 and this summer the government will come to check the programs and school facilities. If everything is satisfactory the school will receive their accredidation. One thing that must be improved is the school library. For the accreditation the library must have at least 5,000 properly organized books. Brendan, Sister Etalvinia, and Gina have been working hard on the library for the past couple of months inputting extensive information about each book, and they will continue until the inspection in July or August.

Other important parts of this improvement are:

- Obtaining hundreds of more books, especially books about business and computers written in English or Indonesian

- Getting a printer so the students can work on and print their assignment at the computers in the library. It would be great because it is difficult for most students to get to computer here, and all the public ones are riddled with viruses. It's nothing like at home where almost every family has at least one personal computer.

This is great, very concrete project that we can watch continue to develop and show you the changes. It is also a project that has potential to greatly benefit the students in the longterm,
1. By providing a quiet workspace for them onsite so they don't need to spend vital time and money to use public computers and
2. By helping to earn accredidation for their programs. Brendan has already begun the work, as you saw in the most recent blog, but there is still much to do.

*You may be thinking that you have old books that you could send over, but only for our friends and family in Australia would this be realistic. From America, shipping costs would greatly outweight the value of the books. If you send money, we will be able to buy more books (and newer, updated books) much cheaper than you could.

SMA - Canossa Senior High School


The senior high school is where I teach the English Club, practice English with the teachers, and participate in many student activities. It is a great place, always bustling with activity and over 450 students. It has consistently been recognized as one of the best high schools in Dili since it was started after the conflict in 1999. Many of the students can be found winning scholarships, awards, and competitions.

Two practical needs are:

1.)Laboratory for Language (~ $2,300)

Sister Ervinia, the principal would love to transform an old science room into a Lab for Language - a place where students can come to supplement what they learn in the classroom. Living in a small country, they must learn the languages of the surrounding countries. So added to their class load are Indonesian, Portuguese, and English. Imagine having to learn three foreign languages in high school - most high schoolers can barely handle one! We have been blessed to be born in a country where we are taught an international language - these students are not so lucky.

As an English teacher here, I can tell you how helpful a room for language with books, posters, and headsets for listening to tapes and CDs would be. The students really want to learn , but it is difficult to find someone to practice with who will be able to help correct basic pronunciation, grammar, and prepositions. Whenever Brendan and I walk to and from school or around the city, we are always approached by young people hoping to practice their English. This room would be a great resource for motivated students which could give them more opportunities for the future, especially in regards to jobs and university scholarships.

(Some of our students)

2.) Computer Lab Updates

Their computer lab is full of old donated computers still slowly running Microsoft 2000. Updates are badly needed for the computers and programs, especially antivirus protection (you remember the story of our laptop - may it rest in peace).

Healthcare

The School Clinic


The clinic at the school where I volunteer 3 mornings a week, is one of my favorite places to be. But while I have worked there I have seen some big needs that I think could be alleviated by:

1.) Funds for Food

I used to think that there wasn't much hunger in Dili, but now I'm realizing that it's just under the surface. Families that are putting their kids through school and paying rent for a small house may not have enough money for food.

In 1st Aid courses they teach you to ask a person who is dizzy or has passed out if they have eaten anything that day. Here that question is much more pertinent. Many different students come in who are dizzy or have severe headaches from hunger.

Just yesterday, a small girl from the junior high school came in because she was lightheaded. Tears quietly ran down her face from hunger pains as we got her to rest in the bed. They suffer quietly - I can't imagine trying to stay focused in school if you were hungry all the time and had a headache or stomachache because of it.

Another day, a girl from primary school came in because she was sick. When Sister Aquelina prescribed her the medicine and told her to take it three times a day, she burst into tears because she didn't have any food to take it with. And for those of us who have tried to take medicine without food, it's not a pleasant experience because your stomach can feel more sick than before. Also, it doesn't help as much because certain medicines are not absorbed effectively unless taken with food.

What we would love to establish is a fund, maybe $40 a month (it goes a long way here), that would be used to buy fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables and rice that Sister Aquelina could give out at her discretion to the children of poorer families when they come to the clinic so they would have food to take with their medicine or to ease hunger-related conditions.

2.) Funds for Medicine

We've told you some stories about helping to buy more expensive medicine necessary for more extreme conditions. It would be great to keep that up so that Sister Aquelina would be able to prescribe medicine that she knows a person needs instead of giving paracetamol (like Advil/Tylenol) and multivitamins because they're cheap. A lot of times this is all students need for a fever or cough or cold, but when there is something chronic or more serious I think that there should be a small amount of money monthly to have that option.

Los Palos Mobile Clinic

There are many needs in Dili but we can't forget the rest of the country, where many things are even more in need of development. One of the medical needs that I have heard about is the Los Palos Mobile Health Clinic. Los Palos is a mid-sized city on the eastern coast of the island. The Canossian Sister recently ran a mobile health clinic for the rural areas around Los Palos, ensuring especially that children and women had access to better medical care. It isn't like Dili or Baucau, which both have a decent hospital; in the small coastal villages mobile healthcare might be the only care the people receive. It is more than for convenience, it could save lives.

The mobile health clinic has been discontinued the past few years for lack of funding. It cost $8,000 a year for all the transportation, medicine, and maintenance costs. But the Sisters are patient - they pray and trust that if God wants the mobile clinic up and running the funding will come.


Making Your Decision

These are the needs that we have seen. Brendan and I are here to support the Timorese in their faith, to enhance their Christian education system, and to provide health resources are not readily available. Alone we can do little, but when good people get together we can make a significant difference!

If you are considering giving some money to these projects, there are some others things you should know:

*#1 Any financial support is appreciated!!! We realize most people could only afford to offer $20 or $50 at most, but even those could be significant here. $50 might provide food and medicine for a month at the clinic, or help a university student pay for a semester of college. Be assured that your dollar can go a long way here: Brendan and I live comfortably on about $120 each for the month, although are housing is provided free by the Canossian Sisters. Still, I bet you wish your cost of living was that low!

*The currency in East Timor is the US $ so you don't have to worry about any international exchange rates (unless you are Australian and then I believe it would currently be in your favor).

*Every donation you send will be used and used well! If you haven't already - go back and read the June blog "Side Projects". With the donation money we received before we left we have kept careful track of what we have done with it so every penny is used for the benefit of the Timorese.

And the Sisters are the same! Recently the IPDC university received a grant for $35,000. It was used to get internet for their computer lab, hire more teachers, and create two business rooms for practical office lessons for both programs. Brendan and I happened to be at school when East Timor's Minister of Education dropped by to check on the status of the funds. We got to meet him and he told us how impressed he was by the Sisters "transparency" - they they had used all the money to make significant, visible changes.
We were told that sometimes the Minister of Education will check on a school which was given a grant only to find that no changes have been made and that the money has vanished. So he appreciated the Sister's hard work and honesty.

With the Sisters and us here, you don't have to worry about money being used improperly. You will know that your donation is being used well and we will update you on the progress of the projects with stories and pictures.

How To Donate

1.) Telegraphic Transfer (Western Union)

This is the most realistic and quick way to transfer the money, especially smaller donations. Brendan and my parents have agreed to act as contacts for us, so if you would like to make a donation you can give or send them your donations and they will collect them and transfer them to the Canossa Foundation-Dili. This is the best and easiest way because there is only a short delay and minor service fee. We are not going to put our parents' information on the internet, so if you happen to not have it already, e-mail us at rdowney727@gmail.com and we will get you the necessary information.

Once again, this is best way, especially for smaller donations because our contacts can pool them and send them at once so it is less hassle for you and for us here. Please make sure you also give your name and contact info or e-mail so we can write you a thank you and if you have a specific project you would like to support, include that also.

2.) Check

For Australia: Make the check out to "Canossa Foundation Dili" and send it to:

Canossa Foundation - Dili
P.O.Box 23 Dili, Timor Leste

For America: Checks are very unrealistic in this case because they can take over a month to get to East Timor. Also, from past experience of people here, American banks charge a $75 processing fee to get the money here.

3.) Tax - Deductible

If you are interested in making a larger donation and would like it to be tax-deductible you must donate to the Canossian Sisters within your country. Our Dili project proposals will be passed on to the Head Council of the Canossian Sisters who will ok them and send the money to Timor Leste.

The process will take a little time, so if you are interested in this, please e-mail us as soon as possible so we will know the projects you want to support and the amount of your donation so we can get more information to you and start the tax-deductible process.


So please pray and consider helping the people of East Timor whom we serve (for their benefit, your benefit, and for my birthday!). There are many beautiful people here who are in desperate need of better education, better healthcare, and even food and shelter. I don't think I can say this enough: ANYTHING you can do to help is appreciated! And every cent you send will be used, as Magdalene of Canossa said, to make Jesus known so that He will be loved.


Always,

Rachel and Brendan

P.S. If you have any questions please e-mail us at rdowney727@gmail.com. Thanks!!!

A Milestone

Hey everyone! Just a quick little blog about a little milestone for us : ) We have passed 7,500 hits on our blog!!! Actually today there are 7,644 to be exact : ) I haven't worked it out how many a week that is, but I think it's pretty good : )

We're pretty impressed and happy that people are still reading the blog. We've been gone for about 9 months now and hope you are enjoying our stories from everywhere from Italy to East Timor.

So we wanted to thank you for checking because that little number at the bottom of the blog is nice for us to see and we know that you love and miss us, even when there's not time to say so. So don't skew the number by checking 5 times a day, but if a lot of you check in once a week we appreciate it!

In other news - I just had an incredible 23rd birthday filled with people and surprise activities planned by Brendan! I am a super-blessed girl. But I will write a blog about it and it will be up soon! Thanks again!

Love,

Rachel and Brendan

Side Projects

*Hey everyone! Sorry there's no pictures in this one, but this and the next are probably the most important blogs we will write here, so we hope that you enjoy and read all of them!

I went on a walk with Donna, an Australian PALMS volunteer, the other day and we were talking about how we handle the times when we are homesick. In my opinion, one of the best ways to maintain focus during the hard times is to have side projects - things to benefit the school and community that we work on after we leave school. We have many side projects going right now and many of them are in the final stages! And all these projects are thanks to Gus and Cathy.

Just before we left the country last September some of Brendan's family friends asked us if they could contribute to our mission. They gave a significant amount of money to us with an incredible amount of trust - allowing us to use it as we saw needs and in whatever way we thought best. While we have been here we have tried to be completely worthy of that trust - using the money for significant needs of the Timorese (not on anything for ourselves) and keeping careful track of every penny. So today I'm going to tell you about our side projects so Gus and Cathy can be assured that their money is being used well.

Textbooks

In March, volunteers with the Christian Brothers gave us an English-Tetum textbook and Teacher's guide that they had developed so we could use or photocopy it as necessary. In March, we photocopied 15 books and gave them to the youth at Ahisaun. Ahisaun is a home for young men with physical disabilities. After Brendan finishes work on Fridays, he teaches an English lesson to the boys there. They go through the textbook and then practice what they've learned in conversation. The guys are great - all open and friendly and grateful for every little thing. They have appreciated the textbooks in a place where having a textbook is rare.

Last week, with the help of some of our students, we photocopied 70 more of the English textbooks, with an inscription in the front that says (in Tetum),"From your friends Gus and Cathy. Jesus loves you!" We plan to give one to each interested family in our area. They'll go fast - any help learning English is in high demand here. Some families have asked us for an English book without even knowing we were planning this. The textbooks will be a welcome surprise and supplement to all the people who we don't have time to help in person.

Bibles

Like I said, here anything in English is considered valuable and highly practical. So we gave Sister Sonia money and asked her to buy English Bibles while she was in Singapore. It's hard to find English Bibles here - much more popular and Bibles in Tetum and Indonesian. But we thought that English Bibles would give us an opportunity to multitask - helping along their English and, more importantly, helping them to grow in their faith.

Sister Sonia was able to get 28 English New Testaments and we have given out about half of them so far, all to peole who already have a decent level of English so it can actually be used. And it does work well. Just today I was working in the clinic and Marcia took the Bible we'd given her out of her purse. She was reading through Proverbs, trying to grasp the English, but we started talking and ended up translating my favorite Bible story - when Jesus walks on the water. Hopefully we'll continue talking about it soon. It's especially rewarding to practice English by talking about God and life and the deeper things. That's why we're here!

Library Improvements

As you know, in addition to being a Professor of English at the university, Brendan works a lot in the university library so it will quickly improve in time for the government accredidation. He helps with the computer program KOHA, which he, Sister Etalvinia, and Gina use to input all the books so soon they will have a computerized catalog system in line with the Dewey decimal system.

For the accredidation, the library is supposed to have more than 5,000 books (and it did not have that many yet). To help pass the accredidation, Brendan gave $300 to the university to buy more books - $250 for appropriate books for the Computer Technician and Office Management programs and $50 specifically to to used for books to expand the Faith and Christian Living sections. The last I heard, Sister Terezhina was planning to go to Indonesia to buy the books - there will be a lot more available there and they will be cheaper so the money will go much farther.

Medicine Project

My side project has been translating the medicines at the clinic into Tetum and Indonesian, so that all the medicines can be used if necessary. The clinic has almost exactly 100 different medications stored there. Many of their instructions were in English and as Sister Aquelina and the girls don't know English perfectly yet, the medicines just sat on the shelves and collected dust. So starting in March, I began going through all the medications - writing down all the important information.

It has been quite a process - it turned out that only 40 of the medications had the instructions with them or the necessary information on the containers. Many they use by memory - which won't help when a new nurse or volunteers come. So over the past couple months in my spare time I've been on the internet at school a lot looking up the information I needed. It was a slow and painful process until I found www.drugs.com, which lists the info for all the drugs marketed in the US. Then only the international (especially Indonesian) drugs gave me trouble.

A few weeks ago I finished my part - the English instructions are ready. I made a form using Excel that has the name of the medication and 3 sections for the basic instructions in Tetum, Indonesian, and then English. Each page is in a plastic sheet protector and everything is in a red binder. The information is divided into medical sections and within each section they are in alphabetical order. The donation money paid for the 100 photocopies, sheet protectors, and binder.

Now it is almost finished! Because medical translation is something that should be done by a professional, Sister Maria is currently translating for me in her free time (she is fluent in all 3 languages and very nice to help). Then I will ask Sister Sonia, who is a trained nurse, to check the English and Tetum and make sure that the translation is correct. When that is finished I will give it to Sister Aquelina at the clinic so she can know about all her available resources when she is prescribing.

Medicine

People from the community also come to the clinic. Recently, an elderly man came in with a severe cough. He said he had been to the hospital several times, but it had not helped (in general the hospital does the same thing as the clinic - giving out the cheap medications of paracetamol, multivitamins, and antibiotics). Sister Aquelina assessed him and said she knew of a medicine that should help, but it was very expensive ($30). He offered to pay for it over a long time, a little each week and by bringing in fresh oranges instead of money. Long story short we gave the money to Sister Aquelina, who bought and gave him the special medicine. He has since gotten better and he's always smiling when we see him on our walks to and from the school.

I've heard that the clinic is run on about $100 a month, which leaves no money for special expensive medicines. And many of the families who live close to Canossa and may come to the clinic are farm families. They don't have the money to pay for special medicines although they often need them (they don't come in unless they really need help). So when I see that there is a real need, Brendan and I talk and pray about it, and intervene with money to get medicine that could cure the condition instead of only dull the pain. In my opinion, quality of healthcare is one of the biggest things that separates East Timor from America and Australia. Less money = less options, worse medication, worse equipment, and fewer staff (especially highly qualified staff).

Physiotherapy/ Physical Therapy Therabands

Speaking of health-related things, a blessing we had was that Peggy, a personal and family friend and great physical therapist, donated 3 sets of PT therabands of different strengths. 1 set we gave to Assert, the only physical rehabilitation location outside the National Hospital. I have been volunteering there for a couple hours on Tuesday afternoons since March. Sister Aurora, my official boss, is on the council that founded Assert (which is desperately needed here). The clients are mostly children, so they love the brightly-colored therabands and the PTs were excited to have equipment that they recognize. The second set we will probably give to the rehabilitation area of the National Hospital and the third will probably go to the Canossa clinic. Thank you Peggy!

RAK

One of our most fun side projects lately has been RAK (Random Acts of Kindness). In this the English Club doubles as a secret mission force. Each has a code name which they use during RAK missions and they bring normal clothes to wear instead of their school uniforms.

$12 from Gus and Cathy provides enough to buy a 35 kg. rice bag for each mission. 1 rice bag can last most families 1-2 months. We take the rice bag and tape a note on it that says (in Tetum) For you and your family. Jesus loves you! Then we deliver it as secretly as possible, trying to make it an anonymous gift. We give it to families whose need is obvious from our personal contact, and seeing their houses, clothing, visible resources, etc., with a preference for the very poor, widows, and orphans.

We worked out the details for a few weeks and since then have completed 2 drop offs, both very successful and appreciated by the families. We will try to do one RAK mission per week, all at houses in the poor areas close to the school.

One of the most rewarding parts for me is having the English Club students involved. The 10 students are learning that giving is exciting and rewarding. But they are also learning to look around their community, notice needs, and try to meet them - not for personal recognition, but because they have been blessed and can. Because the Canossa schools are among the best schools in East Timor, many better-off families send their children here ("better off" being relative to people within Timor). These students will be the next generation of well-educated adults who can make a positive impact...and I think they these students will : )


To recap, Brendan and I want to thank Gus and Cathy (and Peggy) for their donations and their trust. Without their help, our ability to help would be much more limited. But right now we feel that our side projects are making a significant impact to improve education and healthcare in our area, as well as helping people to grow in their faith and in knowledge of Jesus and His unconditional love which is what life's all about! : )

Love,

Rachel and Brendan

P.S. I just taught English Club and told them I was coming to write you all. They said to say hi to you from them!

Our First Anniversary!

On May 24th, Brendan and I had been married for 1 year! In that year we have been everywhere - Iowa, Australia for World Youth Day and our honeymoon, training with the Canossian Sisters in Italy, and now we are volunteering with them in East Timor. With all this excitement (in addition to the excitement of being married!) the time has flown. It's difficult for me to imagine how we are going to top this 1st year, but I know we'll find a way. Marriage is awesome!

So to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary we wanted to take the ferry to Ata'uro Island, a beatiful island off the shore of Dili, and spend the weekend there. But, as often happens here, the best laid plans never turn out exactly as you expect. We found out the Monday before that the ferry had been taken to Indonesia for 3 months to be repaired. The other boat for rent was outrageously expensive, so we knew we had to come up with a new plan.

Everything is busy here around this time of year, so it's difficult to even take a day off. The weekend of our real anniversary was packed so we decided to postpone our celebration one week (I'm sure that this will have to happen a lot throughout our lifetime). So we reserved a room at the nicest hotel in Timor and got Saturday.

And it turned out to be a glorious day! We got to sleep in just a little and had a nice and slow breakfast, before going to the Comoro Market for some shopping. Then we came home and washed clothes. After washing we had a quick lunch and packed our backpacks and left for the hotel. As we walked through the doors we were greeted by the friendly employees and the cool of the air conditioning. After some confusion at the front desk (they gave us a room that hadn't been cleaned yet so we had to change), we made it to our room and collapsed!

When I was a kid, I remember my uncle telling us that the way to judge a hotel room was based on how springy the beds were (he had caught me and my siblings jumping on and between the room's 2 double beds : ) Well, I didn't try it, but this bed would have been a 10 for bouncing. It was perfect and a little like a trampoline - firm, but delightfully springy.

Other features we had to take advantage of:

1.) REAL SHOWERS! The 2 things I miss most about home are: 1. Family and friends and 2. Real showers! It had been almost 9 months since I had a real shower (in Rome they had a bath tub). Let me tell you that although bucket showers can get you clean, they are not comparable to real, warm, high-powered showers. To have a real shower after so many months of cold bucket showers felt like it must feel to go from this life to heaven (like going from ok/good to AMAZING!).

2.) Did I mention that the hotel had air conditioning? Also a great thing to experience every now and again, especially here.

3.) TV. I never thought I'd say this, but it was really nice to get to watch a little bit. Throughout our time at the hotel we got to see part of an episode of Man vs. Wild on the Discovery Channel, part of a Cops episode, and some basketball and soccer. It's a little luxury that we really appreciate now.

Lately we've been living really simply. Since the computer crashed we have no music or movies, and we've never had a TV. So at night we do a lot of exercising, reading, playing games, and talking. It's definitely been good for our marriage, as any extra time together is, and we are both happy about it, but it was also nice to relax and watch a little TV together too : )

Our time at the hotel was so relaxing - almost an unofficial marriage retreat. No work, just time together like it should be for a wedding anniversary. Our only committment for the day was Bible Study at 4 pm. Brendan is the leader and the group recently doubled in size so we wanted to be sure to go. It went really well - we're now up to 10 regular members, half Timorese and half internationals working/volunteering in Timor.

After Bible study we went back to the hotel and relaxed until we got hungry. Around 7 we got dressed up in our nice, new clothes and went to try a restaurant we hadn't been to - the Coconut Restaurant.

It was Saturday night and we expected there to be people around, but there was almost no one. Even at the restaurant we were the long customers, although it was very clean, nicely decorated, and the food amazing! Well, we got excellent service - there were four people at the the counter watching us constantly, ready to respond if we needed anything : )

The dinner was excellent with reminiscing conversation and great food, especially the mango chicken and rice presented as nicely as I've seen in any Asian restaurant at home. We left full, relaxed, and happy for the opportunity to have so much uninterrupted quality time.

The next morning we enjoyed the hotel's complimentary breakfast buffet - an interesting mix of Western and Asian-style foods catering to the business people who stay at the hotel. I had never had fried rice and noodles for breakfast, but it felt like a necessity since this was the first time I could : ) After breakfast and packing we checked out of the hotel and drove to Mass for Pentecost Sunday (when the Holy Spirit came down on Jesus' followers after He ascended into heaven).

Mass was especially relaxing this week because usually we're doing something up front - reading or singing in the choir, so we don't get to sit together. But this Sunday we sat together in the middle. Mass was great - there was a guest priest who is a chaplain with the Australian military and also, one of the Sisters we know, Sister Francisca, renewed her vows to love Jesus and live with and serve the poor in front of the whole congregation. It was as beautiful as watching a married couple renew their vows, but in this case our human eyes could see only one of the spouses : )

After Mass, we caught up with friends and went home, you guessed it, for more relaxing. We decided that because Saturday had been such a success we would continue it and make it a real weekend! Normally, Sundays are as busy as every other day - just not with work. Because they have school/work 6 days a week here, Sunday becomes the "Free Day," and we've gotten in the habit of filling it with things to do too. Everything is optionally - playing with the girls who live in the boarding house at school, prayer and games with the Sisters sometimes, helping an SMA student with her English course for kids sometimes. All are very worthy and fun things, but to have a real day of rest was great for us.

Later in the day Brendan played basketball and I went for a walk and when we got back there was a message from Sister Sonia inviting us to the Balide convent for dinner in honor of our 1st anniversary. We drove over (our car had been returned after a month in the shop and it's in much better shape now - it's so nice to have it back) and we talked and ate with the Sisters and some other guests. Eventually we headed home rejoicing in the blessing of our marriage and refreshed and ready for a new week : )

Blessings on you always! Hope your summer is starting off well!

Love, Rachel and Brendan

Independence Day!

May 20th was East Timor's Independence Day! Because it officially became a country in 2002 (3 years after the independence vote and the violent aftermath) this year was only the 7th Independence Day celebration.

It's difficult for me to imagine what emotions the Timorese felt on this day. I mean, I appreciate my American liberty and have a deep respect for my country, and I remember the good in America and the blessing of freedom on the 4th of July. But I wasn't alive for our independence struggle so I have a more distant perspective from learning about it from history books.

But being here, with all the emotions and experiences of the independence struggle so fresh was really eye-opening to me. How often I forget that many countries earn their independence in a bloody struggle. Often many sacrifices are made, including many lives of friends, family, and neighbors.

On the day before their Independence Day, Brendan and I participated in a Mass with over 1,000 people, honoring the memory of those who died in the independence transition.


After Mass, led by the Saint Peter's High School band, most of the people marched to the Santa Cruz Cemetery to pray where one of the worst massacres took place.



In the Santa Cruz massacre, about one hundred college students and young people were killed during a peaceful protest. Ironically, they were protesting the murder of a student who had been peacefully protesting and they were walking to the cemetery in his memory. The Indonesian military set up an ambush and opened fire on the students. The incident was videotaped by an international journalist - the tape survived and was smuggled out of the country and aired on international news. It was one of the first clues that the rest of the world had of what was happening in Timor.

And the people remember. Almost everyone has been touched by a death or injury to someone they cared about and many of them were part of the events. Sister Terezhina, the principal of the University where Brendan teaches, shared that she had been a university student during the Santa Cruz massacre. She was at school when the shooting started and her and a friend rode a scooter to the cemetery to try to get some friends to safety. As with most horrible situations, they are contrasted by the brave and selfless actions of many people.

So the Timorese really have reason to celebrate and they celebrate well! There is no school and no work (except for the taxi drivers taking people to and from the Palacio do Governo and the food vendors located there).


For the holiday, everyone flooded the square in front of their main government building to watch the full day of activities, including a ceremony, parade, and concert, along with their President Jose Ramos Horta. Everyone who couldn't make it in person watched on the TV or listened on the radio.

To enjoy the holiday, Brendan and I started off the day with...laundry, because I was entirely out of clean clothes and Brendan was almost out too. I wanted to go to the Palacio by 9 am because that's when everything was supposed to start and we wanted to be sure to see the Canossa drum band. But instead we leisurely handwashed our clothes, because Brendan in his wisdom knew that 9 am here = 10 am or later.

He was right. We showed up at 10:30 and we had missed part of the ceremony, but were just on time for the parade. These aren't like parades at home - there's less hype, no politics, and most difficult to comprehend, parades here are not synonymous with candy-gorging sessions (for most of my young life I associated parades with candy, especially tootsie rolls).


But for their national parade here they had representatives of military units walk by with flags, uniforms, and guns. Then the police force.


After them came a group of men in traditional Timorese garb and carrying swords. And after them came the marching "drum bands" from different schools (with the Canossa drum band going first : )



Before they started marching we got pictures of the English Clubbers, who were more than half of the snare drum section. They had on snappy uniforms and looked a little nervous to be performing in front of their country's leaders. But they did great! We were shocked when, after only a few weeks of practice, they pulled off a 10 minute show with different songs and riffs dead center in front of their President, while the school cheerleaders did stunts and dances on the sides. After they had finished, Brendan and I caught up with them to congratulate them on a nice show. They were very hot, but very happy.

It was really interesting for me to watch the drum bands, because I was in marching band all throughout high school. The Timorese bands were better than I expected, but still so different.



There are almost no instruments besides drums. Only the military band had 4 trumpets in addition to drums, and those were rough on the ears. My Grandpa Bill was a band director and is still a great trumpet player and I thought of how he would have cringed at the sound coming from those trumpets. But it's understandable -
1. Instruments are expensive and there isn't extra money to spend on much here
2. If you do get a hold of an instrument you probably have to teach yourselves.

Brendan played trumpet and he noticed that the soldiers weren't even using the keys to change notes - only the shape of their mouth like a bugle. So having no money for instruments and no professional instruction limits what they can do, but like everything in Timor the people use what they have and make it work better than expected.

What the Canossa drum band did have was 3 sizes of drums, marching xylophones, and small keyboards (that look like children's toy keyboards) where a tube connected the keyboard to the player's mouth like a straw. The player then blew air to somehow amplify the sound as they hit the keys. All very interesting (I had never seen keyboards like that before).

After we said goodbye to the students and the crowds we relaxed! We caught up on some work, walked, and had a long afternoon nap. Another great day here in Timor Leste!

I got a $3 t-shirt the other day that really sums it up well. The shirt has the outline of a traditional Timorese house and a quotation underneath, "Timor Leste - beautiful land, lovely people." : )

Loving You Always,

Rachel and Brendan

Prayer

One thing that's been very enriching lately was seeing neighborhood prayer meetings happening all over Dili. During the whole month of Mary there is continuous prayer going on, with each neighborhood taking 1 full day.

Our neighborhood, Delta 3, did prayer last week. Each neighborhood prepares an entrance over the road made with banana and palm trees. Then, around sunset, the neighborhood who is finishing their prayer shift marches to the next neighborhood, praying, singing, and doing traditional dancing along the way.

They carry statues of the Holy Family (Mary, Joseph, and Jesus) dressed in traditional Timorese dress with tais draped over their shoulders. When the people and statues arrive at the next neighborhood, the prayer begins.






Our prayer began around 7 pm because an afternoon rain. When the previous neighborhood arrived we began. It was only us and ALL the Timorese of the neighborhood. One of the people who live close to use was in charge. They started with a prayer asking God to help them be like the Holy Family, saying that they are the model family for the world, for East Timor, and for Delta 3. Then there was a drama about the Holy Family in full costumes.

After the drama, all of us turned and walked to the area set up for the all-night prayer vigil, singing and praying along the way. The procession was led by young women playing drums and dancing in the traditional style. When the crowd of maybe 100 reached the venue it was set up nicely with space for kids to sit in the front and the adults got chairs behind the kids. More singing and praying and then we prayed a rosary together with young people acting out the Joyful Mysteries. It was obvious that a lot of work had gone into it - all the lines were memorized as they acted out the stories of Jesus' life in full costume, even the little boy who played Jesus when He was found in the temple.

After the rosary and more singing, we prayed in different Timorese languages. I was asked to pray in English, appropriately for the faith of the youth of East Timor. The prayer was beautiful! Praying together in different languages always makes me so happy to be part of the universal Church. It's a great feeling!

After the languages prayer was completed, Brendan and I went home because it was already late and we hadn't eaten dinner yet. But groups from our neighborhood continued to pray all night and all the following day until we passed on the opportunity to the Fatuhada neighborhood.

Another great thing happening this month is the nightly prayer organized by the youth. Each night they pray and sing at one house for about 45 minutes. The next night they will move on to the next house on the street. Last night we joined them at one of our neighbor's houses and Sunday everyone should be coming to our house for the prayer.

All this has come at a great time! To be around Timorese is to be renewed in your faith and refreshed enough to continue the work. During the pray I wondered if a month-long community prayer like this would be possible in my neighborhood at home, but I doubt it... In our society it's hard enough to even get a block party scheduled. I doubt that an all-nighter for prayer could work. There are a few things people are willing to stay up all night for, and from my experience prayer isn't one of the top ones for the general masses.

But, to be fair, Brendan and I do know many people who would stay up all night to pray for something important and that is such a treasure. We plan on returning to Des Moines when we finish our service and staying close with these family and friends forever : ) You don't run into people like that everyday, so when you do, you must recognize their value and fully appreciate them.

So thank you for being one of our family and friends who would pray all night if it was needed. We appreciate you and your rock-solid priorities, and we can't wait to see you again (in only 6 months)!

Love Always,

Rachel and Brendan

Timor Parties

eganRecently we had a chance to go to our first big Timorese community party. The Delta 1 men’s b-ball team that Brendan plays for and the Delta 1 women’s b-ball team were throwing a big party to celebrate the team doing very well in recent tournaments.

These guys went all out: the festivities started on Friday morning and everything finished on Saturday morning around 5 am. Even before that I saw them cutting up one full, skinned cow on Thursday evening. So a lot of work went into this!

Friday morning we went to the basketball court where the Delta teams played exhibition games against Baucau.


Here you can see Brendan going up for a dunk and people watching in awe (they don’t do dunks here : )

At the same time, tarps were being wrapped around the perimeter of the court, and big tents and a couple of hundred chairs were being trucked in and set up. The court was buzzing with activity that continued after we left at noon to go to school.

The official party with speeches, food, and lots of dancing started at 5 pm. It being Timor we knew we should not come until 7, 8, or 9 pm – not to be fashionably late, but to be fashionably early! Somehow all the Timorese know when to really show up, but we are still learning when to show up 30 minutes late or 3 hours late (mostly by trial and error). So we chose an in between time and arrived around 7:30, just in time for one of the first speeches.

We felt a little out of place because we were the only foreigners there and because we were underdressed compared to everyone else’s party clothes. But we tried to sneak in and find a seat as best we could, while listening to the congratulatory speeches and thank yous.



After all the speeches came the food. We didn’t know how much food there would be, or how safe it would be to eat it, so we had eaten dinner earlier. We tried to hold off on the food, but Terezhina, one of the High School students who plays for the women’s team and was MC for the party, physically dragged us over to the buffet line. So we had a second delicious dinner and it went down with no problems.



Brendan chilling with some of the basketball guys.

After dinner, the coaches cut the cake (decorated and shaped like a basketball) and opened a bottle of champagne! Then the dancing began that would continue until 5 am. Here is the dancing doesn’t last until the morning it wasn’t a good party. It was very interesting and a little different from home.

They had hired a couple of DJs, but these DJs really earned their money. They don’t just pick and play music, they sing and play keyboard for each song. They set a Timorese beat in the background and then they sing and play and improvise all with no written music. And like all Timorese we’ve met, they were great singers.

The dancing was fun – a great time for people-watching and we got to see some interesting cultural differences. One thing that’s different is that between songs everyone clears the floor and at the beginning of the next everyone gets back up, sometimes finds a new partner, and goes out to dance again. They’re lucky they’re so in shape because doing that from 9 pm – 5 in the morning has got to be exhausting! And it’s not like there’s a 5 minute break between songs – there’s maybe a 30-60 second turnaround for people to find a seat, sit down, and get right back up.


So after the first few dances we decided to try it. We did swing dancing first and everyone clapped for our first big move, but then we tried to learn the Timorese partner dance. It’s a closer dance with a 1 2 3 & 4 beat. It wasn’t pretty, but we started to figure it out by the end. Every now and again we would revert to swing dancing and we would immediately be followed by little Timorese girls who were trying to imitate us.

The other funny part of the night was being asked to dance by the chefe suku. The chefe suku is the equivalent of the mayor of our Delta neighborhood in Dili. He had 1 or 2 too many drinks and was dancing with the young women. Not wanting to offend, he asked Brendan 3 times if he could dance with me. Brendan just said ‘la bele’ (no can) each time : )

Around 11 we said quick goodbyes and snuck out to get some sleep before work Saturday morning. The stars were out and it was peaceful and beautiful. It was a great night after a great party!

And just today we had our own party on a much smaller scale – we had an English practice party for the people we work with. During the party we introduced them to another western food – sloppy joes!

We worked in the morning, walked home, and prepared lunch for the people we work with at the university and clinic. They’re all trying to learn English so we thought it would be a good chance to set aside time to practice. During work it’s always some version of Tetlish (Tetum and English mixed).

So we made sloppy joes and noodles and brought everything we needed to the clinic where we ate. We said a prayer in English before and after the meal. The meal itself was a bit hit! They had never had anything like it and all seemed to enjoy it (especially Sister Aquelina who wanted to keep the leftovers to eat as an afternoon snack : )

We talked mostly in English during lunch, cleaned up, and went to the senior high to watch a movie. Movies are a pretty special thing around here, so they seemed excited.

We watched Ever After, the ‘real’ story of Cinderella, with the English subtitles. It’s a good story and they talk slow enough that they were able to catch a lot of the dialogue. Movies really have been a useful addition for practicing English. The students are extra interested, they learn new vocabulary (they write down words they don’t know throughout the movie and we explain them during the next class), and they’re forced to practice listening at a more realistic pace.

After the movie was over it was raining so we all crammed into 1 taxi, who dropped us off close to our house. There are many special moments like this – hopefully making fun memories of new experiences for our fellow workers that will be part of our legacy when we go home.

Hope you’re all well and enjoying the end of school and beginning of summer! Blessings especially on the graduates, including Phil and Zach and friends from high school and Mary, Sarah, Luke, Abigail, and friends from 8th grade!

Love,
Rach and Brendan