week eighteen | alieu, timor-leste

Part two: Alieu. 

Part of my wonderful job at Oaktree is working with Plan Timor-Leste on a project that works in Dili and in Alieu. Alieu is a district in the mountains about 40km or a two hour drive from Dili. The two days I spent in Alieu were some of the most interesting days of my life.

We set of early on Tuesday morning – and started our rickety journey up the mountain. We were loaned an Emergency Sex (it’s a book mum don’t worry!) style white Toyota development truck and a driver whose skills will continue to impress me till the day I die.

The trip was much less ‘road’ and much more dried riverbeds and precarious mountain tracks. It was bumpy, it was slightly sickening and it was a great lesson in trust both in our dear driver, and also in the very rocks and mountainside we were balancing on.

Alieu is both the name of the district and the small town (probably better to read ‘village’ to get a better picture) with lots of kids (classic Timor) lots of chickens, lots of bright buildings and lots of dust.

Our time in Alieu was quite busy, in and out of meetings and conducting interviews. But we also got to spend some time back in the car watching the world go by. It was amazing to get out of Dili for a little while, and to meet and talk to people who we hear about through reports and data. I was incredibly proud of our program, the staff and especially the impact that the project is having on the lives of young people in the area. This particular partnership also works with young people the same age as I am so our discussions about finding our place in the world and our paths for the future were humbling and emotional. 

We ate simple local food at the same small restaurant every mealtime, and spent our night at a small guesthouse that sounded (all night) like it was home to two hundred people and a few too many roosters. Village life sure is different from the way I live in my tiny quite flat in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

Our visit to Alieu was short but powerful. I came away feeling uplifted by our project, disheartened by the enormity of Timor-Leste’s very real systemic problems, and craving to do more all at the same time. It is a tricky place to work but I wouldn’t have it any other way. While there isn’t anything “to do” in Alieu, which means most travelers will not head there, I do hope that this little post inspires you to learn more about Timor-Leste and perhaps hang out with me and talk more about the work I’m lucky enough to be involved in.

TRIP RATING: 4/5 ROOSTER WAKE UP CALLS