Today is the fifth and final part of the week’s ongoing series of stories of Chargé d’Affairs Katherine Dueholm’s trip around Timor-Leste. After staying in a lovely Convent guest house in Ossu, the Chargé drove through the mountains and rice fields of Baucau District, seeing roadside caves dug by Japanese soldiers during World War II and passing through several villages having their market day. Baucau is the most populous District the Chargé visited on this trip and the number of people she saw (and the dialects she heard) was amazing. The first stop in Baucau was with a Micro-credit lender. Not only was the Chargé able to learn about this important part of the economy, she had the chance to visit several clients, including her first encounter with a traditional Tais weaver. The Chargé also visited several other shops in the market to see how buying and selling was carried out and learn about wholesalers and the difficulties in shipping goods from Dili. The Chargé then met with Radio Lian Matebian and more representatives of the Youth Empowerment Program. The radio station is very active in the community and hosts regular meetings and shows with a focus on the young people in the district. The Chargé was glad to see the support they received from the Ambassador’s Small Grants program in 2013 being used so effectively. And finally, the last meeting of the trip was a courtesy call with Baucau District Administrator Antonio Guterres. Chargé Dueholm met him in his office and they had a friendly private lunch before beginning the long trip back to Dili via Manatutu. Thanks to all of our Timorese friends who helped at each stop along the way, the trip was a big success and Katherine was thrilled to learn so much about Timor-Leste and meet so many exciting, amazing citizens of this friendly country. She is already planning her next trip to the Districts, so please stay tuned to our Facebook page for more travel reports!
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 00:40:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015