Where In the world is Timor Leste?

Most Americans have never heard of Timor-Leste, a small part-of-an-island nation, whose population is equal to that of the city of San Diego. It’s next to Indonesia. In the Indonesian language Timor means east and in Portuguese Leste means east. Colonized by the Portuguese and occupied by Indonesia, it’s now an independent country, one of the world’s newest nations.

After visiting Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim countries, it was surprising that Asian Timor-Leste is a staunchly Christian (Roman Catholic) nation. Pope Francis visited here in his last year.

The prime minister is a beloved figure from the fight for independence. Schoolchildren lined the streets for miles to welcome him back from the conference of ASEAN, a group of Asian nations to which Timor Leste was just admitted. The President of the US was there, so the people feel like Timor-Leste has emerged on the world stage.

Timor-Leste is an undiscovered tropical paradise, but economically has a long way to go. I visited a father who has about six children working in other countries and so he and his wife are raising about a dozen of the grandchildren at their house.

The Timorese are kind and welcoming. I had “tais” (scarf) welcoming ceremonies at two schools. More to squeeze into my backpack.

The volunteers of the first cohort since the pandemic are approaching the two year mark. They are a dedicated group of young Americans working in the public and Catholic schools of Timor-Leste. An international late career businessman quit his corporate job and joined the Peace Corps to “do something more meaningful.” He works with his counterpart at the Bamboo Institute, a government supported business. He brought his business expertise and gradually became an expert in bamboo. They have environmentally sustainable production. Nothing goes to waste. He has helped the organization obtain grants to produce more products. He jokingly calls his much younger host “mom.”

One young Volunteer is 6’5”. I thought he would stand out but his twin host brothers are also 6’5”. What are the chances of that in Timor-Leste?Read more