THIS WRITE UP WAS WRITTEN BY SIS LAY KEAN for her trip from June 14th to June 20th 2008
All of the pictures were taken by bro Christopher Sng. It was supposed to be published earlier but I was just able to get this article today.
Kupang– It is a city in Timor Island which is the capital city for the Nusa Tenggara Province . Majority consists of Catholics and Protestants. Churches and seminaries were found all over poor villages. Some churches are made with wooden planks and zinc roofs, and some brick ones are unfinished due to lack of funds. A typical village hut is made of thatched straw roofs, walls of dried palm stems placed vertically & closely, and floors of hard dry soil. The poor grows papaya, banana and tapioca in semi-dry land.
Day 1 (14th June)– Arrived in Kupang after 11pm. Was met by Budi’s father-in-law (we call him “Opa” meaning grandfather). Opa is a strong old man of 78 yrs of age, with vast knowledge on the Indonesian history. He also spoke fluent English. Opa took us for a midnight meal at a warung (shop) and we had some fried chicken and 2 BBQ garoupas with rice. Meal costs about S$15 for 5 people. We were then taken to their ‘home-stay’, which consists of 25 individual motel-like rooms, and a separate building which serves as common area. This home-stay premise is located about 400m from the orphanage grounds.We had three workers who were building there, who also acted as our protectors. They were most polite and friendly, so much so that we tipped them on the last day.
Opa Cornelis lakusa
BBQ Garoupa and sate , hmmmm yummy
Day 2– Opa came with Pak Lief (their close friend and the care taker of the orphanage if Peggy and Budi are away) to take us for lunch. Then we sightseeing around town. The town is not very big, and not very modern.
The orphanage is well equipped and developed. They have a large garden with crops, a library, a little grocer shop, a computer building, a dorm for the older boys (where our donated children clothes are stored), workers’ quarters, and the main house.
the orphanage's gate in June
the way they preserve their corn from insects is to place it hanging in the kitchen
We met the LOVELY children. The young ones (nursery age) were all lying in a room when we peeped in. They got up and looked at us shyly. As I could speak Bahasa Malaysia, I managed to urge them to talk to me. Within minutes they were crowding around us, touching our hands, and smiling non-stop. They are ok once they got pass the awkwardness. None of them shouted, fought or anything. They are VERY CUTE, even though some of them may not have magazine cover page ‘child-model’ looks. If one looks pass their skin colour and background, one will find these creations of God simply beautiful. Their demeanor and behavior made them ABSOLUTELY LOVABLE.
They were co-operative and obedient with adults, friendly and totally caring towards the infants. We witnessed the pre-schooled old girls running to soothe the 2-yr olds whenever they cry. The babies were picked up and pacified immediately with cuddles, gentle strokes and kind words. It amazes me as these older girls are barely strong enough to carry the toddlers, yet they struggle with the weight so that the young ones don’t continue crying. When a toddler had mucus running down his nose, an older girl will pinch the mucus off for him without an adult prompting. I’m afraid I have never seen this in Singapore!!!
The children are very obedient. One word from Opa or an adult, and they act accordingly. We saw 16 little kids under 7 yrs of age and four girls in their teens. I understand that there are a few teenage boys around too.
In the afternoon, we went back to nap in the home-stay. They came to pick us up from dinner at 8pm.
tender loving care being practiced
most of the time the eggs is always eaten last
Day 3– We waited for our host in the morning, and decided to take a walk over to the orphanage as we want to see the kids again. A group of kids (nursery age) were singing Christian songs very loudly in a room. When they saw us, they took to us immediately. The little girls came for cuddles and sat on our laps. All we received from them were genuine smiles, love and more love.
Near noon, we went bush-walking with Opa The neighborhood around the orphanage consists of many straw huts and some simple constructed brick cottages. Many are poor, but none of them as poverty-stricken as the East Timorese refugees that we saw on Day 4!!The neighborhood roads were dusty and rocky. But we soon forgot about that as our eyes were constantly bewildered by the sights we saw. We saw how people live despite having very basic material items in their houses. We saw smiles and heard greetings from the residents as we walked by and clicked our cameras as we gawked like tourists. The constant “Selamat siang” greeting (good morning) made us feel so welcomed and safe. Village kids finishing school and walking back, smiled and followed us for a short distance. When I clicked my camera at them, they giggled. When we stopped at a small ‘grocer’ stall, he brought out plastic chairs for us to sit.
Day 4– Budi’s wife Peggy returned from Jakarta after sending her son off at the airport (for him to return to Singapore for school). Near noon we set off in the orphanage's bus for a day trip
This is where we stopped and to pick up various essential items:
- Mixed rice stall - to pack lunch for everyone, and some BBQ fish.
- Grocer in another village – for packets of coffee and herbs (to use for our padi field picnic)
- Roadside – for oranges and purple sweet potatoes.
- Roadside – bought sea-salt packed in long palm-leaf weaved basket (like a wine bottle holder!)
- Roadside – for fried dough made with palm sugar. Tasted absolutely delicious, said everyone!!
- Palm tree plantation – we get to taste freshly harvested palm juice from a palm-leaf basket, and to buy cooked palm sugar (tasted much like English toffee, but look like gula melaka). They were selling 6 flat, round pieces for 15-cents. Bought 30 myself. Can be used for cooking, baking or as sweets!
- Roadside – bought freshly-caught fishes and mud crabs. They were hanging from the stall, and were tied-up like ‘bak-chang’. Haha!!
EAST TIMORESE REFUGEES’ HOME – I am told that this family used to own a large house in Dili, East Timor. When war broke out, they ran with the only clothes on their back. Since 2000, they have been living from hand-to-mouth. I saw practically nothing of value (to our eyes) in their hut, and the most precious items they have are probably their violin and guitar. The little boy of about 2 yrs old, played with a push-toy which is made from a piece of long stick, a plastic mineral water bottle with 2 wooden wheels! The adult sons played us 3 songs with their musical instruments. They played and sang beautifully… felt so so sad when I listened to their sweet and
- melodious tunes. At one stage, our driver started dancing and invited chuckles from everyone. I taped the songs, but the file is too big to post on the forum.
- Stopped at Peggy’s padi field for a picnic. They brought out quilts and chairs to sit on. The workers started a fire to fry the fish and other food. I saw kangkong flowers for the 1st time as one plot has been planted with kangkong. Saw 2 workers ploughing the fields to prepare it for next planting. Saw fresh water sprouting out of a pipe non-stop from the ground. Unlike many parts of Timor which have extreme dry land, Budi & Peggy are lucky to buy this piece of land which has underground source of water.
- At 5pm, it started to get dark. We drove in semi-darkness in an isolated road in the country side until we reached a far town. The roads were so bad that our bus was rocking side-to-side like a boat in the storm! The village is where my former maid lives. Her hut is the typical house made from palm stems and straws. They are building a brick house, but has stopped due to lack of funds. There was a hen behind my chair in the ‘living room’ with 11 chicks underneath her. Ha ha. As we were leaving, I gave her mother some money.
buying the fresh mud crab
a visit at the ex East Timor refugee home , a leaning hut and an unpaved floor
playing the most valuable property that they have
My hubby Chris and me
buying the local oranges at OeSau market
palm sugar which just freshly made
the best toy that the village children have
at the farm
Day 5– At 6.30am, we went to the beach-side market to buy fish. Bought three 2-kg tuna fishes for $4.50 each... and is deemed expensive because in Jan-Feb months, they are about $1.50 each!! Very fresh too because saw the blood drained out as red as human blood. Peggy cooked curried crabs and fish for our lunch. Then we went back to our home-stay for rest.
About 3.30pm, we got restless at our home-stay and walked over to the orphanage. Peggy has just gotten back from buying water with the water truck (the truck was purchased last year, with the money from fellow donors in Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries). Peggy was supervising the watering of plants. At 5pm, we went to the beach for a walk. Peggy went to buy dinner and 2 large BBQ tuna fishes and had wanted to eat at the beach ( they brought lights) but we did not know that and we thought that we were going to eat in the pitch darkness ! so we said no ha ha ha
at the fish market
fresh fish right from the boat
6th day we were taking the flight home and left for the airport at 5 am
some of the children detail
sis lay Kean , sis Wendy and Peggy