Before I arrived in Dili, I had a healthy dose of sympathy for the Timorese who had been\u00a0serially shafted by the Portuguese then the Indonesians.\u00a0 It didn’t really give them much of a chance to get their house in order.\u00a0 I never did quite believe the head of the World Bank praising TL as a shining example of how a country could pull itself together.\u00a0 Nor that the UN was the vehicle bringing on that success.<\/p>\n
Then it all came crashing down.\u00a0 After a few weeks then a few months of continual turmoil, I certainly started losing that sympathetic edge.\u00a0 Then I noticed the same disenchantment coming from others, then for me it was a definite trend.\u00a0 A few people mentioned how they noticed that “earnest” edge was being knocked off some of those more dedicated aid\/volunteer workers.<\/p>\n
Then what convinced me it was no longer to be ignored, was the chat I had with an acquaintance who was seriously questioning with “what’s the point anymore?\u00a0 … everything I have done here is back to square one … do I just re-start everything again … it will take 10 years before it will feel like progress is being made and I can’t wait that long”.<\/p>\n
All I could say was “how was it different to before? … you were always pushing against negative forces … where would it be if you weren’t here at all?”.<\/p>\n
Hardly inspirational but this is what holidays to Bali are for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before I arrived in Dili, I had a healthy dose of sympathy for the Timorese who had been\u00a0serially shafted by the Portuguese then the Indonesians.\u00a0 It didn’t really give them much of a chance to get their house in order.\u00a0 … Continue reading