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Archived Posts

What exactly do they do?

March 1st, 2010 by The Lost Boy

Before I arrived in Timor-Leste, I didn’t know a whole lot about NGOs, aid work or any of that business. I’d heard people talk negatively about NGOs, but never really grasped why. Here in Timor-Leste, I’ve come to the conclusion that aid workers are a misunderstood group — misunderstood because it’s difficult to really fathom exactly what they do.

I usually try and avoid talking about work with people I’m unfamiliar with. I do this for a few reasons. The first is that my job is simple to explain: I write stories. That’s all I do. Sometimes I also edit stories, I guess, but there isn’t a whole lot of variation in what I do to make a living. It really doesn't sound all that impressive.

But when aid workers start talking about what they do, it’s like a foreign language to me. I’ve been in Dili about a year and a half now and there’s still so much about the aid world that baffles me.

But it isn’t just NGOs. It’s everyone, from the UN to USAID. So many times I’ve been listening to people talking about what they do and had to really think about what the words mean. It’s like a sudoku puzzle, of sorts, and I'm rubbish at sudokus.

Part of the problem, I’m sure, is that people have complicated jobs. This is why I don’t like talking about work. I just write stories. Other people are advisors coordinating capacity-building outreach programmes to assist the general development of the Ministry of Such and Such and… well, I made that up. But you see my point. I'm not all that important in the grand scheme of things.

Everyone here seems to be saving the world. Even their job titles are impressive. I have a little booklet full of business cards. In it are things like “General Development Officer” and “Development Outreach and Communication Officer.” Very exciting stuff.

I have this nagging feeling that I’m alone in my confusion, but sometimes I think the weird job titles and descriptions serve the sole purpose of deflecting attention away from the fact that the person in question doesn’t really do very much at all.

There are, after all, a lot of people in Timor-Leste on ludicrously huge salaries. I know at least some of those people don’t do a whole lot.

But I’m probably just jealous.

You'll have to excuse me for generalising here. I do try my best, but, alas, I have much to learn. Obviously there are a good number of people doing really great stuff here in Timor-Leste. Check out PDT or L'ao Hamutuk or HAI for starters.

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Archived Posts

Hold your ground

September 11th, 2009 by The Lost Boy

Radio journalist in Suai: So what should we do if we're out doing a story in a village and some of the local youths start attacking us? Should we stay and fight or run away?

Me: Run away.

Journalist: What about if they have weapons? What should we do then?

Me: I think you should still run away.

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Archived Posts

Away

September 3rd, 2009 by The Lost Boy

I'm leaving for Ainaro and Suai today. I'll be gone for about a week. Lord knows, I really need a trip out of Dili.

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Photos from Timor-Leste

September 2nd, 2009 by The Lost Boy

I've taken quite a lot of pictures during my time in Timor-Leste. I have some of them up on my Flickr account, so if you've ever wondered what Timor-Leste looks like, click here and maybe you'll have a better idea.

Sprite in Timor-Leste

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00-031-G

September 1st, 2009 by The Lost Boy

I don't know who drives the car with the license plate 00-031-G, but that person should not be allowed on the roads. Gonna add that to the list with UN0797 and UN0143 so I know who to try and run off the road when I get my 18-wheeler imported from the United States.

More traffic calamities: UN0620 almost had a head-on collision with a PNTL vehicle September 2 afternoon.

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