Behind all great programmes and activities, there are maintenance people keeping the infrastructures operating smoothly.  Trade and non-trade people repairing, building and improving the surrounds so others can concentrate on the main activities and programs of that organisation.

It was my privilege to return to Timor Leste this year and do my small part to assist those who are working in Timor Leste to deliver exciting and meaningful programs there. While not actually helping to build a house, vegetable garden or work with directly the kids, I was able to use my practical skills and electrical knowledge to help make conditions a little bit better for those who are doing great things there with people of Timor Leste. My time there was spent between the YWAM base in Dili, at Hera where Joanne was assisting at the local school and disability centre, then at the village of Bahareduk.

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My highest priority task was to restore the main solar power system at the YWAM base in Bahareduk, which I had assisted to install 12 months ago.  This runs all the lighting at the base, supplies power to recharge the phones etc and a small 240volt supply so the battery tools,  etc., can be recharged. When the new control unit I had brought with me didn’t solve all the problems it lead to some interesting time searching in Dili for a suitable replacement battery and inverter unit.  I was also able to add and improve on to the system with lights in the bathrooms, veranda and extra outlets for phone, etc.,  charging. For some reason having a permanent light in the bathroom also seemed to make the women very happy.

Among the interesting tasks I found myself doing was at short notice setting up the power supply for a major political election rally in the town of Hera.    A series of extension leads over the back fence from the disability centre to the large open area behind, was needed to power the public address system.  I had to borrow the leads from the builder’s container at the school, repair the faulty one, and then work out why the power point was not working.  Nothing there is ever as easy as you would expect.   I am told the rally went very well.

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The staff at the school in Hera now no longer needs to stand on a chair to get to the time clock to punch their time card in and out.  I was able to relocate it to a more suitable position and add its own power point. Some of the recently finished classrooms at Hera had new fluorescent lights that didn’t work. When you have only three of the four new lights working in a classroom, it is not good for the kids or teacher.  The voltage there is too low to operate the fancy electronics in the light fitting so replacing them with more basic and robust units got all the classroom lights working.I was amazed at how much road work is happening along the road between Dili and Bahareduk.  In one area along the coast all the drains across the road are been replaced with larger drains and the road raised in places. During the wet season there must be massive amounts of water flowing off the mountains to the sea.  Further in the mountains teams of workers are building large walls and drains along the edge of the roads to stop landslides blocking the roads. They are using rocks from the river beds and in many places mixing the concrete by hand to build the walls one rock at a time. 

I have leant that riding in the very back of a Ute from Bahareduk to Dili while the view is great, eating lunch beforehand may not been so great an idea.

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Shopping for hardware and tools in Dili is fascinating. Different shops import their material from different parts of the world including Singapore, China, Australia etc.  So some things are very cheap while others are very expensive compared to what we pay here.   We got roofing iron for the verandah rolled, cut and delivered to a local store in about an hour but searched several stores and couldn’t find any clothes line wire. By the way, we found the ultimate in milkshakes at Timor Plaza, a “Wicked Wendy ”  which was pickled onion and frozen green peas in a milkshake topped with whipped cream. Phil actually bought one! It was a very empowering and enlightening time spent in Timor Leste.