East Timor the first weeks
The office I was to work in was a very large airy room. Sadly the incumbent Australian Accountant was a complete alcoholic. In the beginning I and another Australian lady were to work with the Accountant. He had paperwork piled next to desks in no order. His workings were in lead pencil which is so easily erased. It became obvious he was not prepared to work with us and was unable to fix the mess he had created. At that point I was only a data inputter, so, the senior lady took him on. Soon we found that was quite an easy task, as he came to work drunk, left around 10 am to have a long lunch, came back into the office far drunker than he left.
Stage One
We developed a strategy of letting the Accountant start on some ambiguous figures and piles of paper, which soon became his only focus. This allowed us to then get down to the nitty gritty. The Timorese ladies we were working with were brilliant and understood exactly what we were up against. We found teaching them accounting and understanding an accounting package was very easy. They were so keen to learn. Our Timorese counterparts and ourselves then attacked each pile of paper and sorted each piece of paper into which ever project we thought they belonged. Cleanup stage one had begun.
ANZAC Day
In the mean time ANZAC Day was upon us. Australians and New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) in remembrance of their servicemen and women who have served in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
I was working with two other Australian women. At 5 am on 25th April we rose and headed off to a nearby beach where the armed forces were commemorating ANZAC day with the traditional dawn service. The re-enactment of the ANZAC landing at Gallipoli was very moving. Army personnel were ferried from a ship onto the shore by the Navy. It is one of the best ANZAC day commemorations I have been to. Followed by a traditional Aussie barbeque of sausages and eggs.
Gunfire and Two Up
‘Gun fire’ was originally a British military term referring to the early cup of tea with a dash of rum served out to troops in the morning.
Two up is a traditional Australian gambling game legally played on ANZAC Day. It is generally illegal due to its classification as unregulated gambling, with exceptions under the Gambling (Two-up) Act 1998.
For the Timor Aid ladies it was back to work for the day. While the rest of the Aussies and New Zealanders continued onto the usual two up game a bit of drinking and thinking of mates they had served with in military campaigns.
Close of Day
That evening we joined the Australian army nurses at the Dengue Bar to continue the Australian celebrations of ANZAC day. The New Zealand contingent then performed a rousing Haka. I got goosebumps watching these fit healthy NZ soldiers doing the Haka.
What a moving moment.
Lugma
In 1998 my life changed forever. I was 50 years old, divorced and was lost as to what my life should be. Through fate my work life changed as did my life. I began working in Arnhem Land in Australia, my new found lust for a different life led me onto working in East Timor then onto living in Africa. All life styles and experiences were so different to my younger life. I began writing about my life for my family. It was not long before they were suggesting I write a book. Instead I have decided to write an ongoing Blog. This is for my family we all have a wonderful life, don't be scared to take it by the horns and enjoy.
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