Day 14 Farewell to East Timor
Tom Mahony and Alex McGill
We are deeply reflective about both the nation and also about ourselves as we leave East Timor. Transition from the relative seclusion of St Ignatius School at Kasait to the busyness of Dili heightened the contrast between our different living environments. Living with 10 people on the floor to being in an air-conditioned room at Hotel Dili was a disconnect. This will surely be amplified with our arrival in Darwin and home. It will take time to absorb the differences and also appreciate the similarities between Timorese and Australian societies.
After breakfast we walked down the foreshore to Le Cidere to have some reflection time. It has been a solid and compressed exposure to an unexpected culture. Among our insights was a gratefulness of the richness of the Timorese people - not by material wealth but by a ubiquitous happiness and enduring resilience. For all the abundance of opportunity in Australia, we have much to learn from those who have so little and so limited prospects. During our reflection we thought back to what touched our hearts the most. Most spoke of the happiness that everyone shares in Timor Leste despite the long suffering they have gone through.
Our journey has offered such valuable experiences. Coffee-picking provided an awareness of the small rewards for arduous effort, and also their warm-hearted perseverance in the face of this. At the school in Kasait we experienced the harnessing of both hope and resolution. We have eaten with the poorest of villagers and watched their smiling generosity. They have helped us give with magnanimity in the spirit of the Prayer of Ignatius “Teach me to be generous …”. Through our time here we have encountered a compassion that is inclusive of all. It is awake in the streets, behind desks in the hotels, in the prisons and in the humblest of Timorese families.
It is with heavy hearts that we board our flight to Darwin after so intense a time, leaving so much behind us untouched. A yearning to do more, to see more, and to be more for the Timorese, to whom we have warmed so quickly, makes this a long and unforgiving goodbye. The people we have met on this immersion have been an inspiration for our lives to come. We were amazed to meet such generous people like Sister Rita, Father Quyen and Brother Rui. They have inspired us all to see others in a different light and we will take this experience to heart. Our teachers on this pilgrimage have helped us out with so much. Shane has worked so hard, planning and organising us at each step. Ever reliable, Lisa has tracked and cared for us. Vanda has been like our overseas mum. Fr Peter with his experience here has been wise and compassionate always. All have been a shoulder to lean on for support.
We head to Darwin with a wide array of positive emotions. We feel such happiness that we will be reunited with our loved ones soon. There are also feelings of uncertainty because of our deep connections with the people of Timor Leste. The influences of this time will hopefully change us all for the better. This experience has left such a memorable mark in our hearts. It will be sad to farewell all the amazing people we have met and the twenty people in our immersion group with whom we have got to know and love over the past two weeks.
When we cleared customs, some went by minivan with Shane and others by taxi with Fr Peter or Vanda and Lisa. We settled in to the Hotel Capricornia and made our way up the road to the Trailer Van Park for dinner. It was a big meal and we all felt full. We headed to our rooms excited to be back in Australia. Tomorrow we have a morning in Darwin before going to the airport for various flights to Hervey Bay, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
Tom Mahony and Alex McGill
We are deeply reflective about both the nation and also about ourselves as we leave East Timor. Transition from the relative seclusion of St Ignatius School at Kasait to the busyness of Dili heightened the contrast between our different living environments. Living with 10 people on the floor to being in an air-conditioned room at Hotel Dili was a disconnect. This will surely be amplified with our arrival in Darwin and home. It will take time to absorb the differences and also appreciate the similarities between Timorese and Australian societies.
After breakfast we walked down the foreshore to Le Cidere to have some reflection time. It has been a solid and compressed exposure to an unexpected culture. Among our insights was a gratefulness of the richness of the Timorese people - not by material wealth but by a ubiquitous happiness and enduring resilience. For all the abundance of opportunity in Australia, we have much to learn from those who have so little and so limited prospects. During our reflection we thought back to what touched our hearts the most. Most spoke of the happiness that everyone shares in Timor Leste despite the long suffering they have gone through.
Our journey has offered such valuable experiences. Coffee-picking provided an awareness of the small rewards for arduous effort, and also their warm-hearted perseverance in the face of this. At the school in Kasait we experienced the harnessing of both hope and resolution. We have eaten with the poorest of villagers and watched their smiling generosity. They have helped us give with magnanimity in the spirit of the Prayer of Ignatius “Teach me to be generous …”. Through our time here we have encountered a compassion that is inclusive of all. It is awake in the streets, behind desks in the hotels, in the prisons and in the humblest of Timorese families.
It is with heavy hearts that we board our flight to Darwin after so intense a time, leaving so much behind us untouched. A yearning to do more, to see more, and to be more for the Timorese, to whom we have warmed so quickly, makes this a long and unforgiving goodbye. The people we have met on this immersion have been an inspiration for our lives to come. We were amazed to meet such generous people like Sister Rita, Father Quyen and Brother Rui. They have inspired us all to see others in a different light and we will take this experience to heart. Our teachers on this pilgrimage have helped us out with so much. Shane has worked so hard, planning and organising us at each step. Ever reliable, Lisa has tracked and cared for us. Vanda has been like our overseas mum. Fr Peter with his experience here has been wise and compassionate always. All have been a shoulder to lean on for support.
We head to Darwin with a wide array of positive emotions. We feel such happiness that we will be reunited with our loved ones soon. There are also feelings of uncertainty because of our deep connections with the people of Timor Leste. The influences of this time will hopefully change us all for the better. This experience has left such a memorable mark in our hearts. It will be sad to farewell all the amazing people we have met and the twenty people in our immersion group with whom we have got to know and love over the past two weeks.
When we cleared customs, some went by minivan with Shane and others by taxi with Fr Peter or Vanda and Lisa. We settled in to the Hotel Capricornia and made our way up the road to the Trailer Van Park for dinner. It was a big meal and we all felt full. We headed to our rooms excited to be back in Australia. Tomorrow we have a morning in Darwin before going to the airport for various flights to Hervey Bay, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.