PROJECT ‘OSTICO EAST TIMOR’
18 May 2009
Roof is on, looking great
Simon went to the school again last weekend. Apparently the builder was very disappointed that Simon went on a Saturday as he is very proud of his work and wanting to show it off with an official tour! The new school building is coming along well with the roof now on and the ceiling steel beams in place. The ceiling of the old school building has been removed and new wooden beams have been put in to replace those which were rotting. All looking great.
Simon also sent through some photos of the area which make you stop and think about how little people there have. Two things always strike me when I look at photos of the houses and the school kids .. The first is that the outside of the houses are spotless, swept with branches, rocks neatly lined up. The second is that the kids’ white school shirts are a lovely clean white, not stained, not dirty and mostly not even crumpled (the only water source in Ostico is a small spring some distance away). As someone who struggles to do either of those things with running hot and cold water and top of the range electrical items, I am always in awe. And each time I see it, it makes me realise the value that the Timorese place on what little they have.
  
project: OSTICO EAST TIMOR
04 May 2009
Walls are up
Agostinho has made a couple of trips to the school (a round trip of at least 6 hours) and has been reporting back that everything is going really well. Simon went himself on the weekend and has sent through a report saying that everything is looking great. The new classrooms are coming along well with the walls all up and scaffolding everywhere. Refurbishment has also started on the old classrooms. The old burnt down building has been demolished save for the foundation. Everything is going to plan – ahead of schedule if anything.
Simon also sent through some photos of the area which make you stop and think about how little people there have. Two things always strike me when I look at photos of the houses and the school kids .. The first is that the outside of the houses are spotless, swept with branches, rocks neatly lined up. The second is that the kids’ white school shirts are a lovely clean white, not stained, not dirty and mostly not even crumpled (the only water source in Ostico is a small spring some distance away). As someone who struggles to do either of those things with running hot and cold water and top of the range electrical items, I am always in awe. And each time I see it, it makes me realise the value that the Timorese place on what little they have. Agostinho has made a couple of trips to the school (a round trip of at least 6 hours) and has been reporting back that everything is going really well. Simon went himself on the weekend and has sent through a report saying that everything is looking great. The new classrooms are coming along well with the walls all up and scaffolding everywhere. Refurbishment has also started on the old classrooms. The old burnt down building has been demolished save for the foundation. Everything is going to plan – ahead of schedule if anything.
project: OSTICO EAST TIMOR
30 March 2009
Heaps happening already
Just 3 weeks later and heaps has happened on the school. Simon and Agostinho visited the site on Friday and Saturday and sent a report with lots of photos. The new classrooms are actually going up fast and may be completed in just over a month. The demolition of the burnt out building is also happening. On Saturday morning classes were being held in the awful tin shed. Something Simon has mentioned each time he has visited though is how serious the children’s concentration is and how they are perfectly disciplined. I find it hard to picture my children working without complaint sitting on a broken bench seat inside a windowless, baking hot tin shed.
And apparently our money has survived its tour of the world and reached the builder’s account.
 
project: OSTICO EAST TIMOR
08 March 2009
First ever money transfer from Abu Dhabi to East Timor
I made history today I’m sure. After about an hour in the head office of HSBC in Abu Dhabi I think that I have sent US$15,000 to Elvino the builder’s account in Baucau in East Timor – bizarrely (and quite un-nervingly) via Macau and via an account in Dili. I had to first convince that the bank staff that a country called “Timor Leste” did exist and then try and explain why someone living in the Middle East wanted to donate money to such a place. I am sure they suspected me of some elaborate money laundering scheme – or quite possibly just madness. I did wonder about my sanity as I sent so much money off into the unknown. I guess we wait and see if it turns up where it’s supposed to.
project: OSTICO EAST TIMOR
06 March 2009
Impressive building work
Simon and Agostinho went out to Ostico again on the weekend, this time with Catherine and Sharad, two of the DLA Piper lawyers on secondment to the government in East Timor. Agostinho (the technical and practical person amongst the other three who are lawyers!) is very impressed with the work of Elvino. He has said that his attention to detail (even down to choice of paint color to match and hide the local mud) has been impressive. He could not be more positive with how things are going.
Only three months in and we are now thinking about the opening. Kirsty Sword Gusmao and the East Timor Education Minister are going to open the school which is fabulous. It’s amazing to think that they feel so strongly about this project for one small school to devote a whole day of their time to attending the opening.
project: OSTICO EAST TIMOR
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