We have now decided we prefer the Ozzy troops to the Kiwis. The Ozzy’s have browned off a bit and look less like lobsters and one Kiwi soldier was rude to me. So much that Wayne had to defend my honour. I’d pulled up to a road block in Hera with Wayne driving the car behind me. A Kiwi soldier was manning the block and kept me waiting with no eye contact. This is not a big deal, but they are usually very friendly. He then asked for ID, so I replied I didn’t have to show him ID because it wasn’t the law in East Timor to carry it. Puzzled, he tried to clarify his question, ‘So you don’t have ID? I told him I did but it was in the back of the truck and I didn’t have to show it to him, (if it had been to hand I would have given it to him). He then took his time check the truck and plates and finally gave me the thumbs up signal, so off I drove. Unbeknown to me, behind my truck he made a rather rude hand gesture then stormed up to Wayne’s car and called me a ‘Feken Betch’ (please excuse my Kiwi accent). Astonished Wayne replied ‘She’s not a Feken Betch, she works for me!’ To defend his words the Kiwi replied ‘She wouldn’t show me ID’, to which Wayne replied ‘She’s quite in her rights not to, we are under Timorese law not martial law’. Disgruntled the soldier let Wayne through. They are so bored; at least it will give him something to talk about in the mess tonight.
It’s a really fine balance when you bring troops in from different countries and cultures, they are bored out of their brains, and don’t know anything about the country or their traditions. The Malaysian troops have been brought to our attention as Shane was driving through a roadblock and got searched. He spoke to the troops in Bahasa which they understand and claimed he had no weapons in his truck. Being a forester he didn’t think that the machete under his seat and the saw and shears in the back of his truck were weapons. Of course when the Malaysian troops found them Shane realised that they could be seen in a different light. The Malaysians kept repeating that machetes can kill people and then asked if Shane was their friend? Shane immediately thought they wanted money, but no, they wanted girls. Obviously Shane refused to be their pimp. So much for good little Muslim boys.
The Catholic church has a huge influence here, so obviously there is no sex before marriage, no contraception and they have made prostitution illegal. You may as well stick your head in the sand! Prostitution has been around since the roman times, and just because its illegal doesn’t mean it will stop, all you will see is the rise of HIV and backstreet abortions. Women here are baby making machines, even when they neither can afford it in monetary terms or physically. The First Lady has set up a very worthy charity which encourages mothers to breast feed, a natural but not foolproof contraception.
Obviously with the Catholic influence, over-population is a problem which the Indonesians tried to eradicate by injecting contraception chips into unsuspecting Timorese women during the occupation. Human guinea pigs! It’s reported that 70% of the population is under 22, hence high levels of unemployment. Bored and poor young men are never a good mixture when you look at the recent troubles here.
With the return on the UN, GNR, AFP (Awfully fat police!) and troops from various countries, and old problem has been recently reported by Lindsey Murdock of the Sydney Morning Herald (who let the dogs out fame, for anyone who has been following this saga). He recently wrote an article regading at least 20 children born to UN peacekeepers that have been abandoned with no financial means of support, whilst their mothers have been exiled from their communities. He also wrote ‘In early 2001, two soldiers were sent home with injured penises after allegedly attempting sexual intercourse with goats’. Forget lock up your daughters, lock up your livestock! I’d better tell Robbie to make sure Millie (his goat) is safe.
I’ve heard a story about two Jordanese soldiers that raped a little boy here in 2001. They were escorted home by the King of Jordan and shot dead the moment they stepped off the plane. That’s the punishment for that type for crime in Jordan.
There are still thousands of people in IDP camps around Dili, still too scared to go home. I hear the argument that these camps are too permanent and they don’t encourage people to move back. But if you can imagine me, camping out in Datchet train station, too scared to return to my 3 bed semi in case Ana and Evan beat me up and torch my house. You can’t can you?
On the diving front, this weekend we ran a boat trip to the island of Atauro. We had two boats full but the we
ather was rough so we had a few seasick people. When I briefed Nelson and Jose on the Friday, both their faces fell when I mentioned the boat. This was not surprising as the last time both their faces were a horrible shade of green through seasickness. I assured them that this time we would give them seasick tablets, but unfortunately they didn’t work and both of them sported the same green pallor for most of the day. I don’t think they will trust me again.
The diving itself was incredible; the first dive was Manta Ray cove. I can honestly say I have never done a wall dive with such pristine virgin coral. The colours were spectacular with the morning shards of light streaming through caves and crevices, it assailed your senses, so much that you didn’t know where to look and couldn’t take it all in. With 30 meters visibility and a large Napoleon Wrasse, it’s got to be in my top 10 dives of all time.
It’s a really fine balance when you bring troops in from different countries and cultures, they are bored out of their brains, and don’t know anything about the country or their traditions. The Malaysian troops have been brought to our attention as Shane was driving through a roadblock and got searched. He spoke to the troops in Bahasa which they understand and claimed he had no weapons in his truck. Being a forester he didn’t think that the machete under his seat and the saw and shears in the back of his truck were weapons. Of course when the Malaysian troops found them Shane realised that they could be seen in a different light. The Malaysians kept repeating that machetes can kill people and then asked if Shane was their friend? Shane immediately thought they wanted money, but no, they wanted girls. Obviously Shane refused to be their pimp. So much for good little Muslim boys.
The Catholic church has a huge influence here, so obviously there is no sex before marriage, no contraception and they have made prostitution illegal. You may as well stick your head in the sand! Prostitution has been around since the roman times, and just because its illegal doesn’t mean it will stop, all you will see is the rise of HIV and backstreet abortions. Women here are baby making machines, even when they neither can afford it in monetary terms or physically. The First Lady has set up a very worthy charity which encourages mothers to breast feed, a natural but not foolproof contraception.
Obviously with the Catholic influence, over-population is a problem which the Indonesians tried to eradicate by injecting contraception chips into unsuspecting Timorese women during the occupation. Human guinea pigs! It’s reported that 70% of the population is under 22, hence high levels of unemployment. Bored and poor young men are never a good mixture when you look at the recent troubles here.
With the return on the UN, GNR, AFP (Awfully fat police!) and troops from various countries, and old problem has been recently reported by Lindsey Murdock of the Sydney Morning Herald (who let the dogs out fame, for anyone who has been following this saga). He recently wrote an article regading at least 20 children born to UN peacekeepers that have been abandoned with no financial means of support, whilst their mothers have been exiled from their communities. He also wrote ‘In early 2001, two soldiers were sent home with injured penises after allegedly attempting sexual intercourse with goats’. Forget lock up your daughters, lock up your livestock! I’d better tell Robbie to make sure Millie (his goat) is safe.
I’ve heard a story about two Jordanese soldiers that raped a little boy here in 2001. They were escorted home by the King of Jordan and shot dead the moment they stepped off the plane. That’s the punishment for that type for crime in Jordan.
There are still thousands of people in IDP camps around Dili, still too scared to go home. I hear the argument that these camps are too permanent and they don’t encourage people to move back. But if you can imagine me, camping out in Datchet train station, too scared to return to my 3 bed semi in case Ana and Evan beat me up and torch my house. You can’t can you?
On the diving front, this weekend we ran a boat trip to the island of Atauro. We had two boats full but the we
ather was rough so we had a few seasick people. When I briefed Nelson and Jose on the Friday, both their faces fell when I mentioned the boat. This was not surprising as the last time both their faces were a horrible shade of green through seasickness. I assured them that this time we would give them seasick tablets, but unfortunately they didn’t work and both of them sported the same green pallor for most of the day. I don’t think they will trust me again.The diving itself was incredible; the first dive was Manta Ray cove. I can honestly say I have never done a wall dive with such pristine virgin coral. The colours were spectacular with the morning shards of light streaming through caves and crevices, it assailed your senses, so much that you didn’t know where to look and couldn’t take it all in. With 30 meters visibility and a large Napoleon Wrasse, it’s got to be in my top 10 dives of all time.
