Timor: Leste is more

Bon Dia! Another day in Timor Leste and it is getting better and better. I can see how Maarten loves living here. I can also see how everyone here gets extremely frustrated every now and again. Things move slowly and they seem to have an almost alien way of thinking. Luckily I have worked with India quite a lot and since there are many similarities I am not too bothered. I can see how it is frustrating if you see your efforts to help the people are hindered by bureaucracy and incompetence though.

First item on the agenda was a visit to the Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Industry (MTCI) who are responsible for rice distribution. Tomorrow is a big day for the TL government. There is a sort of parliamentary hearing on some matters I know very little about but it looks like some minister's jobs are on the line. Also another (or her husband, I am not sure) is being indited for fraud. Well, developing countries are never dull.


Maarten and I waiting to meet the minister

It was a short meeting where we discussed some interesting points. Some of us will actually help us with what we are trying to achieve here. He is also very clever... He was kind enough to pose for a picture.



We also visited the 'old' central warehouse location to see how things were before they started improving the logistics process here. I was a bit taken aback by the state of the warehouses. Luckily later in the day I would see how much things have improved.









We drove to the beach for lunch. I can honestly say that the food here is excellent. The restaurants and bars all look inviting and they serve delicious food. It is not extremely cheap, but $9 for a fish & chips and a coke is not bad either. TL is not a very cheap country by any means.





After lunch Maarten and I went to buy a new mattress for the (also new) bed that was delivered yesterday. As of right now I am sleeping on a very comfortable 140cm bed. Much nicer than the single cast iron bed I slept in on the first day.


The mattress store

After getting this delivered I went with Louis and two WFP employees to the Central Warehouse where they store the rice once it is delivered. This setting is west of Dili in a beautiful location and is clearly a massive improvement on the old situation.







It was a tiring day. A lot of impressions and a lot of things to think about. In the end it all comes down to one thing: how do we track one of these things throughout the distribution process?



I am looking forward to probably another wonderful dinner and an amazing night's sleep in the new bed.