So this last week has been pretty eventful for a few different reasons! Fist off my host family and I went to the beach and had a great time. With the sand between our toes and the feeling of the tide as it slowly abates the land we walk upon, made the day a holistic practice in the balance between work and relaxation. The thing that burns out a lot of people is getting to wrapped up in work and being unable to relax, which in turn lessons our ability to be effective and resilient when handling the ebbs and flows of life. We finished the trip to the beach by doing a little fishing and having our lunch on the beach, it was an awesome trip and honestly much needed. The pictures below show some of the awesome views that we were able to see, and even though you weren't there, I hope they can help your day go smoothly.
The other pictures down below are about from the newest project I've been working on. You've probably already deduced the project, but I'll start form the beginning anyways to catch you all up. So I'm walking out the of the office and I look around at all the garbage that is just littered on the ground. You see, because Timor-leste doesn't yet have a waste management system in place, there is a lot of negative ways that trash is dealt with. Most people will burn their trash, along with most anything else that is thrown away, and often times here in the Villa people don't tend to bring their trash back home with them. So most times trash is just thrown on the streets and stays there because very few people want to deal with it.
I began thinking of how we could deal with the waste in the office and hopefully make a new model for waste management around the community so I proposed the idea of cleaning up the trash in the office to my counter part who loved the idea. along with this we decided to start a compost pit to take care of all the biodegradable things that would often be wither burned of littered. With that we set out to clean up the office, and after 2 days and 6-7 bags of trash later we finally have a relatively clean office, and although changing the habit of littering will take a while, I believe we can make a difference! Along with that the compost pit was a fun way of not only getting everyone involved in recycling, but will also serve as a great tool for the communities that CDB works with. Below is a video that shows a lot of the recent progress we have made on the compost area and notes the places people will be able to leave their green and brown waste.
The idea for this pit came from the RED Gardens you tube channel, so shout out to them for inspiring me to start this project. The main issue is getting people to adopt a foreign idea, so I am hoping that the simple rule of, "Anything that was Previously Alive" (Buat ruma uluk moris) will allow people to have an easier time of adopting this method. Along with that I have been talking to a lot of co-workers about the belief that, since God blessed us with this land, we in turn should respect it and treat it life the gift it is. This I feel has been effective in getting people to understand where I'm coming from when I talk about how important recycling and composting is to keeping Timor-leste the beautiful island paradise it can be!
So yeah, things have been exciting and I look forward to getting back to building the server! However, seeing the rebirth that comes from the compost pit in the form of nutrient rich soil will be a good driver for the days when I question how much I'm really doing here. Like I said at the beginning of this post, having that balance of work and relaxation if important so as not to get burnt out. So for any prospective Peace Corps volunteers I have this advice, look after yourself and in turn you will be better able to look after those you care about. I've been blathering on enough, so I'll just leave you with this until next time!
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. ~Helen Keller
Much love,
~BW
P.S. The last picture is of a huge spider we saw at Amalia's in Baucau, the thing was bigger than my hand!! It's called a Giant Golden Orb Weaver, so click the link if you're not afraid of huge spiders!!
