|
| |
Subject: AGE: Journey to a new life (Atauro)
Journey to a new life
By Liza Power
June 8, 2005
A community worker has helped islanders change their lives.
Approaching Atauro Island by boat in 1994, Gabrielle Samson looked across
the inhospitable waters of Selat Ombar to a slip of even more inhospitable
land and wondered if people really lived there.
Three days later, having toured the island's towns and hamlets, Samson
prepared to leave, only to find her ferry trip back to the mainland
cancelled due to rough seas. The following day, Samson was approached by a
village leader with a request. Would she stay for six months to train local
teachers in early childhood education and set up the island's first
kindergarten? It was at that moment, Samson says, that she was struck by a
clear sense that the island was going to be significant in her life.
"The challenge was put in front of me, and while I'm not a fatalistic
person, it did feel like it was meant to be. I thought I could make a
difference."
Samson has made a difference. The tiny island of Atauro, a three-hour ferry
ride due north of East Timor's capital, Dili, just 20 kilometres long, now
has five kindergartens, one for each of its five villages.
Its fledgling economy, based on subsistence-level fishing and farming, has
been boosted by the opening of an eco-tourism village, funds from which
support Atauro's health clinic and school. Home to four cars, a weekly ferry
and a wooden boat, the island also has a library. Plans for a mobile
library, to take books to children living in some of Atauro's more remote
villages, are also on the drawing board - if the local librarian, who
publishes and produces her own books, can print the pages fast enough.
Samson, along with a team of community workers, was also instrumental in
establishing the island's own NGO, Roman Luan (ROLU), resources for which
were initially drawn from a community service program supported by an
Indonesian university.
"When the university withdrew at independence, we were left with a handful
of people with experience in community development, along with a few
resources, an office, a computer and a boat," says Samson.
"The question came up of what to do with those things - look for support
from the mainland, find financial backing. So a meeting of community leaders
was called and it was decided that starting our own organisation was the
best way forward."
The leaders also chose the organisation's name, which translates roughly as
"spreading light and clarity widely", a reference to its role in promoting
early childhood and adult literacy.
Despite the enthusiasm of islanders, Samson says she was initially wary of
the impact tourism might have on island life.
"There was talk of a casino, big tourism stuff. I felt the islanders were
very vulnerable, because they couldn't anticipate the effect tourism might
have on them, either environmentally, culturally or socially."
To encourage islanders to consider the values and risks of tourism, Samson
arranged a series of workshops. One involved putting individuals in groups
to consider what they thought development might mean for their future.
Their responses, she says, were fascinating.
"They came up with a lot of things - ideas about making life more
meaningful, making humans more human. What they didn't come up with was lots
of money and cars and TVs."
Called Tua Koin village, the eco-tourism venture opened in 2003. Comprising
eight bamboo huts, several sleeping platforms and a kitchen area, it was
built by local tradespeople using local materials.
Features include recycling facilities, solar power and a store where local
craftspeople can sell their wares. Travellers to Atauro divide their time
between snorkelling the island's reefs, hiking its mountainous spine,
discovering the local culture, or mellowing out under a palm tree.
Despite proving popular with UN and international NGO workers, Samson says
the mass exodus of foreigners from Dili means islanders must now consider
ways to attract visitors from further afield. While the island's
geographical isolation has been a blessing in the past - Atauro was largely
left untouched by World War II, the Indonesian invasion and occupation, and
subsequent militia attacks that decimated the mainland population - it may
prove a challenge in the face of attracting tourists.
Those who do visit are greeted by a culture quite distinct from the rest of
East Timor.
"Mainland people talk about islanders having their own way of thinking,"
says Samson, who claims that, after close to a decade on the island, there
are still many things she doesn't fully understand.
"I grasp things on a functional level, but there are plenty of gaps,
particularly on the level of ethnography."
Currently in Australia for three months to promote the work of ROLU - she is
speaking publicly today and tomorrow - and to celebrate the birth of her
first grandchild, Samson says the culture shock of Melbourne is difficult to
negotiate.
"I have to shift from a deeper sense of what's it all about when I come
back, and that's hard to get over. People ask about running water and
electricity (on the island) and it doesn't even cross my mind. There are too
many other good things to think about."
Now an international advocate, adviser and liaison person for ROLU, Samson
says that working with islanders, empowering them with the skills, knowledge
base and the confidence to make decisions for their future has been richly
rewarding.
"Whatever happens, I will always have a connection with the island. Older
people say to me, 'You will die here, won't you? You'll have a really big
funeral, lots of people will come'.
"Wherever I am, the island is in my heart, and it will always be there."
Back to June menu
May
World Leaders Contact List
Main Postings Menu
|
|
