Christo Ray in Dili, Timor Leste

When I was sitting at the fourth grade of elementary school in 1997, my social science teacher taught us [the student] that Timor Leste was the youngest province in Indonesia. Timor Leste, which was known as Timor Timur or East Timor, was the 27th province in Indonesia. It is located in Timor Island. But later in 1999, Timor Timur was separated from Indonesia and became an independent country, Democratic Republic of Timor Leste.

To be honest, when I was still in elementary school, junior [00-03] and senior high school [03-06] , I did not know what happened in Timor Leste exactly such as why it separated from Indonesia, how is the exact condition there. Well you know… whenever you studied history of your country at the school, the text book did not explain about the history in detail especially as the book are edited by Ministry of National Education.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I visited Timor Leste for the very first time in 2008 and I have visited Timor Leste several times since then. Even though I have not visited all the places in Timor Leste, I have already decided that my favorite place is Baucau District because it has an old market, a nice hotel and a hidden white sand beach, which is so quite and clean. However, I heard that we cannot swim in the beach anymore as there was a crocodile.

And here I am presenting another human interest snap shot that I took on several trips.

They are Timorese children, who make and sell a hand-made shell necklace to earn extra money. Each necklace would be sold for as much as 1 USD

Some Timorese children, who are living in Com Timor Leste, are making and selling a homemade shell necklace. They usually sell it to tourist, who stay in Com Beach Resort, for as much as 1 USD

The smile of Timorese children from Dili Tais Market, Timor Leste