Yesterday we were receiving such a marvelous love gifts from bro Tan Keng Huat , a pilot for Singapore airlines in the form of books for the children. Thank you bro , may be one day you can also read those books and telling the stories to the children ha ha ha . Our library will be better and better because of your love gifts.

Right after he left sis Vanessa came with bags of baby and children clothing. Thank you , we will bring them in the few days time to  the children.

Bro Chris Sng came with more children clothes, milk bottles and some others , thank you bro.

This evening madam Melissa came with so many children shoes and some milk bottles too, thank you.

Thank you to all, we will do our best to bring them all for the children at the orphanage and the near by  neighbours who are also in the need. It will be great if you can give them directly to the ultimate receivers ( may be one day during your visit ).

Have a blessed day to All.

Kingdom Entrepreneur - God in the

Market place

our trip to West Timor to Roslin orphanage

From left to right : Mark Lee : ” I see a social entrepreneurship is booming “

Jabez : ” I hold a live sea cucumber from the sea for the first time “

Serene : ” Amazing trip” I have learn and was truly blessed by the couple’s hospitality

Peggy she is the captain of Roslin Orphanage , a great helper and a great cook

Budi He is a captain for the best airlines in the world ( currently Singapore Airlines

is the best) and so many other port folios at the orphanage’s activities.

Thoughts from Jabez……. ” Aunty Peggy’s cooking is so yummy “

In the September holiday, I went to Jakarta with my parents. And after that we went to West Timor. We stayed at a small hotel near Roslin orphanage. The hotel was owned by the owner of the orphanage and his name is Uncle Budi. We visited many places such as the beach, villages and more. And we visited Uncle Budi’s farm and saw how big it was. After that we headed to makan ( eat) . The makan was quite a lot and the food always taste good. On the forth day we went to the beach. There was lots of sand there. Then Uncle Budi and myself went into the swallow water. For the first time I held a sea cucumber in my hand, it was slimy and very black and guess what it squits some kind of sticky liquid on me. “yucks” After we ate coconuts at the beach., we went to the night market. There were lots of food there. Then we ordered soto ayam and more. The avocado juice tastes good and sweet. I feel that this trip is wonderful and has a lot of precious memories. On the second day we went to see and visited a village. “Ahh!” forgotten it’s name. The old villagers there did not know how old they are and the children do not even know what were cars and aeroplanes! surprise? A family with more than five people only used 5 liters of water per day. And they do not even bathe! Auntie Peggy (Uncle Budi’s wife) told us that one packet of instant noodles can be shared among 10 people. Well, I would not be able to survive if I am them. You could say I am admiring them, actually I take my hats off them for their survival skills…..

Thoughts from Serene…….

” For the first time I learnt the deep and abiding truth of poverty to know and understand happinessand sufficientcy is what you have and what you don’t have”

31^st Aug 08

Mark, Jabez & myself were on our way to West Timor, this is a trip that we almost could not make it as I was not able to release myself at work. God provided & made it possible, the whole trip itself was a miracle & He orchestrated every venue that we visited. We did not know what to expect thinking just to bless the Roslin orphanage at Kupang, but instead what a surprise we were being blessed instead!

My family has experienced & learnt a precious lesson in life, something that money cannot buy something perhaps we know it existed but seeing is believing, we experience the other side of life “poverty” even relating the journey brings heart aches, it’s heart wrenching to see the condition of their houses, villages, their sanitary facilities, their cooking area, their bedroom are all confined to a simple straw built hut as big as the living room of a 2 room flat in Spore, and in here lives probably 10 person, grandma, dad, mum & 7 kids, including a new born baby. Well, cant imagine how we complain about overcrowding here, to them the Timorese is a luxury to be having a proper hut to stay in, functioning in the dark when night fall is something I cant imagine, the whole household depended on a little kerosene tin container for light. The new born is happily suckling for milk with mummy, but in our hearts we know jolly well there is hardly any milk available as mum is mal-nutritioned herself, the baby look scrony & thin and because of the firewood in the hut for cooking and boiling, the smoke has caused breathing problem to the new born.

All the children wore clothes that’s worse then the rag that we use back home, having shoe to wear is a luxury. Their staple food is corn, having rice & meat & egg is a piece of cake. Water is very very precious as there is only rain 1 mth a year, they don’t bathe, brush teeth nor drink much, 10 litres of water which they probably walk 7 km to fetch will be shared by the whole household. At this point of time I understand even money can not help much in their present condition , as they need to walk like a endless trail to buy the essentials, half of the money would have spent on transport, the lack of water, food & electricity & transport seems to be not bothering them. From them I learnt wealth & happiness is not what you don’t have but really what you already have.

Giving the villages basic essentials would almost be like blessings from heaven, we would be treated like king & queen, the 1 box of instant noodles Peggy brought would probably shared over a few household for mths and here dying from starvation & illness is common, hygiene is a problem they do not visit a doctor, they do not wash their clothes as there is no water for washing, they would wear them for months before using it as rags. Sigh..I cant say more but to empathise with them & thanking God for what I already have and how blessed we are in Singapore. Travelling into the “jungle” when they say was a village takes a good vehicle & driving skill, kudos to Godlift whom handle the bus like a piece of cake. Paths which they called roads were stony, hilly and winding travelling by Jeep took us almost 45 mins, let alone going by foot & during monsoon such roads become dangerous slippery & muddy.

My main purpose for this trip is to bless Budi & Peggy’s Orphanage, someone I have not met, Budi is a pilot with SIA, he has been flying for 32 years now, I went not knowing what to expect, but truly satisfied when I return not just with their warmth & friendship but with life experience learnt from a couple who’s down to earth, God fearing and someone with a big & compassionate heart for all young & old. They truly fit into the equation of a miracle. “Prayer + Compassion = Miracle” This is Jesus’ model isn’t it? It is no wonder how God has bless them with miracles after miracles.

From Budi I’ve learnt valuable lessons of back to basics, from padi, corn, peanut planting, cultivating seaweed to harvesting, sunning & processing them and eventually consuming them. This trip I’ve seen unprocessed cashew nut, many other plants that were purposefully planted in their “green” house.

Budi has a farm which was dry, parched and barren to begin with. Thank God just the beginning of the year they witness a miracle when they saw water sprouting from the artisan well, after the manual water drill has done it’s work. When the neighbor borrow the drill for their land, no water was detected! Apparently with the water running, they are able to have a single harvest that’s sufficient to supply 3 years of the orphanage’s consumption and even enough to give to the poor…such amazing providence!

Budi was sharing with us how the Roslin Orphanage has started , simply with a trusting & compassionate heart he was forced into buying a land from a couple whom he helped to pay off hospital bills & debts. Unknown to Budi & Peggy the land that they first acquired came as a barren land with rocks & wild weeds and no one would expect it to develop into a orphanage a few years later. The orphanage grew from a little hut to a big house with a couple of rooms, kitchen, outdoor washing area, a library, a green house, generator and their very own mobile water tank for buying water from town, the orphanage now comprises of about 30+ orphans, youngest being 1,5 mths old, the older girls would then help to take care of the younger ones, the older boys would help in other chores like planting, gardening, carpentary and suning of rice etc

Each orphan has a story to tell, their family background and how they were abandon could bring tears to your eyes even by just listening to how Budi related the story of their arrival. Some of them came as babies. One came because the parents had no more money to feed the kid, another one was struck with poverty, when Peggy arrived in their house, they were too late as one child has already died of starvation, they only managed to take his brother…and the sad stories goes on…listening to these seems like a awakening call to all of us.

During our stay in Kupang, the couple has rushed out a room for us in their half completed “Homestay” putting in air-con, new bed, lighting and water were specially pumped into the toilet for our use.

From the few days with the captain I have known him to be very different from what I expected of a captain, he has no air and he treated everyone with respect. God has truly given him a big heart and a heart for the lost & the destitute. A father to the fatherless. He is visionary , has big dreams to start a school for the poor, to help the farmers, to help the uneducated & to provide English lessons for every child in the orphanage.

As for Peggy, she mothers the children and run the activities of the orphanage, her cooking is commendable, her sambal chilli taste sedap! She cooks for the orphanage and had even cook for 900 people by blessing a couple friend during their wedding…such magnitude of generosity.

Mark & myself would like to thank Budi and Peggy for their time, their hospitality bringing us to places that no tourist agency would even have packaged for us. On the whole the trip turns out to be better than what I can ask for, heartwarming and educational, I left Timor with memories and gratitude, I am sure I will be back with more friends, friends who has the heart for the lost. The journal that Mark, Jabez and myself wrote speaks loud and clear for the very fulfilling trip we had, be sure to join us next trip!

6 Sep 08 Jabez, Serene & Mark

At Changi Airport departing for West Timor via Jakarta

Arriving at Kupang ” Eltari Airport ”

the entrance of Roslin Orphanage….. the address should be changed to the new address:

Roslin Orphange, Desa Penfui Timur, dusun 01, RT 01, RW 01, Kecamatan Kupang Tengah, Kabupaten Kupang, N T T, Indonesia.

our quality time with the children at the orphanage

Jabez sweeping the floor

our regular fellowship

we have joy to share , please come

any one to teach us a new song ?

the organic chicken laid the eggs under the wood piles

this is the way how the people preserve the corn above their cooking place for preventing the insects to eat them

the orphanage’s 10 year old generator for the electricity during the black out nights

the orphanage’s fantastic library and computer room

our precious time with the children

brand new projector and love gift for the orphanage from bro Mark Lee

toys and other gifts from bro Mark Lee and his family

organic mud crab

organic mud crab ….. ???? yes so yummy

working together since young among the children

come and i will sing for you

Thoughts from Mark…….

” I have seen what love can do to change the environment and offer hope to the hopeless. What generosity and dedication!… “

I recommend strongly that you bring your children to experience the poverty and the simplicity of life. No text book or teacher can teach you the necessity of life in a rural environment in Kupang. It’s an eye opener, I have not seen poverty like this for a very long time. What strikes me most is that the people in West Timur takes things in it’s stride. I still can be happy and contended with the little that I have! The environment is pristine and unspoiled as compared to Jakarta. I would rather live in Kupang, the air is so clean and unpolluted. I have seen social entrepreneurship at work. It is driven by the desire to do something for the down and out. Especially the orphans after the war with the guerrillas in East Timur. Most of the people on the Timur Island are Christians. I see many churches being built. Roads are also being widen. Double carriage roads are also built. Lots of work are done to upgrade the infra structure. I estimated that Kupang is about 40 yrs behind Singapore. There is a lot of work to be done. Capt Budi and his wife Peggy is in the right place and the right time. Their effort have help to alleviate the suffering after the war. The abject poverty is everywhere. There is much to be done. I see effort being made to get the economy going. I pray that one day West Timor will be able to contribute to the building of East Timur and there will be a mending of ties between the two neighbours who will share the island of Timur together. Let’s all the Christians on the Timor island get together to help each other to build for the future! Wars are for the politicians and generals. Our God does not condone wars, He is interested in the well being of each and everyone of us. Hallelujah! I will be back to contribute to the building of God’s Kingdom of earth!

going back with a richer feeling in life

the well that the orphanage dug up manually for 37 meter but found no water

the water truck that God providing for the orphanage through angel friend’s help

a fully grown eagle which was found when it was small and the mother dead by the road side under a collapsed tree trunk

Jabez posing in front of the orphaned eagle ha ha ha

everything is possible when we found this this God’s sent directly “drinkable” water

because of the precious water we can transformed the unproductive land into green paddy field and made the orphanage self sufficient on rice

Budi was making food for the chicken, geese and ducts from the powdery extra product when milling the rice from the husk into rice

Another good news from the children progress. If you can remember that some months ago we were bringing 3 little ones to Jakarta for the children having a better medical treatments. Cornelis , Alexandro and Martina are ok and well now. They were fall within the mall nourished  child class and we brought them to have some nights into ICU treatment. They were given drips and proper food by the hospital and after that they have been staying at our house in Jakarta .  Any way they are now ok and well and ready to go back to the orphanage , to be with their so many brothers and sisters again . That will be a great time to be among their big family ha ha ha .  May be in few more weeks Peggy will pick them up and bring the to West Timor ( the orphanage).  It was a sad case to see sick and mall nourished child.

Peggy and Martina’s quality time

was at the stage of mall nourished baby status before but I am ok now

I am happy and healthy , ready to join my other bro and sis at the orphanage soon

I am not sick any more , can not wait to go back to the orphanage

We were moving to a new address in Singapore , so much work and after 1 week of unpacking we are still doing the unpacking ha ha ha . It is not easy to move from a place where you have lived for more than 10 years into a new place and rearranging things.

Today is a happy day for us for knowing that this morning we are having our 2nd rice harvest at our farm, Praise The Lord. Indeed The Lord is providing us for our needs timely and according to His existence being the Provider to His children. Even though I am not there , things can been done according to our plans . Again Praise The Lord for giving us His people to help us to do the harvest today. We do not know how to thank God better for being shown that His promise is being fulfilled as it is written for a condition of exceedingly and abundantly has been so real to our ministry at the orphanage. It will be great if some one can give us the photos of the actual harvest today.

Beside the paddy we are also having our organic water spinach ( kangkong) too. Our next project at the farm in the near future is to have a small fish pond , more organic chicken and may be some goats ( one step at the time ha ha ha )

our organic paddy field few weeks ago

our organic water spinach beside the paddy field

a visit by Mr Bowen at the farm

I was making an unplanned trip to Jakarta on the 13th . The reason was because of our house care taker at our house in Jakarta called us and said that the first floor of our house was flooded . They can not managed every thing by them self and my involvement was required. The rain was said to be heavily pouring on Oct 12th evening. I was rushing to get a ticket and went to Jakarta as soon as possible. Peggy also rushing back to Jakarta just in case I was not able to come to Jakarta and deal with the problem. What happened was the gutter on the roof was jammed by the dry leafs of the Rose Apple tree and the leafs of the mango trees. We were thinking that was because of a structural failure such as the pipe being broken . Praise The Lord it was not like that. Any way it was a great chance for me to have a little time to look after our own house in Jakarta. I have been missing my house too as almost all of my annual leave was spent in the orphanage ( so much work to do) . Last year I was staying at our own house for some 1 week only and I spend almost 3,5 months at the orphanage ha ha ha .

Being both of us were in Jakarta we thought it was a blessing in disguised because I was thinking that Peggy will be able to go back to Singapore after we dealt with the flood matter. The day that Peggy and I was planning to go back to Singapore , there was a phone call from the orphanage saying that one of the new baby was rather ill while another baby that Peggy was supposed to help was passed away ( the mother died right after giving birth). Instead of going back to Singapore with me at 17 15 pm , she must go back to the orphanage for the 17 30 pm departure. She just told me that she must bring the baby ( Doreen) to Jakarta for an intensive treatment as soon as possible. This time of the year is the driest month where airborne bacteria and lagging in water thus sanitation is at the worst stage. Praise The Lord that we have our own water truck so the need of water can be fulfilled without any problem.

Anyway the sick baby is in as Peggy’s good care now. After taking care of the baby until late last night, now the baby able to sleep properly. I guess it is time for Peggy to sleep now ha ha ha ( she was awake all day yesterday , arriving at the orphanage at 23 10 pm and she was looking after the baby till 4 am before every thing was under control).

Any way Peggy told me that for this year we are expecting to have another good harvest of mango, Praise The Lord. Come in December and we will let you to eat the ripe mango right from the trees. If you don’t come , we will up load the picture for you ha ha ha

I am afraid that I will not have the time to up date the blog for quite a while as we are now in the middle of packing. In 8 days time we will move to a new address in Singapore. We have been staying at the same place for 10 years so it is quite a lot of items must be packed properly.

Any way here is a musical instrument from Timor which is called as SASANDO

Have a blessed day to All

A very good morning to the world , to the new day and to every one. Here I am in New York just waking up. It has been a good stay for me here in New York for the last few days. Tonight we will be returning to Singapore. I do not know why but after watching all the television networks for these last 3 days about the bailout that USA has done for the economical problems , I am struck by a thought that “hard time is never last”. Indeed it is the opposite of the common thing which has been practiced , that is “good time never last”. May be I got influenced by the thoughts of having a positive thinking is good but as if I reflect back for the last 10 years in my life , I have been given such confirmations from The Lord that He cares , He loves , He does and He love us always. It is for us to love our self ( by eating well, do some exercises and use our time wisely for things to enhance our ability , quality and usefulness) , loves others ( by practicing a simple respect as human beings, make your self available to help out and do your best for the best result that can be expected) , do things ( such as making our own goals come through , other people’s goals come through and aiming for such a success based on common goals, tolerance and togetherness).

It is hard to start some thing good for a better thing , in fact the start it self is always the hardest part to do . There is a thought that the start is actually the first half of the success. Aiming, controlling and conquering your self is the hardest part in life but we must do it to enable us to be on the successful side.

While we got the time we must start for some thing , doing it and achieving it. Start small but aim big, not the other way around that is being practiced by some people ( start big and reach the top quick). Things must be started from small as we were created from a baby first when we came to this world . By gradual improvements and with the tender loving care from our parents we can grow big , healthy and reach our healthy adulthood. So the secret is to start small but we must think tall.

This economical trouble that has been happening was the result of not taking care of the economical health in the good way so the economical health has been disturbed but when the people are working together , nurturing together , watering properly , the economical problem will be able to be solved.

It is the same to our life.

We should use what we are having for the good things in life. For example , with the hands that we are having we can use it for some easy useful activities ( cleaning our neighborhood to enhance the environment healthiness etc) use our hands for writing books , be an author and shared your idea , use your hands for writing good message so others will have a chance to get the benefit from your thoughts.

God has plans for every one of us , nothing is impossible to The Lord and to the people who believe in Him. There will be an infinite possibilities for a small beginning ( especially if God is with us) . With The Lord being for us , again nothing is impossible , nothing to fear and He will do His part on making things to happen and it will happened good, timely and accordingly.

To give us some confidence about God’s involvement I can give you some solid example. The orphanage was in uncertainty about how to feed the children in 10 years time ( when I am supposed to retired) but look what happen now ? Things that I was so worried in the next 10 years , God has eliminated my worries for good. God give us the water which was unthinkable to happened to our barren land . We did our best to the barren land and within 3 months only , what we have been so worried in the next 10 years has been gone. From being facing the uncertainty we became an orphanage that is self sufficient on rice and even more ( we can already share our rice to others and we can make some money if we want to sell the rice ). May be this occurrence can be found else where by other believes but in the Bible we can find it on Isaiah 58 : 10-11. It is written that some thing that is impossible to happen but with God’s blessing it will happen and it has been happening to our ministry at the orphanage. Just by doing our best to what we are having ( the barren land) we were made to be capable to over come the hurdles that were impossible to be overcame based on our normal thoughts. Our 10 years planning which must be done with such a hard work has been shorten and eliminated for good in 3 months time by The Lord, Praise The Lord.

Aim good and do our best , with The Lord being with us all of our short comings will be over came at no time by Him self in His own mysterious way but timely.

I can give you another example which just happening short while ago. As you all know that one of our orphanage boy was excepted into the medical school. There were worries that we were supposedly to have in the financing part but Our Lord will not let us to have the burden became too heavy for us at the orphanage. God sends His people , His children and His Angels to help us out. He sends our dear Captain Len Mc Cully and his dear brother Derek Mc Cully to help us to pay for the medical school entry fees and another “angel friend ” sent to us to pay the boy’s education fees for the next 3 years. Another great friend has told me that he will help Gerson upon doing his specialist to be in Singapore. What we had was to aim high for the boy to be given a better and higher education and without delayed God has done His part by sending us His angels to finance it. Our future worries again being eliminated before we have the chance to feel it, Praise The Lord. Again it is written in the bible Isaiah 65 : 24 which is basically written that God will answer you before you even ask for it and God will hear it before we even say it. Praise The Lord. This verse will also suitable to the title of the entry. There are so much more of examples that I can tell you which were happening to our ministry. Praise The Lord ( for one other solid example please read the story about how we got our water truck)

It is for us to give our best for whatever we have in our possession . If we use our mind , soul and hands to do good to our self, to others and to The Lord, we will be able to over come all of problems regardless what they are.

Do it while we can but do not procrastinate

Shalom Alehem

Have a blessed day to every one .

Budi and family

It was a real surprised for me to be having mummy Rae , Richard and his lovely wife Dia visiting the orphanage. A huge surprised and we were so happy to have her among us again. It has been some 3 years since their last visit. It as during the time where Timor was not having any rain for 2 years . During that time we were so busy shopping for food materials , cooked and delivering the food to some schools and to some village people. It was a busy time but it was great to remember it. Withing 26  days we were able to give food to some 3500 people . It was possible because we were having some help from few other friends who came specially for the purpose of helping the hunger beside giving away some vitamins too. This time Mummy Rae m Richard and Dia were coming with sis Priaty , a lovely lady from Bali Island. Mummy Rae is my Australian mum, I have known her since 1976 , the time when I was a young boy who was doing the flight training in , Bankstown airport ,Sydney Australia. We are always connected since that time and always.

Thank you so much for your surprised visit , we really appreciated it .  We will visit you in Sydney soon ha ha ha .

Mummy Rae and Peggy with the latest baby Doreen

Ivan performing for Mummy Rae

Meneer Richard playing with the children

Julita clinging comfortably on Dia

listening to the children is very important

Richard helping us to carry our rice

Deddy Sukaryadi, Budi Soehardi and Mr Bill Whitworth in Sydney Morning Herald 1976

THIS WRITE UP WAS WRITTEN BY SIS LAY KEAN for her trip from June 14th to June 20th 2008

All of the pictures were taken by bro Christopher Sng. It was supposed to be published earlier but I was just able to get this article today.

Kupang – It is a city in Timor Island which is the capital city for the Nusa Tenggara Province . Majority consists of Catholics and Protestants. Churches and seminaries were found all over poor villages. Some churches are made with wooden planks and zinc roofs, and some brick ones are unfinished due to lack of funds. A typical village hut is made of thatched straw roofs, walls of dried palm stems placed vertically & closely, and floors of hard dry soil. The poor grows papaya, banana and tapioca in semi-dry land.

Day 1 (14^th June) – Arrived in Kupang after 11pm. Was met by Budi’s father-in-law (we call him “Opa” meaning grandfather). Opa is a strong old man of 78 yrs of age, with vast knowledge on the Indonesian history. He also spoke fluent English. Opa took us for a midnight meal at a warung (shop) and we had some fried chicken and 2 BBQ garoupas with rice. Meal costs about S$15 for 5 people. We were then taken to their ‘home-stay’, which consists of 25 individual motel-like rooms, and a separate building which serves as common area. This home-stay premise is located about 400m from the orphanage grounds. We had three workers who were building there, who also acted as our protectors. They were most polite and friendly, so much so that we tipped them on the last day.

Opa Cornelis lakusa

BBQ Garoupa and sate , hmmmm yummy

Day 2 – Opa came with Pak Lief (their close friend and the care taker of the orphanage if Peggy and Budi are away) to take us for lunch. Then we sightseeing around town. The town is not very big, and not very modern.

The orphanage is well equipped and developed. They have a large garden with crops, a library, a little grocer shop, a computer building, a dorm for the older boys (where our donated children clothes are stored), workers’ quarters, and the main house.

the orphanage’s gate in June

the way they preserve their corn from insects is to place it hanging in the kitchen

We met the LOVELY children. The young ones (nursery age) were all lying in a room when we peeped in. They got up and looked at us shyly. As I could speak Bahasa Malaysia, I managed to urge them to talk to me. Within minutes they were crowding around us, touching our hands, and smiling non-stop. They are ok once they got pass the awkwardness. None of them shouted, fought or anything. They are VERY CUTE, even though some of them may not have magazine cover page ‘child-model’ looks. If one looks pass their skin colour and background, one will find these creations of God simply beautiful. Their demeanor and behavior made them ABSOLUTELY LOVABLE.

They were co-operative and obedient with adults, friendly and totally caring towards the infants. We witnessed the pre-schooled old girls running to soothe the 2-yr olds whenever they cry. The babies were picked up and pacified immediately with cuddles, gentle strokes and kind words. It amazes me as these older girls are barely strong enough to carry the toddlers, yet they struggle with the weight so that the young ones don’t continue crying. When a toddler had mucus running down his nose, an older girl will pinch the mucus off for him without an adult prompting. I’m afraid I have never seen this in Singapore!!!

The children are very obedient. One word from Opa or an adult, and they act accordingly. We saw 16 little kids under 7 yrs of age and four girls in their teens. I understand that there are a few teenage boys around too.

In the afternoon, we went back to nap in the home-stay. They came to pick us up from dinner at 8pm.

tender loving care being practiced

most of the time the eggs is always eaten last

Day 3 – We waited for our host in the morning, and decided to take a walk over to the orphanage as we want to see the kids again. A group of kids (nursery age) were singing Christian songs very loudly in a room. When they saw us, they took to us immediately. The little girls came for cuddles and sat on our laps. All we received from them were genuine smiles, love and more love.

Near noon, we went bush-walking with Opa The neighborhood around the orphanage consists of many straw huts and some simple constructed brick cottages. Many are poor, but none of them as poverty-stricken as the East Timorese refugees that we saw on Day 4!! The neighborhood roads were dusty and rocky. But we soon forgot about that as our eyes were constantly bewildered by the sights we saw. We saw how people live despite having very basic material items in their houses. We saw smiles and heard greetings from the residents as we walked by and clicked our cameras as we gawked like tourists. The constant “Selamat siang” greeting (good morning) made us feel so welcomed and safe. Village kids finishing school and walking back, smiled and followed us for a short distance. When I clicked my camera at them, they giggled. When we stopped at a small ‘grocer’ stall, he brought out plastic chairs for us to sit.

Day 4 – Budi’s wife Peggy returned from Jakarta after sending her son off at the airport (for him to return to Singapore for school). Near noon we set off in the orphanage’s bus for a day trip

This is where we stopped and to pick up various essential items:

1. Mixed rice stall - to pack lunch for everyone, and some BBQ fish.
2. Grocer in another village – for packets of coffee and herbs (to use for our padi field picnic)
3. Roadside – for oranges and purple sweet potatoes.
4. Roadside – bought sea-salt packed in long palm-leaf weaved basket (like a wine bottle holder!)
5. Roadside – for fried dough made with palm sugar. Tasted absolutely delicious, said everyone!!
6. Palm tree plantation – we get to taste freshly harvested palm juice from a palm-leaf basket, and to buy cooked palm sugar (tasted much like English toffee, but look like gula melaka). They were selling 6 flat, round pieces for 15-cents. Bought 30 myself. Can be used for cooking, baking or as sweets!
7. Roadside – bought freshly-caught fishes and mud crabs. They were hanging from the stall, and were tied-up like ‘bak-chang’. Haha!!

EAST TIMORESE REFUGEES’ HOME – I am told that this family used to own a large house in Dili, East Timor. When war broke out, they ran with the only clothes on their back. Since 2000, they have been living from hand-to-mouth. I saw practically nothing of value (to our eyes) in their hut, and the most precious items they have are probably their violin and guitar. The little boy of about 2 yrs old, played with a push-toy which is made from a piece of long stick, a plastic mineral water bottle with 2 wooden wheels! The adult sons played us 3 songs with their musical instruments. They played and sang beautifully… felt so so sad when I listened to their sweet and

1. melodious tunes. At one stage, our driver started dancing and invited chuckles from everyone. I taped the songs, but the file is too big to post on the forum.
2. Stopped at Peggy’s padi field for a picnic. They brought out quilts and chairs to sit on. The workers started a fire to fry the fish and other food. I saw kangkong flowers for the 1^st time as one plot has been planted with kangkong. Saw 2 workers ploughing the fields to prepare it for next planting. Saw fresh water sprouting out of a pipe non-stop from the ground. Unlike many parts of Timor which have extreme dry land, Budi & Peggy are lucky to buy this piece of land which has underground source of water.
3. At 5pm, it started to get dark. We drove in semi-darkness in an isolated road in the country side until we reached a far town. The roads were so bad that our bus was rocking side-to-side like a boat in the storm! The village is where my former maid lives. Her hut is the typical house made from palm stems and straws. They are building a brick house, but has stopped due to lack of funds. There was a hen behind my chair in the ‘living room’ with 11 chicks underneath her. Ha ha. As we were leaving, I gave her mother some money.

buying the fresh mud crab

a visit at the ex East Timor refugee home , a leaning hut and an unpaved floor

playing the most valuable property that they have

My hubby Chris and me

buying the local oranges at OeSau market

palm sugar which just freshly made

the best toy that the village children have

at the farm

Day 5 – At 6.30am, we went to the beach-side market to buy fish. Bought three 2-kg tuna fishes for $4.50 each… and is deemed expensive because in Jan-Feb months, they are about $1.50 each!! Very fresh too because saw the blood drained out as red as human blood. Peggy cooked curried crabs and fish for our lunch. Then we went back to our home-stay for rest.

About 3.30pm, we got restless at our home-stay and walked over to the orphanage. Peggy has just gotten back from buying water with the water truck (the truck was purchased last year, with the money from fellow donors in Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries). Peggy was supervising the watering of plants. At 5pm, we went to the beach for a walk. Peggy went to buy dinner and 2 large BBQ tuna fishes and had wanted to eat at the beach ( they brought lights) but we did not know that and we thought that we were going to eat in the pitch darkness ! so we said no ha ha ha

at the fish market

fresh fish right from the boat

6th day we were taking the flight home and left for the airport at 5 am

some of the children detail

sis lay Kean , sis Wendy and Peggy

it was a privilege for the orphanage to have the visit from brother Mark Lee , sis Serene and their son Jabez. Though their visit is being greeted by so many of our short comings , some how we feel that we were having such great quality time for just being together with their visit. It was a special visit for me as they came at the day when I was having my birthday. Thank you for coming bro Mark, Sis Serene and Jabez.  Next time we will be having a better time and better facilities for you . If you come again in December ( 3rd week) we will be able to eat mangoes right from the trees and ripe already ha ha ha . We were blessed with a brand new projector from bro Mark Lee , it is a device which we can use it for the education enhancement and the development of the knowledge of the children. Thank you very much bro Mark.Bro mark and his family also manage to bring us loads educational toys as well as fun making toys , nice snacks all the way from Singapore and loads of children and baby clothing which has been very useful since we received them. At the moment we are having 3 more new babies and when the rainy season comes , these clothing will be very helpful to us ( during the rainy season it is hard to dry up the clothes after washing ). Your love gift has been used to buy so many things but the most important is to by our regular eggs for the daily meals and schooling matter including shoes for all of the children. Upon buying the shoes we have to come back to the shop as the shop was mistakenly gave us the wrong pairing ( some of them were all left side only ha ha ha ). Thank you for the love gift so now most of them are wearing new school uniforms. The most gift that the children received from bro Mark and his family visit has been their care and time that was spent with us . It could have been a holiday trip for the family to an exotic places but they choose to come and to visit us instead. Thank you bro Mark , we really appreciate it. By the way bro Mark Lee is a senior crew of Singapore Airlines while sis Serene is a banker.  During his visit we were also able to visit to one of the orphanage’s children member’s home near Niki Niki town, not at the town side but rather at the village side ( in side a valley). There are 7 children in our orphanage from this Niki Niki area. when we were there , so many other family members whom are the relative or parent of the children in our orphanage.

one of our quality time with bro Mark Lee, sis Serene and Jabez at Air China beach

love gift from bro Mark to the orphanage

spending time with the children at the orphanage as the children were looking at the pictures from the books that bro Mark Lee has brought them from Singapore.

games and story telling efforts by sis Serene

laughter than can be generated by you

thank you for spending time with the children

A visit at Niki Niki villlage, the boy looks so pale and not getting enough nutritious food as the mother’s breast milk is not getting help from the food that the mother is eating

the house that they are having , it is used for a family of 7 . One of the daughter is at the orphanage and she is studyin at the  second year in a High school. She is not an orphan but the poverty is beyond our imagination.

the head of the house and some of his children

at the farm where we grow paddy

newly planted paddy to be harvested in 3rd week of November, from planting to the harvest is about 100 to 11o days

some of our last April’s rice harvest

coconut cutting

such a quality time among daddy and son

sis Serene and her crab cooking

Chef Mark Lee and his crab dish

crab eating time