Max in East Timor - Religion and Traditions

When Max and Erika first arrived in Dili, East Timor, they had to visit the Australian Embassy to register as a visitor to East Timor. This meant that if there was any danger in East Timor the Australian Embassy would help Max and Erika to come home to Australia. Because it was Christmas time the Australian Embassy celebrated by building a nativity in the front of their office .

At one end of Dili there is a mountain and on top of the mountain is a huge statue of Christ looking over Dili. This is called "Christos Rey" which means "Christ the King." Max decided to climb the "Christos Rey" mountain.

At the bottom of the mountain there were some stairs to climb to the top. There were lots and lots and lots of stairs to climb to get to the top of "Christos Rey" Mountain. Along the way were 14 grottos each containing a beautifully engraved station of the cross. Max stopped at each grotto to pray.

Closer and closer. Until he reached the top.

Here is the "Christos Rey" statue. Can you see Australia on the map?

This is the view from the "Christos Rey" statue that looks back towards Dili.

In Same, the village where Max lived, on the other side of East Timor, there was a very old Portuguese Catholic Church that was not used any more as it was in ruins.

Here is the new Same Catholic church. There was a tall bell tower next to the church. The bell was rung every morning at 6.00am. On Sunday everybody sings at mass. They have such beautiful voices.

Here is the Same cemetery in the forest just outside the town.

One of the traditions in Same was that whenever someone got married the family made an archway of palm leaves at the front of their home. There was a wedding at this house.

Max in East Timor - Going to the Markets

This is the shop where Max used to sit and drink tea and Timorese coffee.

Because there were no hairdressers in Same, Max asked his friend, Senor Basilio, to cut Erika’s hair. "Senor" means "Mister." Here is Senor Basilio having lots of fun cutting Erika’s hair on the street outside his house.

There was a little supermarket. It was called ‘My Friend shop’. What a funny name for a shop! This was where you could buy rice.

Girls in Same learn to carry the shopping on their heads. This girl is carrying a small sack of rice. The lady is carrying a big basket of green vegetables on her head. She is going to Same market to sell her vegetables.

In the market this shop is selling different types of corn and beans.

This was Max's favourite shop! Guess why, it sold bananas and oranges. Some bananas had yellow skins and some bananas had copper coloured skins. Max loves Timorese bananas. The young man bought some oranges.

These ladies sold little red fruits called Timor apples. They are very juicy and crunchy and taste a little bit sour.

The shop keepers usually arrange their goods in small piles ready for people to buy. This shop has everything ready to sell. On the left are piles of shallots. (These are delicious little onions.) In the middle is ginger and on the right are little tomatoes.

This is the chicken shop. The man has just bought a chicken. He is carrying it home under his arm.

This is a row of shops selling fruit and vegetables.

In East Timor women weave traditional cloth called "tais." Here are some shopkeepers who are selling "tais."

Max in East Timor - Education

In Same Max made lots of school friends. Most children walk to school. Sometimes they have to walk for an hour or two to get there. They go to school for half a day from Monday to Saturday.

One day after walking for nearly one hour Max visited a high school near Same. When he arrived in the class the teacher and his students sang some Tetum songs. They were very happy songs that made Max dance up and down.

After the songs everyone helped to make a poster to put on the classroom wall. The poster said “Shebang Timor Leste” which means “Shebang East Timor”

Another day Max and Erika walked about 30 minutes along a beautiful forest road to visit a primary school. Again the children sang songs in Tetum and Max danced.


They told jokes, played football and then it was time to leave.

After school the children sometimes stopped to buy donuts at the tuck-shop. Can you find the jar of donuts in the photo.

Here is Max doing some homework to learn to read Tetum. Max is reading a book called "Lekirauk ho manu aman" which means "The monkey and the rooster.

Max in East Timor - Growing and collecting food (Part 2)

Most families keep chickens for eggs and meat. Sometimes the chickens wander into the house!

The animals are not kept in fields they wander freely close by the house.
These cows are standing under the shade of some coconut palms.

Some families in the countryside keep pigs. Here are some pigs eating coconuts that have fallen from the coconut palmtree. How many piglets can you find behind the mother pig?

Here is a family of horses. The young foal follows its mother everywhere she goes.


Sometimes animals just wander along the road. Here are some pigs and a cow wandering along the road.


East Timor is famous for its delicious coffee. People grow coffee in small plantations usually on the side of a mountain. One day Max climbed up Mount Kablaki near Same to visit a coffee plantation. Max even got permission to climb a coffee tree so that he could get a better look at the coffee beans. Here the coffee beans are still green. When they turn red they are ready to pick and be turned into coffee.


Corn was growing everywhere. Down in the village and out in the fields Max worked hard helping the farmers pull the weeds out from inbeteween the corn so the the corn could grow big and strong.

Corn also grew way up in the mountains. Because the people who live in the mountains also need food to eat

Some farmers grew teak trees. Teak is a very valuable timber . It is a very hard wood that is used to make furniture. Max loved the teak trees because they had enormous leaves. In the afternoon when it was very hot Max used to find a teak tree so that he could lie down and have a nap under the shady cool leaves.

In East Timor Max ate rice almost at every meal. So one day Max set out to discover where the rice came from. He asked his friends in the village and they took him into the country where Max saw lots of little fields that were half-full of water and where bright green plants were growing. Growing rice is very hard work because the farmers do not have any machines to dig the fields or carry water.