Suai

After we drove home from Baucau we had half a day to shower, wash clothes, and try to recover before going on another, bigger trip. We were already a little tired from traveling to Baucau and back, but while there’s no school we knew we had to take advantage of the opportunity to travel.
So the next morning we headed off with Sister Sonia, our driver Augustino, the driver’s son, and the four of us in the back of a pick-up truck with a load of pillows for the convent and center in Suai.

Brendan got some great pictures on the way of the mountains we were going through.

And some pictures of the road that was sometimes treacherous…

Or non-existent. Similar to our van ride from Kupang to Dili, we had to cross a river on this trip. The wet season rains had flooded the road out, but our driver was from Suai and made the trip all the time, so we went through anyway. But the water was high and fast and we got stuck right at the end.

All the town’s local boys came to our rescue and volunteered to help push the van to shore. There were probably twenty of them, but they couldn’t quite do it. Next the men on shore hooked up a tow rope and tried to haul us out by hand, but no luck.

Finally they called in the reinforcements and some heavy machinery came driving straight up the river. They hooked us up and within a minute we were out and on the move again, waving to everyone who had tried to help us with our predicament. They yelled and waved back – I have a feeling this excitement is one of their favorite parts of the wet season.

And we arrived at the Canossian Sisters Suai convent that is finally being rebuilt after being burned down in 1999. The convent is right next to the infamous church where the Indonesians massacred over two hundred people who were staying in the church for safety. Many were killed and then the church was burned with the remaining people inside. Many women and children, students were killed.

Now the church has been rebuilt and on Sunday and Monday we went to Mass there. You can see that for the new church they have left out half of the wall on two of the sides. That may be because they don’t want a repeat of the burning tragedy.

This little monument covered with plaques and stones for the victims of the massacre in 1999, by their surviving family and friends. The two names and dates that stood out to me were two names on a plaque of a mother and a baby who had only been born a few months before.

But there were bright moments too and the people are so resilient. They work hard and find fun things to do. A few guys were playing basketball and Brendan joined them. You can see that he was a head above the rest. They looked like they loved playing with him and were impressed by his skills. If they ever got it past him (not often), they were really happy.

Brendan, Therese, and I went up in the steeple of the cathedral and got some pictures of the surrounding area. Here you can see an East Timorese-style monument built by U.S.Aid and New Zealand in honor of the people who died here.

And Brendan and me! Brendan was amazing on this trip. I got sick the night we got to Suai and had a fever and stomach problems for quite awhile. He stayed in with me and forced me to rest and try to get better. He was wonderful and I couldn’t ask for a better husband.

It was my first time getting sick here and it wasn’t fun, but not too bad. After getting sick, the next morning I got up for Mass and at Eucharist I asked Jesus, the healer of my soul, to heal my body if He wanted to. After that my stomach got better until a day later it felt normal. Yay God! Since then I’ve just been resting and getting the fever to come down, and now, with the help of God and Brendan, and I’m almost back to full strength just in time for school to start!

Another beach trip to finish off our time in Suai. We went with Sr. Elsa and some of her nephews and a niece. Brendan and Therese worked on teaching the kids to swim. There were no crocodiles this time, but Brendan did get really close to a giant sea turtle! It’s a crazy world over here.

Brendan the explorer on the trip home, overlooking Maubisse.

After another eight hour trip we caught our first sight of our home, Dili. It was very exciting to come home after ten days of traveling all over the island. Now we’re here, celebrating the New Year, and resting up before school starts again on the 5th. We hope things are good at home. Talk to you soon!
Much love,
Rachel and Brendan
P.S. Happy New Year!!!