Timor-Leste:

August 15-22, 2008

$900.00USD, which includes all in-country transportation, two meals per day, seven nights accommodations, and donations to organizations we speak with and communities we stay with. Airfare is additional.

Trip highlights may include:

-Exploring Timor-Leste's capitol, Dili, including its lovely beaches and markets as well as a few of its restaurants serving Australian, Portuguese, Timorese and Indonesian style foods;

-Meet with Permatil, an organization that works in rural areas of East Timor to promote the techniques of Permaculture by teaching local farmers how to work sustainably with natural ecosystems, domestic animals, integrated subsistence and commercial agricultures, as well as how to better manage their land and water resources;

-Tour Arte Moris, a free art school and home of Bibi Bulak, Timor-Leste's premier music and theatre arts group, and see any shows or performances they have while we are there. Arte Moris supports an art gallery with many paintings and sculptures depicting the struggle of the Timorese people for independence from Indonesia. They also display vibrant elements of indigenous culture and materials relating to globalization;

-Meet Dr. Dan from Bairo Pite Clinic who works with the Madison Ainaro Sister City Alliance (MASA). Bairo Pite provides free health care services to the local population, on average seeing 300 or more patients per day, with a strict policy that everyone must be seen. Originally, the clinic was set up to serve the immediate needs of a population affected by a humanitarian crisis but as the violence subsided, BPC has adapted and transformed from an emergency medical service to a more comprehensive community health service providing a variety of services, such as childhood immunizations, pre-natal care, dental work, emergency services and seeking diagnosis and treatment for the most serious health problems facing the country including malaria, tuberculosis, dengue fever, leprosy and child mortality;

-Meet with representatives of the United Nations;

-Meet with local Timorese NGO, Fundasaun Hari'i Au Metan, and stay overnight, share meals and have discussions with Timorese families involved in the Foundation. Fundaciao Hari'i Au Metan has done a variety of projects in Timor-Leste such as work with street prostitutes, AIDS testing, creating a bamboo and rattan furniture making businesses, palm woven basket making and exportation and much, much more;

-Meet with La’o Hamutuk, the Timor-Leste Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis, an NGO that reports on the principal international institutions present in Timor-Leste as they relate to the physical, economic, and social reconstruction and development of the country. Here we discuss current political events in East Timor, coffee, and the Timor Gap oil issues between East Timor and Australia;

-Take trips into the mountains to visit coffee growing communities and experience the coffee harvest from hand picking coffee cherries off trees to wet processing them in newly built facilities thanks to the Gardeners of Eden Seed Project,

-Meet with new initiatives in exporting fair trade coffee from East Timor to the USA and talk with local coffee farmers and communities;

-Take an amazing snorkel and/or dive trip to one of the most beautiful and untouched reefs in the world with dive experts Wayne and Ann from Free Flow Diving;

-Visit local food and handicraft markets....and much more!

For more information or to sign-up for a delegation, please contact Just Coffee's Delegation Coordinator Colleen Coy at: colleen (at) justcoffee (dot) coop. Thank you for your continued interest and support!