Known as Timor Leste which translates from Indonesian and Portuguese to East East in English. First Colonised by Portugal in the 16th century until November 28, 1975 when East Timor gained independence only to be invaded nine days later by Indonesia. Timor again gained independence to become the first sovereign state of the 21 century May 20, 2002 only to fall into civil war, in 2006 the United Nations sent in security forces to restore order, since that time the government has used the US dollar as it’s currency. In 2012 the UN ended its peacekeeping mission and handed over control of the police force to local authorities. But these are just facts, we tried to look into the soul of the place.
The people were friendly if somewhat guarded here in the Capital of Dili. These photos were taken around the city and at a local art community that we stumbled upon and were warmly shown around, as well as a small island off the coast. I left them slightly muted as that was the vibe that I picked up as Timor Leste struggles for success and identity. We wanted to venture out of the city but were told progress would be extremely slow as the roads outside the Capital were bad and much of the country was at a near primitive state. We hope to make it back some day with more time on our side.
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Copyright 2019: The Mouse & The Elephant, Daniel S. Vaughn.