#ermera

About twenty minutes drive downhill from Atsabe is the village of Tiarlelo. This was one of my favourite places I’d visited in Timor-Leste to this point. It was a peaceful, friendly, and beautifully located place, surrounded by mountains. This is well off the tourist path. I was there supporting the local NGO HAMNASA with their community engagement activities, taking photos and making…

One of the best things about volunteering at HAMNASA, a local NGO in Timor-Leste, is heading out on the road with them. They run community development activities in small villages and hamlets, giving me the opportunity to visit places that few other malae (foreigners) have been to. I have to work, taking photos and making videos, plus introducing myself to large groups in the local language…

As part of my volunteering with local NGO HAMNASA I travelled to Ermera municipality in April 2024 to help support a number of community events in remote villages and hamlets. It was the first time I’d been outside of Dili (other than a week on Atauro Island) and was a memorable experience. Just getting there was a challenge with the roads becoming increasingly rough the further we travelled from…

My first trip out of Dili, other than hiking on Atauro Island, took me to one of Timor-Leste’s two landlocked municipalities, up into the beautiful hills of Ermera. I spent two nights in Gleno, the largest town in the municipality, home to around 9,000 people. It certainly had a different atmosphere to Dili, and a pleasantly cooler climate. @exploringtimor Exploring Gleno, Ermera #timorleste…