Arrival in Darwin
I was met at the airport in Darwin, Australia, by a gentleman named Squirrel. His name is Mark Squirrel, but goes by just Squirrel. Squirrel is our Security man. He is in charge of monitoring the situation in the country, hiring guards, maintaining an evacuation plan and a whole lot of other gofer activities. He was in Darwin doing some purchasing for the Dili office when I arrived.
I spent two days in Darwin waiting for a booking on the WFP (World Food Program) flight to Dili. This flight is operated by the UN and is the only non military aircraft flying into East Timor at the moment. It goes every day and is free to the NGOs (Non Government Organizations - like IRC). However, it's a small plane and a lot of folks are going back and forth to Darwin right now, so it's tough to get on. The only problem with this flight is that you are limited to only 15kg of baggage (Which is about the weight of a full daypack).
I spent my time in Darwin getting a few necessary shots, running folks out to the airport, and shopping at K-mart. Because the program just started up about a month ago, and the house in Dili was acquired only a few weeks ago, there are a lot of things that we still don't have. So all new arrivees get to a bit of shopping as a sort of an initiation. This time it was Greg's and my turn to procure all those items necessary for just such a political emergency (extension cords, lawn chairs, soap, book shelves, phone cards, tea towels, etc.)
Greg is the other shelter Engineer. He is from Australia, but has been moving around the world in one way or another for about seven years now. He flew in from Thailand a day after I arrived. He has worked for IRC once before in their Rwanda program a few years back. Nice guy and a kind of jack of all trades. Greg got to do an extra day of shopping, and I got on the hour and a half WFP flight to Dili.
Dili is the Capitol of East Timor and is located on the northern side of the Island. The first thing you see on the way in is the mountainous center of the island, then the deep blue of the water and the islands to the north. The image of some midget yelling "de plane, de plane!" is quickly shattered when you see the Australian destroyers floating in the harbor, and the tanks lining the runway come into full view. The airport is heavily guarded by Australian, Italian, Thai, and American troops representing the UN. There is a lot of camouflaged netting hiding sand bag bunkers full of camouflaged troops sitting by with machine guns on tripods. It's definitely an impressive display.
I grabbed my 15 kg day pack full of necessities, a five gallon jug of potable water (which we managed to convince the flight crew to take), and a small ice chest with the rest of my vaccinations, and made my way through the nets, and bunkers, and machine guns to the car where Squirrel was waiting to bring us into town.