First Leg nearing the end!

It is Wednesday night in East and our first leg is nearing the end. We have begun to settle into our travel legs now and the kids are all going well, healthy and enjoying their new routines. My work here in East is nearing completion and depsite a very slow start and a few concerns about the value I would bring it would seem that we have made some strong progress and our programs have been well received. Despite the fact that we are in a very 3rd world country the issues within the NGO (Non-Government Organization) office environment could parallel dynamic any office anywhere in the western world. Issues with managing to deliver to increasing demands with limited resources, the need to develop clear and coherent strategy that people can understand and follow and the need for effective people management systems that motivate and direct people's efforts. Again people working very hard but Struggling to see the wood for the trees and prioritise Amidst the treadmill approach to each day. I am always pleased when you feel that your efforts start to make a difference and you hope will leave some form of lasting impression. It is also very rewarding to be working with an organization that does such important work. It is great to be able to explain to the kids that the organization I am working with is working very hard to fight for the Timorese children and make a difference in their lives. Final day tomorrow here in Timor before flying to Darwin then Perth on Friday.
At the end of the day it is always great to finish a long day walk back into the hotel and see Bec sitting by the side of the pool with the three kids having a great time. After the difficult moments it is great to settle into the trip and see everone comfortable and happy. Tonight we shared dinner with a lday I am working with here called Jiji. She works in Bangkok but is originally from India. It was lovely to see our Indy talking with Jiji sharing travel stories and experiences together. Indy is growing up so fast and is quite the little lady in her conversations now. Maggie is swimming like a fish and loves the chance to work on her freestyle which is getting very good. Maggie is by far the more adventourous with her food, having spaggheti for dinner and then eating half of my chicken dish also. Indy is very reserved and usually sticks to the bowl of chips, although she has been enjoying the lasagne they cook here. The food is pretty basic in the game, certainly not a highlight as it is in Thailand and India. Our little man Gus is loving his diving into the pool and just spends hour after hour jumping in, getting out and jumping in again. At breakfast he just runs around and around the restaurant which has a square running track around it, not sure it is actaully a track but works well for our Gus. He is such a happy kid, and provides great entertainment to all around with his 'Moon Walk' and 'Dinosaur Roar', as well as many interesting and funny facial expressions. The hotel here is basically the base for the New Zealand UN police force and we are the only tourists think that we are here, perhaps the only ones in East! Bec has been doing a great job with the kids and mixing a few short day trips with some time at the hotel for the kids, and Bec, to recharge. Kids have been sleeping well which is a blessing, Gus in his cot and Bec and I sharing one of the kids in each of our two rooms. Tomorrow I am off to work to finish my week and I have organized a car and driver for the rest of the crew to head out and see some sights. I started the day today with water leaking profusely from the roof in the bathroom and I hope this was able to be fixed while I was at work today, we'll see. We Decided to take a course of anti-malarial drugs this time around given the high risk in Timor, needless to say this has proven a challenge getting Gus to consume a tablet each day. Bec has been strategically placing the tablets in his dino lollies and she is now rationing these to make sure she can see out the box! So far so good. Well its nearly 10pm and time for bed. Thankyou for your emails and responses, it has been fun sharing our journey with you and always great to get a response to what we are writing. Hope you are all well and life is good! One last thiing from Bec, I am not sure if I shared with you all that on the weekend we visited a massive statue of Jesus on the coast. We Walked up the very long and very hot walk to the top of the mountain to see this massive statue. Gus in his usual way pointed at the statue and said 'Bad Dude! " We are not sure how this was well received by the hundred Timorese christian students who followed us up the mountain. We might need to break Gus out of the Bad Dudes reference as I am sure it will get us into trouble somehwere along our trip. Anyway Goodnight for now!