Ataúro island, Timor-Leste
September - November 2023
During those weeks, the sea was very still. The sunrise was always tranquil, magically elongated by its reflection. The older locals, tiny on the horizon, with big baskets on their backs, carefully and slowly walking through the mirror-like low tide to collect whelks was a science-fiction scene. Quite a secluded universe with many uncrowded beaches and the sweetest palm wine.
For almost 2 months I stayed in the village Vila Maumeta, in the southeast of the island, working together with the women-cooperative Boneca de Ataúro to create new lines of their embroidery products, also spending time with the hospedaria staff in the kitchen, where we frequently had wet rice with moringa and in-season catch.
Some of the local routines transported me to my childhood in the 90s and early 2000s in Java.
Afterall, my generation in this country were born as Indonesians like me, and the island is still catching up with their infrastructure.
Would development then disrupt all of this?
