A book I've just read

In the last few months I've been reading novels. I've just finished reading the book pictured here:"A Woman of Independence: A story of love and the birth of a new nation" by Kirsty Sword Gusmao. I've wanted to read books that are in written as a story but that I can also learn from at the same time. This book hits the mark. Kirsty is an Australian who married Xanana Gusmao before he becamethe first, and still the current president of East Timor. Kirsty's book decribes her support of East Timor's struggle for independence and her relationship with Xanana Gusmao, the leader of the of Resistance struggle.

The book begins in 1990 with her first trip to East Timor, which at the time had been under Indonesian occupation since 1975, and follows through the 1990's to the bloodshed in 1999 that occurred after the East Timorese voted for Independance and then the early years of East Timor's birth as a nation. The book is from a very personal perspective of East Timor and Xanana Gusmao including the testing times their relationship endures. They fall in love via secret letters written when Xanana is in prison in Jakarta and Kirsty is his english teacher and a supporter of other imprisoned East Timorese.

I recommend reading it! If I didn't already know the ending I would have had a lot of problems putting the book down once I had started. It was a great way to understand more about East Timorese independence from a very personal perspective.

Bangladesh

I've started posting some pictures taken when I went to Bangladesh in January (2005). Click on the "Recent visit to Bangladesh" link on the right-hand side of this page to see the pictures. For two amazing weeks I visited Bangladesh with 20 other Australians on a trip organised through TEAR Australia and three of TEAR's partner organsitions in Bangladesh.

To explain who TEAR are, here is an explanation from their own website:
"TEAR Australia is a movement of Australian Christians responding to the needs of poor communities around the world. Our motivation comes from our belief that God loves all people, and in Christ offers them the opportunity of a new life. We believe that God is just, and has particular care for the poor and those who suffer as victims of injustice.

Rather than establish our own relief and development projects, we support the initiatives of other Christian groups, including churches, relief and development agencies and community-based organisations, which are working with the poor in their communities. We seek to build effective relationships with these partners, grounded in mutual respect, trust and accountability.
Priority is given to those programs that strive to involve the most marginalized and exploited members of each community, regardless of their religious or political beliefs.
In Australia, we work to inform and empower Christians, in partnership with local churches, to make a Biblically-shaped response to suffering and oppressed communities." (www.tear.org.au/whatis/index.shtml, accessed 6/8/05)

What a good idea!

Welcome to the The E-von Page

Hi Friends and Family,
Thanks for visiting my new blog. Please come again! I'm at home now visiting my family in Gravelly Beach and it feels luxurious to have time to indulge in making a blog. I intended to post pictures of my trip to Bangladesh on a blog however, that is yet to happen but stay tuned. If you are interested i think there is a way you can be notified by email for updates to this site (although i could be wrong). Making a blog is very easy, just click on the orange "B" in the corner of this page and the steps to making you're own couldn't be easier.
love
yvonne