Timor-Leste

A week or so ago, I was offered a position on a research trip to Timor-Leste with my professor PVA (Peter Van Arsdale). It was stiff competition - six people for two spots, and all were very qualified, so I'm really excited to get it. Luckily, my buddy Grant got the other position, so that will make the trip even better.

Let me tell you a little about PVA, the guy who will be leading the trip. First of all, he's my favorite professor since John Roberts at CSU, and is up there with Terry Smith (though not quite, of course). He's 65 and has worked decades i

n Humanitarian Assistance, I have him right now for Humanitarian Aid in Complex Emergencies and I'll have him next quarter for Field Protocol and Survival. Oh yeah, and he's worked with the president of Timor-Leste before, so I guess he's got an in.

When I say he's worked in the field for decades, I mean it. Back in 1974 he co-led a team to Papua that discovered the Korowai People, and then didn't tell people right away because they didn't want them to be exploited by Westerners! In Field Protocol next quarter, we are going to go up into the mountains for a few days for a simulated field experience. During it he is going to have former students create checkpoints, kidnap people, and who knows what else. If that doesn't sound like a fun class, I don't know what is.

The trip will be from June 4-24 (with probably 4 days of that being travel). It is all expenses paid and includes a $1250 honorarium. It is funded through the Office of Naval Research and was awarded to e-Cross Cultural Corporation (ECC), which has created a computer model to improve field research. The main goals of ECC are to enhance humane military operations in the field and improve communications, data usage, capabilities, and on-site/off-site interaction. Basically ECC is trying to develop and test field models that can work on site in conflict and post-conflict environments.

Over the next few months until we leave, Grant and I will be working with a couple of other Korbel students here to do preliminary research on water and sanitation in Timor-Leste so we have data to enter into the model so it can begin to make predictions about improvements int he sector. We also will be looking up Visas, vaccinations, flights, etc. When we get to Timor-Leste we will be working with a local NGO, Bufuturu, for translation and logistics, and will basically be gathering data on current water and sanitation in the country to compare the current situation to the projection.

For those of you who don't know where Timor-Leste is:

I'm really excited about the trip. The timing is perfect: it is right after my last quarter, and halfway between now and when I leave for the Peace Corps, so I have something else to look forward to. The only problem is that I won't be able to go to my fourth year of Bonnaroo, but this years lineup wasn't my favorite anyways. I'm looking forward to being able to travel a bit too, I haven't been out of the country (other than Canada) in seven years, and even then it was just for the summer. Of course the best part of the trip is just the amazing opportunity to get some real experience in the field in the area I want to work in after the peace corps - humanitarian assistance. Or as PVA puts it "putting our boots in the mud."

Of course, it isn't bad when this is where the mud is.