Dispatch from an FRB traveler
November 12, 2011- My month started with an interesting and learning filled trip with Bev Abma to North Korea. We were encouraged to meet the program partner and farmers on several farms. From here, I joined up with three FRB travelers from Iowa for a week in Timor Leste, an island nation off the west coast of Australia and one of the world’s newest nations. Our member, CRS and their in-counter partner, CIACS, did a fantastic job hosting us! We spent time attending two training sessions along with farmers from two communities in Ossurua. We were taught new corn production and storage methods that will significantly impact the food security of the people we met. The scenery was breathtaking and I am definitely looking forward to our next trip back in 2013.
Today we are heading for Cambodia where we will visit a program with CRWRC. While on the plane from Timor to Australia I happened to sit behind a lawyer I met while attending a conference in Bulgaria in 2008. On landing in Australia we had a great time catching up and I learned more about his work in Timor where he has been with his wife for the last six years. No sooner had he connected with his next flight, I met a fellow Canadian who has been cycling around the world for the last two years. The world is full of interesting people and having the chance to hear their stories I feel spoiled.
Keep checking back for more on our trip and the stories we are collecting along the way.
Angela, FRB staff