When I travelled to Timor-Leste earlier this year in February, I was told that I would never meet this woman again. After spending my year sharing Elisa’s story, days which accumulated to thinking of her within my everyday tasks, I was determined to see her again. Ten months later, I’m incredibly grateful to say that I have overcome all the odds placed against me, and have been reunited with my friend Elisa.
Left: December 2015, crops have just been planted and waiting for the rain. Right: February 2015, crops flourishing after the rain.
Meeting Elisa again, felt unreal. When I saw her face, as she walked towards me, tears of joy filled my eyes. She was more beautiful than I remembered. I couldn’t believe that after all this time, I was finally with her again.
My whole year as a Youth Ambassador had been consumed around her, and my memory of her. Because of the distance which separated her, a lot of my memories became blurred. I began to question if she thought of me as much as I thought of her, and if our friendship was real. But it turns out that her year was consumed equally alike mine. Elisa valued my friendship more than I could have ever imagined.
After spending the past year learning the national language of Timor-Leste, I said to Elisa, speaking in Tetun,” I thought of you every single day this year”. She smiled softly, and replied, “I also thought about you every day. I missed you very much.” I moved my hand onto hers and our fingers interlocked. I asked Elisa, “did you think I would come back to visit you again?” And she answered, “Of course I did.”
“Why?”
“Because our friendship was so special, so real, I knew you would come back to see me again.”
After this moment we leaned heads against each others for what felt like a lifetime. It was like she was telling me, in her own special way, that she loved me, and that I loved her back. Being able to speak to Elisa in her own language was something very rare and very special. I felt a greater understanding of Elisa, her personality, her dreams and who she really is as a person. She is a devoted mother and grandmother, she is concerned about the future of her children, she is educated on climate change yet feels that is is out of her control, she is soft spoken – but doesn’t waste her words, she is optimistic and she is thankful.
Elisa and I looking through photographs of us earlier in the year.
I know now that I based my year as a Youth Ambassador on a friendship that is as real as the air that I breathe. And although it is rarely visible, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. It means that the friendship shared between Elisa and I is always present, she surrounds me with her love in my darkest of moments to remind me that there is always hope. She is a true and rare friend who I am so glad to share a part of my life with.
Earlier in the year I wrote a song about Elisa, (you can find it here), and whilst visiting her, I played the song for her. Firstly, I explained the lyrics, and then put the music to her ears. Elisa said that although she couldn’t understand the words, that she knew what the lyrics meant. She also said that she loved the song.
I also met two of Elisa’s grandchildren, whom she lives with, whose names I have already forgotten. The youngest girl, aged 3 kept crying until I picked her up and held her in my arms. I instantly felt a part of their family. I asked her eldest grandson, aged 11, “Do you have a backpack for school?” The little boy looked down towards his feet and said, “no”. Then I went to the car and pulled out some backpacks, backpacks filled with school supplies like notebooks, pens, stickers, and toys to share. I wish I could have captured the smile on his face. I’ve never seen a child as grateful as the little boy standing in front of me with his new red backpack. He pulled out the toy car and began playing with it with his siblings.
Elisa’s grandson and I going through the supplies inside the backpack.
Something which ate away at me this year was when Elisa asked me for some money to get through the hungry season. Representing an NGO at the time, we couldn’t support her financially, but instead with fresh vegetables. I can’t express how much I regretted that, even though it was beyond my control. However this time, I was able to help my friend and undo my wrongs. I was able to help Elisa’s family in other ways, by assisting with local food supply, new clothes, shoes and school supplies as Christmas presents, and financially supporting them to build a toilet and make much needed repairs to their hut.
Elisa told me that she thinks of me as her ‘Australian daughter’. She laughed, and said that when she meets new people, she tells them how she has a daughter in Australia. I love that she thinks of me as family.
I’ll never forget how happy this moment was. I’ll never forget how many smiles were shared, how many arms were opened wide, and how I realised the “two-way impact” that one person can have on another’s life.
As I left the village that day, the song ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon played in the car. I waved goodbye to my beautiful friends and thought about the lyrics. I imagined what life could be like with no hunger, and I smiled, because I’d seen how far they had come in ten months. I knew the kind of world I’d been wishing for wasn’t too far away.
Elisa, I and two of her grandchildren.
Claudia Meg Bailey 