Skip to main content

A song that I love

Lemo Rai, traditional



Husi knua, lao to’o vila
Oan kiak halerik beibeik 
Walking from the village to the city The orphan always walks alone.
Husi foho lao to’o tasi 
Oan kiak harohan nafatin. 
Walking from the mountains to the shore The orphan is always praying.
O keta tau todan ba ema seluk 
O keta sura O nia kole 
Don’t put the burden on someone else Don’t recount your exhaustion.
Hametin O nia ain tuban 
Lao haksolok hananu nafatin
Strengthen your heels Walk happy, sing always.

Lemo, lemo rai 
Lao lemo rai
Sura loron sura kalan 
Wandering, wandering, wandering the earth Numbering the days and nights
Oinsaa susar nee bele hotu
How will these troubles come to an end?
 
Tan sa O tanis beibeik 
Tan sa O halerik beibeik 
Why do you weep always?
Why do you wail continually?
Hamaran O nia matan been 
Oinsa susar nee bele hotu.
Dry your tears
No matter how difficult, these troubles will come to an end.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lists.

What have I been doing in the 3 months since my last update? Making lists and sometimes tearing them up. I have a list of "To do today" items, quite standard. It hasn't moved very much in the last 2 weeks. Mundane things: triage emails, edit policies, plan teaching sessions.  I have a list of "Deep work" items/projectettes that require focused attention: my Med Ed essay, my Moore essay, a research paper I'm trying to write with Dr M, Chinese+Mandarin revision, Tetun study, core skills in Medicine. I have a list of "Dashboard" items that represent the things I'm responsible for or have things to do with: Research Staff Health Education/Training Volunteers Email M&E (Monitoring & Evaluation) Translation Emails Communications and Social Media People (Relationships) That's just for work. I have a more general list that captures the bigger categories: Bible Journal Exercise Work People (Relationships) Home Medicine I used to have a list ...

Grateful for things and grateful to be able to feel gratitude.

We've had family caregiving responsibilities this season. I am grateful for Raj. I've started learning slowly about my role in BBEH, about language work, and about Tetun. I've learned some lovely new words. I was sad today and had people I could text about it. I am grateful for this. So, a couple quotes from this Colbert episode that struck me and which resonate with this season: "If he's good, I'm good." and this:

FAQ for a leaving clinical director

Maluk Timor welcomes our new Executive Director Mrs Dillyana Ximenes in a couple of weeks. And the questions come... Why are you leaving? Because I have done what I can in 4.5 years, and it's time to hand over to a team that can carry our work forward. We arrived in Sept 2020, and have watched our team grow over the years from a scrappy little start-up to a scrappy little scale-up.  We're leaving not because things are bad, but because things are good. Are you leaving because you fought with someone/did something wrong/got fired? No. See previous point and next point. When did you make this decision? The day we came to Timor, actually. Always start with an exit plan. We have always been looking for leadership that can take the team forward. We talked about it again seriously in July 2024  with our team. Are you sorry to leave Maluk Timor? Yes. Very. Raj and I have spent more of our married lives in Maluk Timor than in any other place. Some of my happiest memories are dancing ...