Flora gets a job

This morning as I walked down our street in Raikotu towards the main street in order to catch a mikrolete to town, I stopped to say hello to Flora’s parents. I had learnt the night before from “our” family that her mother is from Atambua in Indonesian West Timor and her father from Los Palos. They have three children: two daughters and a son who is mute. Flora’s parents said that she had started a job last week at the ANZ bank. I was very happy for her and her family.

Less than a week in the country, with her degree in banking and finance, and she has secured a job with an international bank! It just goes to show what an international qualification in a field that is needed in Timor can do for a young and bright Timorese woman (as opposed to the hundreds of university students in Timor studying international relations!)

Working at an international bank in Timor will presumably provide her with many opportunities and experience. Perhaps one day, she might be snapped up by the government’s Banking and Payments Authority (central bank) for Flora is exactly what Timor needs.

After lunch Daniel and I visited the ANZ bank in order to cash his pay cheque and while waiting for the cash to be counted, Flora walked out with a colleague from the rear offices. She looked so smart in a pair of black trousers with a neatly pressed striped shirt that for a moment I thought I was back in the Melbourne CBD! I kissed her on both cheeks and congratulated her on her success.

Category: Timor-Leste (East Timor)