It didn't rain all day yesterday, however the sun was still a no-show.
At 8 in the evening we got word from Dili that the helicopter plan was back on! So we had to get the boxes and cabins ready to be sent to the helipad, however, there was a problem of protection... The CNE (National Elections commission) was worried about using the helicopter because a police officer could not go and accompany the boxes after arrival so in the end, and to the ever-mounting stress of the STAE coordinator, the helicopter was cancelled, again! But by the time I went home, I was confident that all that needed to be done was done and that the drop-off would go without a hitch, as long as it didn't rain, fingers crossed!
We (my flatmates and I) thought we were gonna have an early night in, we knew we had to get up early, however that was not to be...one of my flatmates had to work a night shift, when he got home at around midnight, our gate was closed with a padlock...he honked the horn, he called the security guard's name over and over but nothing worked, he called us then to come and see what was wrong with the security guard, I mean, maybe he was dead! All 4 of us were outside in our pj's trying to wake up the security guard - we needed the keys to the lock after all - but nothing work, the guy would not wake up, not even after having his body shaken like an earthquake! Another guard that lived nearby had to come, climb the fence and get the key in order to let C come in with the car!! I mean, the guy must have been drunk but still, how can someone not wake up through all the noise we made...let alone the fact that he's the security guard, his job IS to stay awake at night!!! We all ended up having a good laugh about it, at least it didn't happen in the morning when we had to go to work!
So, after a restless night, this morning started bright and early at 6am, one good thing about this is that the electricity was still on, it had been a while since I hadn't showered in the dark! By 7am we were at STAE headquarters ready for the big hand-over ceremony where the head of STAE (Technical Secretariat for the Administration of Elections) handed the first ballot box to the Brigada (presiding officer) of the first polling station in Bobonaro district and started the whole process of delivering the ballot boxes to their destinations. We have 68 polling centres and 81 polling stations in Bobonaro and about 40 cars to get the job done!
We started packing the cars at 10am, it started raining so out come the canvas sheets to protect the material. Luckily, it didn't last long and we didn't see anymore rain today which was really, really lucky. The roads, if we can call them that, were terrible, horrible! I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy, that's how bad they were! I did these roads 2 weeks ago when I went in search of gps coordinates...I couldnt' recognize some of them! The rains from this week destroyed some of them, created seas of mud in others and enlarged the already existing holes in all of them!
We went in convoy, with PNTL and UNPOL at the ends to guard the material. I had sensitive material, ballot boxes and cabins and then 6 people on top...I was driving a pick-up and the sensitive material got the place of honour in the back so I had 5 people in the back on top of the material hanging on for dear life against the heart-racing hills, the crevices, the jaw-dropping falls and the wind, it was really windy today! On one up-hill turn the back of the car swerved and I swear I almost thought, 'oh crap, this is it!' The worst was the speed, because we were in a convoy we had to go quite slowly which made it harder to go up hill let alone see the holes in front of you...We were nearly there, I just have a very narrow muddy space in front, the car in front had managed and when it's my turn the car starts to slide into the ditch! I stopped it just in time but we still needed the ropes to get it out! Lucky was that we had about 20 guys to help! C had gotten stuck in the same place the week before but even deeper and there was no other car to help him that time! We got the car out and made it to our first destination, Bobonaro city, then we divided into our separate corners. I was in charge, along with my colleague T, of 3 polling stations: Ilat-Luan, Atuaben and Soelesu. The roads were so bad I was going on first gear all the way and at about 10km an hour!
But we made it! We got all the materials to their destinations, we dropped off the Brigadas and the PNTL that are in charge of protecting the material overnight and we hightailed back to Maliana, which, without a convoy was a breeze!
And through all this we had to communicate to our security base at every stop and every drop-off point: "Sierra Mike Base, this is Echo Mike 144 over", "Echo Mike 144 this is Sierra Mike Base, we hear you loud and clear, say your message over"...After watching so many action movies, this part I really enjoy :p
Tomorrow we go back to our assigned polling stations to pick up the materials after the vote. The voting ends at 3 in the afternoon,.after the votes need to be taken to the polling centres and counted and then the Aktas (official forms with the results for each polling station) need to be sent to Maliana tabulation centre where it is counted up,which means we will probably be driving during the night... then they will be taken to Dili...luckily I'm not in charge of taking these Aktas to Dili otherwise I would be looking at a very long day...the count needs to be done within 72 hours of the finish of voting...meaning some districts will need to travel during the night to reach Dili!
I just keep hoping that it won't rain tomorrow!! Please, please, let the roads be somewhat dry!
At 8 in the evening we got word from Dili that the helicopter plan was back on! So we had to get the boxes and cabins ready to be sent to the helipad, however, there was a problem of protection... The CNE (National Elections commission) was worried about using the helicopter because a police officer could not go and accompany the boxes after arrival so in the end, and to the ever-mounting stress of the STAE coordinator, the helicopter was cancelled, again! But by the time I went home, I was confident that all that needed to be done was done and that the drop-off would go without a hitch, as long as it didn't rain, fingers crossed!
We (my flatmates and I) thought we were gonna have an early night in, we knew we had to get up early, however that was not to be...one of my flatmates had to work a night shift, when he got home at around midnight, our gate was closed with a padlock...he honked the horn, he called the security guard's name over and over but nothing worked, he called us then to come and see what was wrong with the security guard, I mean, maybe he was dead! All 4 of us were outside in our pj's trying to wake up the security guard - we needed the keys to the lock after all - but nothing work, the guy would not wake up, not even after having his body shaken like an earthquake! Another guard that lived nearby had to come, climb the fence and get the key in order to let C come in with the car!! I mean, the guy must have been drunk but still, how can someone not wake up through all the noise we made...let alone the fact that he's the security guard, his job IS to stay awake at night!!! We all ended up having a good laugh about it, at least it didn't happen in the morning when we had to go to work!
So, after a restless night, this morning started bright and early at 6am, one good thing about this is that the electricity was still on, it had been a while since I hadn't showered in the dark! By 7am we were at STAE headquarters ready for the big hand-over ceremony where the head of STAE (Technical Secretariat for the Administration of Elections) handed the first ballot box to the Brigada (presiding officer) of the first polling station in Bobonaro district and started the whole process of delivering the ballot boxes to their destinations. We have 68 polling centres and 81 polling stations in Bobonaro and about 40 cars to get the job done!
We started packing the cars at 10am, it started raining so out come the canvas sheets to protect the material. Luckily, it didn't last long and we didn't see anymore rain today which was really, really lucky. The roads, if we can call them that, were terrible, horrible! I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy, that's how bad they were! I did these roads 2 weeks ago when I went in search of gps coordinates...I couldnt' recognize some of them! The rains from this week destroyed some of them, created seas of mud in others and enlarged the already existing holes in all of them!
We went in convoy, with PNTL and UNPOL at the ends to guard the material. I had sensitive material, ballot boxes and cabins and then 6 people on top...I was driving a pick-up and the sensitive material got the place of honour in the back so I had 5 people in the back on top of the material hanging on for dear life against the heart-racing hills, the crevices, the jaw-dropping falls and the wind, it was really windy today! On one up-hill turn the back of the car swerved and I swear I almost thought, 'oh crap, this is it!' The worst was the speed, because we were in a convoy we had to go quite slowly which made it harder to go up hill let alone see the holes in front of you...We were nearly there, I just have a very narrow muddy space in front, the car in front had managed and when it's my turn the car starts to slide into the ditch! I stopped it just in time but we still needed the ropes to get it out! Lucky was that we had about 20 guys to help! C had gotten stuck in the same place the week before but even deeper and there was no other car to help him that time! We got the car out and made it to our first destination, Bobonaro city, then we divided into our separate corners. I was in charge, along with my colleague T, of 3 polling stations: Ilat-Luan, Atuaben and Soelesu. The roads were so bad I was going on first gear all the way and at about 10km an hour!
But we made it! We got all the materials to their destinations, we dropped off the Brigadas and the PNTL that are in charge of protecting the material overnight and we hightailed back to Maliana, which, without a convoy was a breeze!
And through all this we had to communicate to our security base at every stop and every drop-off point: "Sierra Mike Base, this is Echo Mike 144 over", "Echo Mike 144 this is Sierra Mike Base, we hear you loud and clear, say your message over"...After watching so many action movies, this part I really enjoy :p
Tomorrow we go back to our assigned polling stations to pick up the materials after the vote. The voting ends at 3 in the afternoon,.after the votes need to be taken to the polling centres and counted and then the Aktas (official forms with the results for each polling station) need to be sent to Maliana tabulation centre where it is counted up,which means we will probably be driving during the night... then they will be taken to Dili...luckily I'm not in charge of taking these Aktas to Dili otherwise I would be looking at a very long day...the count needs to be done within 72 hours of the finish of voting...meaning some districts will need to travel during the night to reach Dili!
I just keep hoping that it won't rain tomorrow!! Please, please, let the roads be somewhat dry!
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