4W6MM was featured in the June 2000 issue of CQ Ham Radio magazine and was also featured in advertisements by Yaesu.
Currently viewing the tag: "United Nations"
After the evacuation of international personnell from East Timor on the 7th of September, 1999 – I was one of the first UN staff to return.
I did a aerial survey of the communications sites around the island. This took two entire days sitting on the floor of an Australian Army Huey helicopter which stayed out of small arms range during the survey.
Later I installed VHF repeaters all over the country by road. The photo of the returning refugees was taken near Los Palos in late September. It is probably one of the first photos to be taken in East Timor after the return of international forces.
Polri is the national police of Indonesia. The photo was taken in early September 1999 near Viqueque, East Timor.
A few days later on the 7th of September I had the pleasure of attending a shooting incident against the UN HQ building in Baucau. I was in the building when a Militia member entered the building and cocked his weapon right in front of me. Afterwards the building was surrounded by Timorese Militia (Aitarak or MILISI) and Indonesian Police (POLRI) who proceeded to shoot into the building at waist level through the windows. A rather uncomfortable hour or so was spent lying on the floor watching bullets make tiny holes in the walls around me. One estimate was that 4000 rounds were fired.
This was rather intimidating and I suffered a complete loss of high frequency hearing as a result of the barrage and I remember thinking what on earth I was doing there. Ten days later I was among the first to return to East Timor and I am still wondering what was I thinking in continuing this line of work…?
I have since learned that the shooting was done by BRIMOB rather than POLRI.
From ETAN.ORG :
- Brigade Mobil (in English, Mobile Brigade) is the ‘anti-riot’ branch of the Indonesian National Police which deals with special operations. A paramilitary organization, its training and equipment is almost identical to the Indonesian army’s (TNI), and it conventionally operates under joint military command in areas such as Papua and, until 2005, Aceh. Like Kopassus, Brimob personnel have been implicated in serious human rights abuses and continue to operate with near total impunity……
Brimob was deployed in substantial numbers in East Timor. According to police documents, 2,497, or almost half, of the Police deployed in East Timor by August 1999 were from Brimob. Its officers committed most of the police human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.
7 September 1999: Brimob fired directly into the UNAMET compound in Baucau for nearly an hour with apparent attempt to kill or injures. However, there were no injuries.
Among other things, I performed rigging duties during my service with the UN. These are photos taken in East Timor in 1999.
I was on Temporary Duty (TDY) with UNOMIG, Abkhazia for 9 Months from my Parent Mission UNIFIL – Naqoura, South Lebanon in 1997.
Here are a few photos scanned from my photo album.
While on TDY with UNOMIG in the Republic of Abkhazia, I sampled some local delicacies.
On the way to Tbiblisi, the capital of Georgia to do some antenna work, we stopped at a speciality restaurant on a mountain pass.
The dish is cattle hooves boiled in garlic soup with bits of stomach and intestines added. Delicious.
The last photo shows the famous dish Pelmeni, served in a roadside stall in Gali.
While on TDY in the Republic of Abkhazia, I had the opportunity to do some work on the Sukhumi TV tower. The tower had been damaged by shelling with one of the four legs shot through near ground level. A rather frightening structure.
The last picture shows the top of the Microwave tower in Ochamchira.
This photo was taken during rigging work in one of East Timor´s microwave towers left by the Indonesians.
This tower is located near Los Palos.
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During my time in the Republic of Abkhazia, where I spent 9 Months with UNOMIG in 1998 if I remember correctly, I went to see the famous Professor Pak, in Gagra who specialized in Healing with Fire, an ancient Korean healing method.
He treated me by burning something on my skin, which caused me some deep burns, but my back pain disappeared for a while as a result.
The treatment itself was quite painful as can be imagined.
The acupuncture treatment was a follow up treatment for the burns.
Some more photos from Abkhazia:
The beach in Baucau
Cemetary in East Timor
A typical cemetary in East Timor
Cockfight
A cockfight in Baucau
Cockfight in Baucau
A cockfight in Baucau
Collecting drinking water from the river bed in Manatuto
Drinking water in Manatuto is collected in holes dug into the river bed.
Raw sewage floats in the streets of Dili
Raw sewage on the street outside Dili’s finest restaurant The Delicious Blue.
Dili
The street near the Delicious Blue restaurant in Dili
Desabahu
Thor’s Tower in Baucau
Dili lighthouse
The Dili Lighthouse
the dishwasher
This dog cleaned the dishes in a restaurant in OeCussi
Electrician
An electrician at work in my house in Dili
Marconi
The living room of my house in Dili
village
A mountain village in East Timor
OeCussi house
A typical house in OeCussi
Koni
The Koni market in OeCussi
East Timorese
A native of OeCussi in traditional dress
Restaurant
The kitchen in an OeCussi restaurant
Papaya
Papaya grows all over East Timor
Dog Meat (RW)
4W6MM outside a restaurant in Viqueque which specializes in Dog Meat a delicacy popular in East Timor
Salt Mining
Salt mining near Dili
Timor bus
How many people can you squeeze into a car?
OeCussi girls
Girls in OeCussi
Chewing Betel
Chewing Betel Nut – a mild narcotic – makes the mouth red.
Near Manatuto
Near Manatuto
Los Palos
One of the few remaining traditional houses in East Timor. This one is in Los Palos
Dili Sunset
A tropical sunset in Dili
More photos from East Timor may be found in my galleries
2 Photos
21 Photos
21 Photos
46 Photos
21 Photos
The famous Smiling Chicken in Baucau
1 Photos
30 Photos
Da Costa visit to Los Palos, East Timor
20 Photos
24 Photos
59 Photos
40 Photos
28 Photos
64 Photos
38 Photos
7 Photos
13 Photos
57 Photos
72 Photos
13 Photos
100 Photos
84 Photos
Photos from Oecussi
54 Photos
11 Photos
30 Photos
210 Photos
42 Photos
40 Photos
1 Photos
7 Photos