"…you are close to my heart”

Antonio lives on an island due north of Timor Leste’s capital city. It’s harsh and hot on At’Auro Island. A giant rock protruding from the sea, At’Auro is an unshielded receptacle for heat. The sole of my boat shoes even melted off on the boat ride there—the extreme heat and water too much for its glue. The hot climate makes farming incredibly difficult. Something that Antonio knows all too well…

Antonio proudly shows his fishing baskets | Photo by Daniel Christianz

Antonio was a maker of traditional bamboo fishing pots in his Makili village. But thirty years ago, numb patches spread slowly across his skin. He also experienced repeated fevers.

“I didn’t understand what this illness was. I didn’t know that treatment was available.”
—Antonio

It wasn’t until the year 2000 that Antonio received a diagnosis on his mysterious ailment. Some doctors came to the island and identified the disease. It was leprosy. Antonio was finally relieved of his uncertainty. His illness could be managed. He could be cured. The doctors placed Antonio on a course of Multi-drug Therapy. His fevers stopped, though some numbness on his arm would remain.

Antonio with his pigs | Photo by Daniel Christianz

In 2003 Antonio joined a Self Care Group that you support. This Self Care Group equipped Antonio with the skills needed to prevent disability. He was also introduced to a community of people where he would make close, supportive friends. This group became the Makili Self Help Group several years later and set about improving the opportunities available to its members. Antonio and the other members contribute $5 a week to the group’s savings fund. Through this fund Antonio was able to buy a pig. This pig has since had 8 piglets! Antonio has been able to sell the piglets and use the money to support his children to attend school and to buy better food for his family. He’s also been able to afford three more pigs with the profit.

Antonio’s new income as a pig farmer has helped him afford things he couldn’t afford while only working as a maker of traditional bamboo fishing pots. Though with rising temperatures, the pigs in Makili suffer from heatstroke and are struggling to survive. Coconut farming too—once a profitable business—is also struggling in the harsh weather. Fishing remains the only reliable income but it’s something that people affected by leprosy, with sensation-loss or disabilities, can’t always perform safely. The Makili Self Help Group are currently exploring new ways they might generate a sustainable income.

Antonio and his wife Alexandrina have five children. The oldest is the teacher at Emiliana’s school—you can read Emiliana’s powerful story in the August issue of ACTION Magazine. Antonio and Alexandrina’s three other children have also married and left home. Their youngest is thirteen and is obtaining an education at the local high school thanks to your support.