Elvira from Timor Leste : How a six-month farm season turned into a 2 1/2 year stay

Timor Leste or East Timor is one of Australia’s youngest near neighbours, gaining independence from Indonesia in 1999 after a referendum. But it was a difficult birth of a nation,  with violence and instability marring the transition to independence. This context  is relevant to Elvira's story, who was school age at the time of independence, and in this episode you’ll hear a little bit about her memories of that time and how her mother managed to anticipate the troubles ahead and send her to a safe place.Elvira, with many other East Timorese, came to Tasmania under the seasonal worker’s visa program in 2017, to pick berries on a farm near Launceston. Normally, she would stay for 6 months and go back, but of course,  2020 was not a normal year and a 6 month stay turned into 2 ½ years - 2 years separated from her daughter in East Timor.  Fortunately things worked out, and Elvira’s daughter was able to join her, and has settled into school in Launceston. Fortunately also, Elvira and most of the East Timorese were able to work on other farms around Australia throughout the period of border closures.