Book #2 - Mundu ne'ebé Maromak halo

God made the world. The children look around them and everything that they can see has been made by God. Grandmother tells them the story of creation....

This is my second book - Mundu ne'ebé Maromak halo – or The World that God made. It represents a dramatically steep learning curve for me, because I decided to publish this book 'properly'. I had to learn what it means to become a publisher. I had to learn all about ISBNs and how to use them. I needed to know the legal requirements for published matter and I had to learn to talk to printers. By the grace of God, the cheapest quote I had was from a local man who had a vast deal of experience in printing for Timor Leste and could advise me on many aspects of the job, including choosing suitable paper.

I decided to print under the imprint Grasa Mesak, which I have already translated for you here. The print run was very small, just 500 copies, but was funded exclusively by a very special group of people: the tiny congregation of Seaford Presbyterian Church. Their support was invaluable!

God made the birds and fish.....

The book was translated by Samuel Marcal, the man who translated the first of my books. It concludes with a Tetun translation of Psalm 8. The illustrations were done entirely on my computer using Corel Painter - a program that imitates artist's media and methods. It was tremendous fun but took a lot of hard work.

I was very blessed in that I was able to take the entire print run to Timor myself, thanks to the generousity of friends and family. It was wonderful to be able to meet some of the people to whom I had only previously communicated by email. I also met some very friendly children who patiently talked with me, despite my slow and awkward Tetun. It was much harder to understand the adults, who spoke too fast, but in Timor, so many people will respond to the minimal amount of dialogue. Everywhere I went, people would smile and respond to 'Bondia!'

In Dili, I handed out copies of the books to children in Sunday School. In Liquica, a young boy delighted me by reading my book to me in Tetun. In Gleno Town, a group of little boys were itching to peek into the box I brought.....full of books.

A girl in Dili reads her new book

Boys in Gleno Town examining
'Mundu ne'ebé Maromak halo'