Feedit-global - feed the need!.

Luke, a former soldier and  adventurer on what his latest "Feeding" challenge - Project 'Ro Halai Taru' - means to him:  'Ro Halai Taru' means, 'A Race on Sea and Land' in the Tetum (Timorese) language.

The project was a ten day awareness and fundraising adventure race between two brothers, Luke and Dan Gosling that was also about brotherhood between our nations.  The project included fundraising concerts in Australia and formed a part of the celebrations for East Timor's first year of self-government.

At noon on 10th May, 2003, Luke started sea-kayaking, sailing and mountain biking from Darwin in Northern Australia to Dili, East Timor.  A couple of days later his brother Dan, who had served in Timor twice with the Australian Peacekeeping Troops in 1999 and 2002, started running from the beautiful Tutuala Beach at the Eastern point of Timor, headed for the Capital - Dili.  Dan had a 300km run ahead of him (that’s more than a marathon a day and with no training!!).

Meanwhile, with a sail rigged on the sea kayak Luke was hoping to make good time across the Timor Sea but there was not a breath of the predicted 15 knot winds which resulted in very hot paddling mainly in the evenings and early morning. Eventually the support boat came into play to make it to Timor in time to get through immigration and customs and take to the bike leg.  The ride from the south coast up and over the 3,000 metre Ramelau mountain range meant that Luke was now crossing the island, ending the ride in Dili on the North Coast.

Luke and Dan met up as they simultaneously neared the finish line at the Government Palace on Dili Harbour on 20th May 2003, the first birthday of the now free - East Timor.

"We ran over the finish line neck and neck :) at 11 am on the 20th May after 10 days of racing over sea and land, we arrived amidst the tens of thousands of Timorese celebrating their first anniversary as a new nation.  It was great to have been a part of that and also to do something practical with the funds raised.  The funds raised went to the Alola Foundation and their work for improving Child and Maternal Health. We chose maternal health projects because in Timor 1 in every 10 babies doesn’t make it past one year old and maternal mortality is also high."

The adventure was successful in highlighting the diverse beauty of the country and laid the foundation for further development projects for Life, Love and Health, the volunteer Non Government Organisation started by Luke, family and friends, in 2002.