Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - Laura Lalor, an alumna from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, is working with the United Nations Development Program in the Poverty Reduction and Community Rehabilitation Unit to alleviate poverty and provide emergency relief. Lalor is currently stationed in East Timor, an island country off the west coast of Australia.

The UN puts Lalor under contracts, lasting approximately one year, depending on the severity and urgency of the situation. Part of Lalor's job is working with donors and implementing and planning projects that improve livelihoods, like installing a new well, sanitation system or school, within a budget. The other part of her job requires her to meet and talk with local residents to find out their needs and to follow up to see the impact of recent projects.

Her current project is in East Timor working as a project officer in Oecussi, an enclave that is surrounded by Indonesian territory. While East Timor has been independent for five years, the previous war destroyed much of the infrastructure. But the country is bouncing back, having held its first free presidential elections in early April. Jose Ramos-Horta was sworn in as the new president in May.

The project's focus is on basic community development projects like cattle fattening, upland agriculture, such as terracing, hedging and rice and peanut production, and developing self help groups with the goal of starting a microfinance institution in the area. The enclave of Oecussi has traditionally been a cattle exporting area, but since the war, cattle breeders have been unable to legally sell their cattle over borders because the borders between Indonesia and Oecussi have been closed. The UN is attempting to export cattle by ferry and has built an abattoir with the intention of establishing an export market for dried meat. As part of the project, Lalor is helicoptered into Oecussi for one week every month. There she communicates with residents determining their needs and following up on recent projects.

"Your eyes open up to a totally different world. It's rewarding to get to know people from such a different culture," Lalor said.

Lalor has also had contracts in Gambia, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Liberia. Last summer in Liberia, Lalor and her co-workers worked with the non-governmental organization (NGO) Concern. alongside the World Food Program for six months, providing Liberian residents with rice to eat as well as seed rice and hoes, axes and picks so residents could grow their first crop after returning home from years of living in refugee camps in Guinea.

"It's the little things that are rewarding I see people easily accept their fate in life after they've been through such horrible things. They are so selfless. It is also rewarding seeing the rice seeds grow and knowing that the people will not starve," Lalor commented.

Lalor said she has met people from nearly everywhere in the world because of her travels. Her work has also given her the opportunity to experience other cultures. In East Timor, ancient culture is mixed with modern culture. A primarily Catholic country, Lalor has seen little girls dressed in white dresses for their first communion, and then seen the town chief in traditional costume with head feathers. Lalor added that East Timor has beautiful dancing and stunning scenery. The staple foods in the daily diet include rice, fish and fruit. Lalor commented on how healthy the diet is since there is no packaged, processed or fast food.

Lalor's interest in traveling was further sparked by her participation in agriculture judging teams, where she traveled throughout the United States for competitions. She later went on a student exchange with the Communicating Agriculture Exchange Programme to Germany where she worked on a dairy farm that also showed their cattle. While on exchange, Lalor traveled throughout Europe to Finland, Poland, Italy and France. It was then that Lalor got "the bug" as she put it for traveling. She loved all the different foods, fashions, customs and traditions of European countries. After graduation, she went back to Ireland to work at a cattle artificial insemination station, which at the time was what she wanted to do for her career. After several years in Ireland, Lalor decided to work in development, but before she could do that, she needed to further her education, so in Ireland, she earned master's degrees in international studies and global health.

Lalor advises anyone thinking about going abroad to work, "Just do it. Don't doubt yourself for a second. It's such a reward. Push out your boundaries and constantly challenge yourself. You are given this amazing opportunity to see how the world works and to view it from a different angle. I can't imagine not traveling."

Lalor graduated from UWP in December of 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in animal science. In her free time, Lalor enjoys cycling, hiking, swimming, snorkeling on the East Timor reefs and playing soccer with the local children.

Lalor said that college opened up the door for her. She never foresaw that she would be working with the UN and said it took a lot of hard work, perseverance and a little luck.

"Traveling can be addicting, but you won't regret it. It's what you make of it," said Lalor.

Contact: Laura Lalor, lauralalor@ireland.com

Prepared by: Krystle Kurdi, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, kurdik@uwplatt.edu