Sare Lari aldeia, Luro sub-district, Lautem district

Straddling either side of the northern and southern slopes, Luro is the smallest of the five sub-districts that make up the eastern-most district of Timor-Leste, Lautem. Much of the sub-district lies at elevations above 500 metres. By vehicle, it is reached by turning south and inland from the north coast road that links Baucau to Lautem’s district capital of Lospalos. With no road directly linking it to either the south coast or to Lospalos, Luro receives no through-traffic. The main centre of Luro is accessible by road, but some sucos can only be reached by 4WD vehicles, and several places are only accessible on foot, or on horseback. Therefore, contact with people from outside the local communities tends to be limited. Contact is further limited in that there is no electricity in Luro, and as in many places in Timor-Leste, mobile phone coverage is at best unreliable.

At an average nine households per square kilometre, Luro is the most densely settled sub-district in the district of Lautem but still below the national average. Within Luro there are six sucos, with the specific research site—the aldeia of Sare Lari—located in the southernmost suco of Barikafa. Luro is not far from large underground water reserves, and seasonal irrigation is a widespread practice among local farmers.

Although situated in Lautem district, where Fatalucu is the most commonly spoken mother tongue, the main languages spoken in Luro are Macassae, which is the majority language of Baucau district, and Sa’an, a language rarely encountered outside of a handful of villages, mainly within Luro. All of these languages belong to the Papuan language family. Another interesting linguistic feature of Luro, one that is peculiar to the districts of Lautem and Oecusse, is that Indonesian tends to be more widely spoken and understood than the national language of Tetun.  



Globalism Institute ©Copyright 2006