Robert Michael Poole

At 15,410 sq km, East Timor is itself one of the world’s smallest countries. The temptation to make one more step over water to an even smaller island is strong though, and so on my third day exploring, I got up at 5 a.m. and prepared for a morning “ferry” over a crevasse that dips 3500 meters below sea level, to Atauro.

Timor Leste, as it is known locally, has become a major producer of coffee. Yet the people who grow it live in extreme poverty. I went to explore the mountainous regions to see for myself the life of coffee bean pickers.