ALTHOUGH she has visited other developing countries, it is Timor-Leste that has really stolen the heart of Madeleine Whitby, 22.
The Australian Catholic University student spent four weeks in the impoverished nation north of Australia earlier in the year.
"It was the first time I've been in a country that is still not politically stable," Ms Whitby said.
"There's always the smells and sounds that take you out of your comfort zone."
The young woman studying international development described her visit as her "overseas immersion experience" visiting the country's main cities and towns.
She sat in on classes where English was taught and where teachers were being trained as part of group of eight travelling around in a troop carrier with a local driver.
"We learned about self-sufficiency, water and environment sustainability and about permaculture."
Accommodation ranged from a home stay with a family of five to a convent.
"It is a very present culture — you can see the culture of the people before you."
One of the traditions she experienced firsthand was seeing women weave colourful adornments called tais.
Ms Whitby's trip was similar to those who want to undertake work with Palms Australia, an organisation established in 1958.
Palms also runs similar encounter trips to Kiribati.
The organisation has volunteer placements of about 20 months in extremely poor communities who work in the fields of IT, administration, law, health, permaculture, community development, accounting and engineering.
Volunteers are needed in Timor-Leste, India, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, Samoa, Ethiopia, South Africa and Thailand.
Details: palms.org.au
