One day in the 1990s, Maria Alice Marquez Viola, a Portuguese anthropologist, arrived in Larantuka, East Flores. She visited Tuan Ma, a small local chapel, because she had heard a group of housewives prayed in Portuguese there.

The prayer group, known as Mama Muji, makes their prayer in Tuan Ma every Saturday. But, after visiting the chapel and listening to Mama Muji, Marques Viola was surprised to discover that she could understand very