more from timor, june 28th
Alo
So, yet again, it’s been a while since I’ve managed to get to a computer with internet… I am glad that you’ve called every now and again, so I don’t feel so bad about not emailing enough ☺
I’m sure you’ve been watching far more news than I have had a chance to see, but let me tell you about what it’s like here from my perspective.
A very important word in Timor is “Situasaun”, which easily translates to “the situation”. Everyday, people talk about the “sutuasaun” – it occupied most of the conversations we have! Most information is based on what we see around us, and from text messages that circulate rapidly through the ngo community. It’s funny that way, that most of what we hear is based rumour, and then speculation about what might happen if the rumour is true.
Around the city, during the days it has been relatively calm… the mass protests again PM Mari Alkatiri turned to two days of mass celebration after he resigned. People have been driving around in lori trucks and cars, filled to the brim with young people, some with big banners against Alkatiri, and big pictures of Xanana Gusmao. Some even had effigies of Alkatiri. A few trucks had people that were painted (faces and bodies). The trucks have been driving around town all day in a huge line, so getting stuck behind the protesters was a major pain for traffic! Yesterday, we saw the line up at the gas station, and counted at least 69 trucks in a row.
Until he resigned, there were a few days also of uncertainty. With growing numbers of protesters, there was concern that they would get frustrated and violence would be more likely. For instance, on Sunday, I was out at a beach all afternoon with Katerina (from AustCare, who I’ve been staying with) and her housemate Emily, and a bunch of other internationals…. It was absolutely beautiful, and we stayed to watch the sunset. But then the text messages started flying with news that Jose Ramos Horta (nobel prize winner and Foreign Minister) had resigned, and there was fear about how people would take that news… We were had just arrived at a restaurant on the beach for a late dinner, and had just ordered, but decided to get the food to go and get home. Early that morning, we heard a few distant gunshots, but otherwise, nothing materialised. (And, there were claims that what we thought were gunshots were actually celebratory fireworks set off by Portuguese for the world cup win!).
So, Alkatiri resigned, and Monday and Tuesday were full of speculation about what would happen with government – who would be the new PM? would Xanana (the much loved President) have total control? would Ramos Horta get his job back? would this satisfy the people who wanted the PM to resign? and perhaps more importantly, what would come of the recent problems between East and West in Timor-Leste???
And later on Tuesday, we started to hear news that many people from the Eastern districts were massing, to come into Dili. Apparently, from what I’ve heard, it’s not that they necessarily support Alkatiri, but they support the Constitution and the Fretilin party which was elected into power, and they don’t want Xanana to form a one-person government. Anyway, these are the rumours.
Last night, I went to a little going away party for some one moving to work in Ache (Indonesia), and three Aussie soldiers were also there. They were fairly confident that the new protesters were being slowed down and checked at established check-points before they could actually get into Dili. And, we discovered today that the protesters either chose not to come into Dili, or were actually stopped by the international forces. These Aussie boys also told us that most serious weapons (guns) have already been seized from Dili. (as a side note, just the other night, we ran into a couple of tanks on the road near Katerina’s house… the Aussie force had received information of a cache of ammunitions belonging to some one with Timorese military connections, and they were raiding that house).
Anyway, since this morning, there has been a lot of continued uncertainty of what will happen between protesters who support of Alkatiri and/or the Constitution, and the people here who are happy to see him leave. There are also reports that Xanana ordered Alkatiri’s arrest, in regards to involvement in weapons and the killing of opposition supporters (or something)… Watching the news this afternoon (finally!!), we see that more homes were burned last night, but the day has been quiet. So, as it’s been the past month, we just don’t know how things will pan out. Every day here seems different. People say in Tetum, “today is not tomorrow”.
I will continue to be careful, for instance, not travelling through any hot spots in the city, staying home when we hear rumours of new protests, etc. I still don’t feel any risk to myself, which might seem strange given the situation… but no one is targeting foreigners (called “malae” here), and I am honestly more concerned about the staff, and all Timorese people who just want peace and things to return to normal.
And life goes on. This very moment, I am at the Ba Futuru office with the three staff still in Dili, waiting from Phyllis (Sean’s mother) to return so we can finish planning the new Ba Futuru project. I don’t think I’ve even had time to tell you about what’s been going on for work, so let me try here…
There are still four staff in Baucau. The project there were working on there just finished yesterday, but given the uncertainty here in general, especially for a bunch of girls from the East, they will have to stay in Baucau until we feel safe picking them up and bringing them back into Dili. But, hopefully that will happen soon… We are waiting for confirmation (based on a final proposal that needs to be completed) from UNICEF, Care International, and Caritas for funding of a new Dili project. There are 50-somthing IDP camps in Dili, some of which are very large (1000s of people), and others with only a small number of families. Major emergency response organizations have divided the camps, and each organization is responsible for a certain camps. And different organizations have taken on responsibility for various aspects of camp life – food, tents, child-safe spaces activities, medical care, etc.
Ba Futuru has been participating in the Child-Protection working group in Dili, and has taken responsibility to do informal educational activities with kids (aged 8-18) in three of the smaller camps. We have created a shortened version of the curriculum, that still has conflict resolution, human/child rights, trauma/healing, arts and drawing, and now includes a small section on health and hygiene. So, we’ve been very busy running to different meetings and finishing the new edition of the curriculum to print.
If everything stays calm enough for us to start implementation, I think it will be really a really good project. Kids in the camps have nothing to do, schools have closed, and especially younger children must have trouble understanding what is going on and why they are not living at home. At the same time, part of getting life here back to normal involves getting people to stop relying on “malae” for safety and return to their homes and go on with life. It’s a big dilemma – you obviously have a moral obligation to stop suffering, and keep people safe and healthy, but supporting the camps also drags out the situation (whatever it will turn out to be). But, really, this dilemma is not something directly related to Ba Futuru, because education is also important and more sustainable than the emergency response activities. But, nevertheless, it’s something to think about.
Anyway, I figure this is long enough for now ☺
It is definitely an interesting time to be in this country.
So, yet again, it’s been a while since I’ve managed to get to a computer with internet… I am glad that you’ve called every now and again, so I don’t feel so bad about not emailing enough ☺
I’m sure you’ve been watching far more news than I have had a chance to see, but let me tell you about what it’s like here from my perspective.
A very important word in Timor is “Situasaun”, which easily translates to “the situation”. Everyday, people talk about the “sutuasaun” – it occupied most of the conversations we have! Most information is based on what we see around us, and from text messages that circulate rapidly through the ngo community. It’s funny that way, that most of what we hear is based rumour, and then speculation about what might happen if the rumour is true.
Around the city, during the days it has been relatively calm… the mass protests again PM Mari Alkatiri turned to two days of mass celebration after he resigned. People have been driving around in lori trucks and cars, filled to the brim with young people, some with big banners against Alkatiri, and big pictures of Xanana Gusmao. Some even had effigies of Alkatiri. A few trucks had people that were painted (faces and bodies). The trucks have been driving around town all day in a huge line, so getting stuck behind the protesters was a major pain for traffic! Yesterday, we saw the line up at the gas station, and counted at least 69 trucks in a row.
Until he resigned, there were a few days also of uncertainty. With growing numbers of protesters, there was concern that they would get frustrated and violence would be more likely. For instance, on Sunday, I was out at a beach all afternoon with Katerina (from AustCare, who I’ve been staying with) and her housemate Emily, and a bunch of other internationals…. It was absolutely beautiful, and we stayed to watch the sunset. But then the text messages started flying with news that Jose Ramos Horta (nobel prize winner and Foreign Minister) had resigned, and there was fear about how people would take that news… We were had just arrived at a restaurant on the beach for a late dinner, and had just ordered, but decided to get the food to go and get home. Early that morning, we heard a few distant gunshots, but otherwise, nothing materialised. (And, there were claims that what we thought were gunshots were actually celebratory fireworks set off by Portuguese for the world cup win!).
So, Alkatiri resigned, and Monday and Tuesday were full of speculation about what would happen with government – who would be the new PM? would Xanana (the much loved President) have total control? would Ramos Horta get his job back? would this satisfy the people who wanted the PM to resign? and perhaps more importantly, what would come of the recent problems between East and West in Timor-Leste???
And later on Tuesday, we started to hear news that many people from the Eastern districts were massing, to come into Dili. Apparently, from what I’ve heard, it’s not that they necessarily support Alkatiri, but they support the Constitution and the Fretilin party which was elected into power, and they don’t want Xanana to form a one-person government. Anyway, these are the rumours.
Last night, I went to a little going away party for some one moving to work in Ache (Indonesia), and three Aussie soldiers were also there. They were fairly confident that the new protesters were being slowed down and checked at established check-points before they could actually get into Dili. And, we discovered today that the protesters either chose not to come into Dili, or were actually stopped by the international forces. These Aussie boys also told us that most serious weapons (guns) have already been seized from Dili. (as a side note, just the other night, we ran into a couple of tanks on the road near Katerina’s house… the Aussie force had received information of a cache of ammunitions belonging to some one with Timorese military connections, and they were raiding that house).
Anyway, since this morning, there has been a lot of continued uncertainty of what will happen between protesters who support of Alkatiri and/or the Constitution, and the people here who are happy to see him leave. There are also reports that Xanana ordered Alkatiri’s arrest, in regards to involvement in weapons and the killing of opposition supporters (or something)… Watching the news this afternoon (finally!!), we see that more homes were burned last night, but the day has been quiet. So, as it’s been the past month, we just don’t know how things will pan out. Every day here seems different. People say in Tetum, “today is not tomorrow”.
I will continue to be careful, for instance, not travelling through any hot spots in the city, staying home when we hear rumours of new protests, etc. I still don’t feel any risk to myself, which might seem strange given the situation… but no one is targeting foreigners (called “malae” here), and I am honestly more concerned about the staff, and all Timorese people who just want peace and things to return to normal.
And life goes on. This very moment, I am at the Ba Futuru office with the three staff still in Dili, waiting from Phyllis (Sean’s mother) to return so we can finish planning the new Ba Futuru project. I don’t think I’ve even had time to tell you about what’s been going on for work, so let me try here…
There are still four staff in Baucau. The project there were working on there just finished yesterday, but given the uncertainty here in general, especially for a bunch of girls from the East, they will have to stay in Baucau until we feel safe picking them up and bringing them back into Dili. But, hopefully that will happen soon… We are waiting for confirmation (based on a final proposal that needs to be completed) from UNICEF, Care International, and Caritas for funding of a new Dili project. There are 50-somthing IDP camps in Dili, some of which are very large (1000s of people), and others with only a small number of families. Major emergency response organizations have divided the camps, and each organization is responsible for a certain camps. And different organizations have taken on responsibility for various aspects of camp life – food, tents, child-safe spaces activities, medical care, etc.
Ba Futuru has been participating in the Child-Protection working group in Dili, and has taken responsibility to do informal educational activities with kids (aged 8-18) in three of the smaller camps. We have created a shortened version of the curriculum, that still has conflict resolution, human/child rights, trauma/healing, arts and drawing, and now includes a small section on health and hygiene. So, we’ve been very busy running to different meetings and finishing the new edition of the curriculum to print.
If everything stays calm enough for us to start implementation, I think it will be really a really good project. Kids in the camps have nothing to do, schools have closed, and especially younger children must have trouble understanding what is going on and why they are not living at home. At the same time, part of getting life here back to normal involves getting people to stop relying on “malae” for safety and return to their homes and go on with life. It’s a big dilemma – you obviously have a moral obligation to stop suffering, and keep people safe and healthy, but supporting the camps also drags out the situation (whatever it will turn out to be). But, really, this dilemma is not something directly related to Ba Futuru, because education is also important and more sustainable than the emergency response activities. But, nevertheless, it’s something to think about.
Anyway, I figure this is long enough for now ☺
It is definitely an interesting time to be in this country.
posted by melissa at 8:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home