Issue 76

Backgrounder

Sowing seeds to fight poverty and cultivate peace

"Peace is more than the absence of war. Peace is also about freeing people from poverty." Pope John Paul II

East Timor is Australia 's closest neighbour, lying 400 miles North West of Western Australia. It is a country which has experienced an extremely troubled and tragic recent history. Between 1975 and 1999, under Indonesian occupation, and during the post 1999 independence vote war, nearly one third of the East Timorese population were massacred and an even larger proportion of the population were displaced (forced to flee their homes). In May 2002, East Timor became an independent nation. Since that time, the East Timorese have been re-building their country, working towards peace and a sustainable future. The war in East Timor has now become a war against poverty.

The re-building of East Timor is still very much in its early stages. This re-building process is difficult because East Timor is a country that has suffered so much. One key issue that has arisen in this process is finding effective ways to maintain the newly established peace. East Timor is one of the poorest countries in the world. At the heart of maintaining and building peace is cultivating sustainable development in order to free the people from poverty. As Pope John Paul II said, " Peace is more than the absence of war. Peace is also about freeing people from poverty."

Caritas Australia is committed to working with the East Timorese people trying to alleviate poverty and maintain peace. Caritas works in partnership with Maria and her women's group. Maria comes from the village Nefobi in Ocussi, the most remote district of East Timor. The area of Ocussi was one of the worst affected by the Indonesian backed attacks, following the 1999 independence vote. During this time, thousands of people were massacred and nearly everything was destroyed; homes, hospitals, schools. Now that peace has been established, Nefobi, like many villages in East Timor needs to be re-built.

Maria is the garden coordinator for the women's group in her village. The group consists of over twenty women who are working together to improve the lives of people in Ocussi. The group is part of Caritas Australia's Rural Integrated Sustainable Development Program . The program f ocuses on sustainable development among the rural poor. It trains groups in seed selection and agricultural techniques. The program encourages people to establish gardens in order to increase food production and improve nutrition. For more information about this program go to www.caritas.org.au/ourwork/where_easttimor.htm

Activities that Maria's group are involved in include:

• Attending Caritas Agricultural Workshop's where participants receive seeds, materials and knowledge to establish a garden project.
• Cultivating a vegetable garden.
• Ongoing training to help improve agricultural practices in the area. This has included training in seed saving which is learning how to store seeds between different seasons so that when the village experiences a bad season they will still have seeds stored that will be used to grow vegetables.
• Raising chickens.

There are also plans in the garden group to diversify and add skills such as marketing, weaving and business. Maria and her group, with the help of Caritas Australia are trying to improve the health and nutrition of the people from their village. They are also working towards helping the village be more sustainable.

Initiatives such as this women's group are extremely important for East Timor . The new nation has many obstacles to overcome; alleviating poverty is probably the most crucial. Maria's group and others like it are extremely important in this process. They are sewing seeds to fight the war on poverty and cultivating them to help create a peaceful future.

Activities across the Curriculum

1a. Read the full story about Maria told in the backgrounder at: www.caritas.org.au/ourwork/pc04/materials/Secondary%20Stories%20-%20Project%20Compassion.pdf

b. Go to the Project Compassion activities at:
www.caritas.org.au/ourwork/pc04/materials/Secondary%20Activities%20-%20Project%20Compassion.pdf
and scroll down to activity 22 (Maria). Complete the activities.

(Note: The full story and pack is also available in the hard copy Project Compassion Pack)

2. ' Asia our Neighbour- East Timor' is a fantastic free video and workbook produced by Caritas Australia . The documentary traces the lives of two teenage boys' Laurence from Australia and Augustino from East Timor . Both boys face life threatening situations that force them to leave home. To download the work book go to www.caritas.org.au/easttimorvideo.html, to order your free copy of the video call 1800024413.

3. Read the following ozspirit backgrounders that relate to East Timor and complete the relevant activities:

East Timor: Too late for Justice at ozspirit.info/42.html

East Timor : Freedom follows 'conspiracy of silence' at ozspirit.info/05bg.html

HSIE

1. Caritas Australia in partnership with many people in East Timor is working to build a more sustainable future for the East Timorese. Three of the programs that Caritas is involved in are: Rural Integrated Sustainable Development Program, Human Rights Law, and Justice Program and Partnership Program. Go to the following website
www.caritas.org.au/ourwork/where_easttimor.htm
and read about these initiatives. Write a brief summary about the aims and accomplishments of each of the programs.

2. Imagine you have been asked to write a speech about Caritas programs in East Timor . Using the information from the backgrounder and the article from question 1 write a two minute speech (200 words) outlining the three programs Caritas is involved in. In your speech refer to the work being done by Maria's group. Make sure your speech has an introduction that outlines your key points and a conclusion that sums up your ideas.

3. Go to the following site www.caritas.org.au/ourwork/where_easttimor1.htm

a. Copy out the time-line.

b. Distribute each of the dates to different members of your class. Using the following site
home.vicnet.net.au/~mybetim/history.htm
and the google search engine www.google.com
to research the date you have been given. Find out specific details about the situation in East Timor during that year. Write down ten points for the date.

c. Present the findings to the class in chronological order.

Mathematics

1. Go to the following site: www.un.org/peace/etimor/UntaetB.htm
Read the article on East Timor 's recent history.

2. From the article find out the following figures that relate to the independence vote in August 1999.

a. The approximate population of East Timor at the time.

b. The number of people who were registered voters.

c. The percentage of people who were registered that actually voted.

d. The number of people who voted to reject autonomy and begin a process for independence.

e. The percentage of people who voted to reject autonomy and begin a process for independence.

f. The number of people who did not want to work towards independence.

g. The number of people who did not want to work towards independence.

3. Using the figures from 2a and 2b find out the percentage of East Timor 's population who were registered voters in 1999. (To do this calculation, divide the amount of people registered by the total population and times by 100).

4. Create a graph to show the results of the 1999 vote.

English

1. Go to the following site and read about UNTAET:
www.un.org/peace/etimor/etimor.htm
Answer the following questions:

a. What does UNTAET stand for?

b. Use the following site dictionary.reference.com
to find definitions for the following words: mandate, ballot, transition, capacity-building, self-government, autonomy, effective, administration.

c. Click on the 'mandate' icon at the UNTAET site and record the six elements of the UNTAET mandate.

d. In your own words write an explanation that outlines what the mandates of the UNTAET are.

Community and Parish Groups

1.Visit the East Timor Action Alert Network at www.etan.org
Click on the following link: www.etan.org/news/2004/01ausday.htm
and read the article 'Global Wake-Up Call for Australia: Stop Stealing East Timor's Resources & Trampling on Its New Independence'. If you agree, sign the petition or send a letter.

2. Read and discuss the Project Compassion speech given by Mark Raper SJ, Provincial of The Jesuits in Australia.
It can be read at: www.caritas.org.au/ourwork/pc04/latestnews_2502.htm

3. Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor addressing a summit on globalisation in Britain said

"Our greatest challenge at the beginning of the 21st century is poverty. Our greatest debt is the debt to our brothers and sisters in the poorest parts of the world. Our greatest hope is our common humanity and solidarity. And our greatest strength is our commitment to work together. I would like to think we can all take that message back to our communities, our institutions and our Governments..."

Discuss this statement in light of Australia 's responsibilities to our neighbour East Timor .

4. Go to the following site: www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/lawrpt/stories/s837504.htm
and read the article 'East Timor's Struggling Legal System'. Discuss the following:

a. Concerns you have over the direction the Administration in Dili is taking.

b. The activities of the War Crimes Tribunal in Indonesia .

c. Problems of land ownership in East Timor .

Other useful links

www.cet.tp/mainpage.htm

www.timoraid.org

www.undp.east-timor.org