CHRISTIAN MEDITATION IN EAST TIMOR
General Background
East Timor, the first nation of the new millennium, has an area of approximately 16,000 square kilometres and a population of around one million. This is a mixture of races, dating back to the original Melanesian inhabitants and Neolithic migrations from Central and Eastern Asia and the coming of the Tetum people from Malacca in the 12th century. The Portuguese took control of the eastern half of the island in the 16th century and the Dutch took over the western half in the following century, subsequently handing it to Indonesia in 1949. In the Japanese invasion during World War II the East Timorese assisted Australian troops and lost some 60,000 lives in the process. Portugal relinquished the colony in 1975 and Indonesia promptly invaded. Only Australia recognised the brutal occupation that cost the Timorese an estimated 100,000 lives. In 1991 a massacre at Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili highlighted the situation, as did the granting of the Nobel Peace Prize to Bishop Carlos Belo and José Ramos-Horta in 1996. Finally, in 1999 Indonesia allowed a referendum and over 80% voted for independence. By way of reprisal the Indonesian army, with militia groups controlled by them, burnt many towns, including the capital Dili, destroying about 70% of the economic infrastructure. Again, hundreds of thousands were killed or displaced. Australia responded, somewhat belatedly given previous warnings, by leading the International Force in East Timor (INTERFET). A United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) was established to oversee administration during the transition. Independence was proclaimed on 20 May 2002. The Fretilin leader, Xanana Gusmao, who had been captured by the Indonesians in 1992, was elected President and Mari Alkatiri became Prime Minister. The UN officially withdrew in mid-2004.
Gutted building Dili
Comoro Market Local shop Four legged shopper
(Click on thumbnail images to enlarge)
With a median age of 20, a growth rate of 2.11%, life expectancy of 65, literacy 48%, 42% below the poverty line, and 50% unemployment the above difficulties are only compounded. Thus there is a current concern for a more equitable sharing of oil resources in the Timor Sea. A seabed boundary closer to Timor than Australia was negotiated by the latter in 1972 with Indonesia, with whom it also entered the resource-sharing Timor Gap Treaty in 1989. In 2002 Australia and East Timor signed the Timor Seas Treaty which established a Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) giving East Timor 90% of revenues. However, East Timor receives nothing from three other fields which, if there were an equidistant boundary, it could lay claim to. As Australia withdrew from the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, there is no avenue of appeal by which East Timor might claim a more equitable boundary according to the principles of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The resultant bilateral negotiations with Australia have been protracted and show little sign of a more just solution. Some agricultural products and light industry are the only other source of revenue. The latter includes a typical woven cloth known as tais. Language is another problem. The official language is Portuguese, but this is not understood by younger people who grew up with Indonesian. Tetun is being established as a national language but has had no historical tradition of writing to standardise it. As can be understood from the population mix there are numerous languages used, either Austronesian such as Tetun and Kemak or non-Austronesian such as Makasae, Bunak and Fataluku. A tremendous work is being done in the area of literacy by the Mary MacKillop Institute of East Timor Studies.
Background to the visit
The original suggestion came from Dr Andrew McNaughtan who, through his experience in the country believed meditation might be a help to the people in dealing with the trauma resulting from atrocities suffered in their journey to independence. Having seen an interview with Fr Laurence Freeman he approached the Australian Christian Meditation Community late in 2002. The original plan was to go up early this year with Andrew, but his unexpected death in December 2003 changed that. The three who eventually went were Dr Colette Livermore, Richard Cogswell SC, and Michael Kelly OSB, assisted by a local translator, Joćo Isaias. Organising a suitable time that avoided exams, holidays and preferably the wet season (November - April) was not easy. Preparing a programme was an even greater challenge owing to the difficulties in communicating from Australia. All this took place in the course of a dozen meetings in Sydney. Another question was the format of presentation. At first we thought a Powerpoint production could be counterproductive, reflecting a western technology not readily accessible locally. Then a talk by Max Stahl, the reporter who filmed the Santa Cruz massacre, indicated the importance of the pictorial, so we had translations prepared in Tetun with images taken from the local context. Particularly striking were the images accompanying the similes prepared by Colette. Language was a problem as it was often difficult to find expressions in Tetun equivalent to the English. There was thus an ongoing process of simplification and refinement. Printed material was also available in Portuguese and Indonesian and Tetun.
One of Colette's images - "Meditation is like a horse, taking you to God"
Arrival
We arrived, via Adelaide and Darwin, on Friday 16 July to a temperature of 30 degrees. At first sight our accommodation at Timor Lodge, Dili was a little daunting. This consisted of what look like large containers, divided into five rooms with doors and windows punched in; another such unit formed the amenities block. We soon came to appreciate these rooms and that there were showers with hot and cold water - and the bushes beside the paths that were a convenient way to dry clothes. Discovering Dili also meant discovering where to eat. The favourite was the US$4 buffet, as well as trying the local eating places away from the 'foreigners' areas. Breakfast, taken in one of our rooms, was cereal using cut down plastic water bottles as bowls. Transport was another learning process. We started with taxis at US$1 around town (the currency is US$), and then progressed to 'Microlets' - vans with seats down the sides and usually crammed to the hilt. These were 10c a ride and the use of them by foreigners provoked some amusement, not least because of our size, which usually resulted in bruised heads and shoulders. This difference in size is indicative of the poor diet and consequent stunted growth. Both forms of transport are accompanied by much loud music. We also soon discovered a favourite internet spot that benefited greatly from our presence. Of the few available internet cafes some proved quite unreliable. This was the only form of written communication as no mail had left the country for three months! Apart from one demonstration and one bomb scare our time passed without incident.
Entrance to Timor Lodge
Accommodation Breakfast Travelling by microlet
Work Begins
Saturday was busy with meetings trying to fill in the gaps in our programme. We met at 8.30am with Fr Antonio Alves of St Anthony's Parish, Motael who was most jovial and confirmed a meeting with the catechists the following Saturday. Then to Sr Mary Stevens FDNSC at Becora; her companion, Sr Tess Ward, who was then in Australia, had been very helpful in making arrangements. At Balide Parish Fr Demetriou had arranged for some of the parish council to meet with us and plan a couple of sessions. A concern was expressed that faith, which had played such a large part in the peoples' struggle, was weakening now that freedom had been achieved. Over lunch we met Sr Michelle Reid SGS and, after stocking up at a supermarket, prepared for our journey to Aileu. This was a journey of one and a half hours into the mountains and was the first organised session, arranged by the Maryknoll Sisters. The sisters' house was destroyed in 1999 and they managed to get to safety on the last plane out of Dili. Electricity here is from 6.00pm till midnight and the telephone was only recently connected. Washing was bucket style from a large container in the bathroom area. We met with Fr Herminio, the parish priest, and next morning joined the Mass in Tetun with Fr Jovito who had been one of Andrew McNaughtan's key contacts. Following this was the first talk to a group of about fifty young people in a large meeting hut. They were keen to establish a couple of meditation groups. In the afternoon there was informal contact with the local community of the Secular Institute of Brothers and Sisters in Christ (ISMAIK) and in the evening a session with the five Maryknoll sisters and five volunteers. Next morning Richard and Michael left early for an appointment with the bishop in Dili. Colette held a further session in Aileu attended with enthusiasm by about 100 people.
Aileu - Youth leaders, Meeting hut, Colette & group, Burnt out home
Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva, recently appointed as bishop of Dili, was encouraging and happy for us to speak wherever we could. On the way back we registered at the Australian Embassy - just in case. This rather lavish building with tight security sits somewhat out of place in its poor surroundings. On Tuesday morning we met with the Salesians at their large complex not far from our lodgings. The priest in charge of youth, Fr Aderito was keen for us to speak to their group on Sunday afternoon and took us to the Carmelite sisters to involve their youth group as well. In the afternoon there was a visit to the Alola Foundation. There we met the Australian wife of the President of East Timor, Kirsty Sword-Gusmćo, who established the foundation in response to the plight of women, and we left some of the blankets, clothing and school items that had been given us to bring up. In the evening was a session with catechists and others of the Balide parish. This was the first opportunity to use the Powerpoint presentation which was enthusiastically received. The usual format of our sessions was an introduction in Tetun by Colette, a talk on meditation by Michael in English which was translated into Tetun by Joćo and, where possible accompanied by a Tetun text on screen, and a time for meditation introduced by Richard and again translated by Joćo. This was followed by a time for questions and discussion. A Tala (local gong) was purchased to signal the beginning and end of the meditation periods. Wednesday was free of presentations, but an opportunity to follow up on contacts, photocopying, etc. Thursday was a very interesting visit to Dare on the same road as Aileu. A crowded microlet was followed by a forty minute walk to the main house of ISMAIK and residence of its founder, Sister Maria Lourdes Martins da Cruz, commonly known as Mana Lu. This secular institute seeks to live with the poor and respond to their needs wherever these arise. Mana Lu came across as a very spiritual person, as well as eminently practical. We were invited to conduct a session in the afternoon and then given a lift back, visiting one of the institute's houses for the sick and elderly on the way.
ISMAIK community Dare
Alola Balide Dare - parlour Road to Dare
On Friday we again set off for the hills to Railako where Fr Bong SJ had asked us to speak to the catechists on Meditation and also Lectio Divina. A novelty was that a generator had been installed the previous day so this was the first use of a projector. There was a hitch in the first session as the projector refused to function, probably owing to a surge from the generator, but came good for the second session. On the return we stopped at the Ryder-Cheshire Foundation at Tibar and the Edmund Rice Centre in Dili where we met Srs Rita SGS, Gail RNDM and Br Vin CFC. Br Bill CFC was on the flight from Darwin which was turned back because of a bomb scare at Dili airport. That evening we met by chance over dinner two more generous volunteers, Rob and Anne Mills from Gladstone. The next morning it was off to the catechists at Motael parish in the morning and to another group including a number from the choir at Balide. On Sunday morning Michael presided at the English Mass at Ai Mutin in the Comoro parish and a number of people expressed interest in meditation during discussion after Mass. In the afternoon about sixty young people from Comoro, Tibar, the Carmelites and Dominicans attended the session at the Salesian centre. That evening Richard and Michael attended a fundraising dinner for East Timor's Olympic athletes at the Hotel Timor. Monday morning saw some more contacts and a visit to Santa Cruz cemetery, site of the 1991 massacre, and in the afternoon there was a session at the minor seminary. Finally, on Tuesday morning there was the last presentation at the Jesuit training house at Lahane. We also met the director of the Jesuit audiovisual centre, Fr Ruedi Hofman SJ, who was awaiting video footage that was taken when we were at Railako as part of a programme they were preparing. It is at this site that two Jesuits who were killed during the militia attacks, are buried. The rest of the day included a farewell to Joćo, taking some resources to Fr Rolando Fernandez SDB, director of the Salesian media centre and translator of the New Testament into Tetun, whom we had met the previous Sunday, and a meeting with staff at Fokupers, an association assisting women victims of violence. There was a real interest in meditation and it was a pity there was no time for further contact. Richard and Michael left on Wednesday morning and Colette returned to Aileu to give some medical assistance until the following Sunday.
Motael
Railako Salesians - Comoro Seminary Jesuit house
Conclusion
A tentative programme with many gaps resulted in a dozen sessions and some two dozen meetings with individuals or groups, one of them ecumenical. We heard concerns about the future of faith, injustice, violence, care for others and appreciation of a deeper awareness of the indwelling God and the role of silence. In meditation there is offered a way to seek peace with the God at the centre of our being, so that past wounds do not control us but that we are strengthened to face and deal with them positively. It is hoped that during this somewhat exploratory visit a seed has been planted that, with ongoing communication through some key contact people, can continue to grow and be of benefit. It was certainly a beneficial experience for us and we felt particularly strengthened through our meditation together. We are grateful for the prayers and help of so many that made it possible.
Michael, Joćo, Colette, Richard
Santa Cruz Cemetery Jesuit memorial Tala
Michael Kelly OSB, with acknowledgment to Colette Livermore for many of the photos.