Rape, sterilization, and murder – only some of the many atrocities citizens of East Timor had to face during their enslavement - were finally put to an end seven years ago, in 1999, when the Indonesian military was forced out of East Timor by the United Nations. Nova High School students celebrate the anniversary of this day, as well as the anniversary of the day Nova established its link with Kay Rala, a high school in East Timor.
The country was destroyed by the Indonesian military with the financial aid of the United States Government, and has received little to no reparations since. During their enslavement, East Timorese were raped, sterilized, and murdered by the Indonesian military occupying the country at the time. It wasn’t for twenty-four years after the Indonesian military invaded that East Timor won its independence. Their de facto independence was short-lived, however. Before leaving, the Indonesian military laid waste to the country, demolishing over 70% of the buildings, and killing thousands of people. The grand total of the murders committed by the Indonesian military while they were occupying East Timor amounts to nearly two-hundred-thousand – an amount greater than any since the Holocaust. They have yet to recover from the brutal blows they’ve received and need all the help they can get.
Nova High School established a sister school link with Kay Rala High School in April 2002. The project was first launched by Ashley Barnard, a Nova student, and has since had the participation of many other Nova students. The goal of the project is to help raise people’s awareness of the East Timor tragedy and get funding to help the country’s people. The funding we raise goes to pay for the education of students at our sister school and to their local hospital. Our focus is in the area of Manatuto, a small town in East Timor.
It was in 2005 that Joe Szwaja, along with multiple students active in the East Timor project, traveled to East Timor. This not only strengthened Nova’s relationship with Kay Rala, but it also created the opportunity to bring back first-hand footage of the sister school and the situation the East Timorese are in. This footage was turned into a movie and has inspired many students to join the project. Seeing the suffering in the video has helped raise the consciousness of Seattleites and inspired many of them to help the world’s newest country.
Quotes From Nova Students and Staff
· Ciron Wade: “After going to East Timor I really feel in perspective knowing that less than 20% of the world’s people live in first world countries while the rest of the world is poorer.”
“I really connected with other kids my age and the culture there.”
· Evan Rodd: “We made some really good friends with some high school students there just over the course of a week and it was just really amazing to know what they had lived through.”
· Maren Wenzel: “We stayed at a little hotel that was mostly Australian and UN workers but even there it was like your sleeping more or less in a boxcar.”
· Ramona Freeborn: “They really liked teaching us songs”
“It was very powerful to get to see such a new country”
· Joao Guterrez ( East Timorese Teacher) : “We aren’t different at all. You are from America and I am from East Timor. But we are all together - all in one.”
· Joe Szwaja (Nova High School Teacher) “This project has been a great way for Nova students to learn about current events, U.S. Government and World History in a hands on way. East Timor’s victorious and mostly peaceful struggle for independence, despite the opposition of our government, is one of the greatest David and Goliath stories of all time. Our school is honored to have played a small part in assisting David ( East Timor). We hope that Seattleities will continue to support our sister school via generous financial contributions. At our school and our class we believe that we owe it to the East Timorese to provide them with reparations (not charity) to help them rebuild their country, as, unfortunately, it was our US tax dollars that did so much to tear their country apart."
· Ashley Barnard: "The US kids who went on the trip feel really strongly now that if our government is doing something like supporting the Indonesian military and what they did in East Timor, we need to stand up for people around the world.”
“I know the kids in Manatuto love the connection and really want to keep the sister school project alive.”
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Local News Articles About Our Project
The Sister School Project's Members
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For more information about East Timor and what you can do to help on the national level, please visit the ETAN Official Website