Dili Diaries - 2: Blood of the Martyrs

Timor Leste is a land of martyrs, women and children targeted first, and over a period political opponents, freedom fighters and young men were killed mercilessly between 1980 - 2000. Whereas the Santa Cruz massacre at the cemetery in Dili is the most well-known one, it is the massacre at the church of Our Lady at Covalima that touched me a lot during my stay in Timor-Leste.

This place had seen the massacre of over 150 people and 3 Priests in and around the old church by Indonesian army and the militia supported by them on 6, Sept 1999. The bloodied past became the seat of faith. I am so humbled to be at Suai.

On the fateful day, fearing the militia, people from the villages had gathered in the church, to support each other, to console one another as many relatives had been killed or imprisoned, and to pray to God. But the attackers shot people inside the church, women and children, as they ran out. Priests (2 Jesuits and one diocesan) were killed when they were getting the people out through the side door to the back of the church. Inside of the church gives a barren look now. See pictures.

The memorial with the bamboos was the place initially the bloodied bodies were kept. And the old church where the massacre took place is on its background. There are 3 smaller memorials on the spots where the priests fell to the ground. One of them is in the picture below.

The general and leaders who led the massacre were condemned and were tried for "action against humanity" by Indonesia and were acquitted. Yes, you read it right, "acquitted". Church services are being held at the new Church as the older one was to be turned to be a monument or a museum in memory. But hasn't taken shape. Year 2023 will remain as one of my most cherished Paschal celebrations, which I spent at Covalima.

Dili Diaries - 1: The Youth Bulge - Boon or a ticking bomb

Timor-Leste is literally a young nation - with 71.6% of its population being under the age of 35, according to 2021 census. 21.6% are youth (15 - 24 years), which is about 289,000 persons. This number may look small and uninteresting. However, given the opportunities and challenges, geography and development deficits, this is not as it seem to be. Education sector has a lot to catch up in this fledgling country, where the priorities have been put on economic indicators over the social indicators. If anything is to be learned from India, it is the states (mostly the southern states) that invested in the social sector (education and health mainly, with also focus on nutrition), have outperformed the states that invested mostly in economic development Ref: South or North: India's Better Performing Region? | The Great Indian Divide | Barkha Dutt (youtube.com). This should send out a message to Timor-Leste on the importance of investing in social sector development. It is true that economic development is important, and it is visible in the growing infrastructure. However, it cannot develop people and can develop quality of life only to an extent. Investing in education, especially girl child education, freeing up higher education, enabling quality health care services, and providing adequate nutrition to the young and vulnerable, will not be able to show the impact in a year or two, but will be highly visible in 10 years down the line.

Poland is a case in point, which also has about 30,000 children joining the youth age group annually. Poland was a Communist country that was inflicted with poverty. After the fall of communism, the country invested in education. It spends about 5% of its GDP on Education, with 27% on primary, and the rest shared between secondary and tertiary. The result was in about 15 years, Poland became a knowledge and skills hub. More companies moved in. Today, it's economic growth rate far outweighs several other European countries, and it continues to overtake some of the "developed" European countries. It is education first for Timor-Leste.

High poverty, lower education, ever igniting fights between the Martial Arts Groups, numerous political parties, very limited decentralization of political and economic powers beyond Dili - all these may function as a concoction for damaging the power of the youth. Their time is now. Investment in Education, Health and Nutrition - the key social sectors must start today, now. The youth bulge can be a blessing for the aging Southeast Asian countries, provided, Timor-Leste invests in its youth for tomorrow.