Summary of Timor-Leste Culture Week

I ♥ Timor -Leste Culture Week 14-18 May 2007 Schedule of Events

Presented by

The Foundation for Post Conflict Development and The Gabarron Foundation

in cooperation with

The Permanent Mission of Timor-Leste to the United Nations

Space is limited, kindly RSVP for all events to RSVP@gabarronfoundation.org

The Gabarron Foundation Carriage House Center for the Arts is located at 149 East 38th Street New York City

Monday 14 May

Opening Evening Musical Performance, “Voices in Union” by Rose Bapier Productions

7:00 PM Cocktails
7:15 PM Welcoming Remarks
7:30 PM Musical Performance

Rose Bapier Productions is a non-profit organization that links world class artists and unusual musical repertory to social issues by creating programs and concerts designed to bring people together. The organization's mission is to contribute to the welfare and betterment of people worldwide and strengthen communal ties globally by using the art of music as a unifying vehicle.

Rose Bapier Productions is collaborating with the Foundation for Post Conflict Development to begin a journey of cultural preservation and restoration of legacy on behalf of Timor-Leste and strengthen its connection to the western world through introduction of the Country's musical tradition. Through this collaboration, Rose Bapier will show that while two different countries can have different instruments, sounds and rhythms in their music, the similarities in how music is used and the emotions expressed in the music are the same.

The legacy of Timor-Leste, which has been transmitted verbally through its folklore, traditional songs, lullabies and children's stories have been deliberately displaced. Because so much human loss has occurred at the same time, few elders are left to rekindle the roots. Rose Bapier is making a first effort to invoke some elements of the tradition that have been shared so far.

For more information please visit http://www.rosebapier.com

Tuesday 15 May

Photo Slide Show - "Fabric of a Nation"

by Carlito Caminha & Chrystine Hanley

Guest Speaker: Ambassador Grover Joseph Rees III (invited)
Former United States Ambassador to Timor-Leste

6:30 PM Refreshments

7:00 PM Photo Presentation followed by remarks by Ambassador Rees

Ambassador Grover Joseph Rees III Professional background: In October 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed Ambassador Grover Joseph Rees as Special Representative for Social Issues. As Special Representative, Ambassador Rees promotes the United States agenda on human dignity, including issues affecting vulnerable persons and families, within the United Nations system.

Ambassador Rees served as the first U.S. Ambassador to East Timor from 2002 to 2006, immediately following eight years of work on the Foreign Affairs Committee in the United States House of Representatives, where he had principal responsibility for human rights and refugee protection. 1991 to 1993 he served as General Counsel of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Rees was Chief Justice of the High Court of American Samoa from 1986-1991 and later worked on a landmark legal case in the United States' prosecution of human trafficking.Prior to his work in Washington, Rees served for seven years as a law professor at the University of Texas. He has written and spoken widely on international law, human rights, refugees, and related issues.

Education: Rees obtained his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his law degree from Louisiana State University Law School.Personal: Rees was born in New Orleans, the oldest of 12 children. He is married to Lan Dai Nguyen Rees and has one son. His permanent home is in Lafayette, Louisiana.Languages: In addition to English, Ambassador Rees speaks French, Spanish, Portuguese, Samoan, and Tetum.


Ze'sopol Carlito Caminha is a former independence activist for Timor-Leste with RENETIL (The National Resistance of East Timorese Students). He is one of the founders and former editor in chief of TALITAKUM, an investigative magazine first produced in Jakarta in 1998 and published in Timor-Leste until 2005. He studied Business Administration in Jakarta and was first introduced to photography during Timor's struggle for independence when he smuggled a camera into the jail cell of current President Xanana Gusmão. Since then, his photos have been published widely in Timor's and international media.

Carlito has a Postgraduate Certificate in Journalism from the University of Queensland Australia and was a Human Rights Advocate in 2004 with the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University. Carlito has also studied Black & White Photography at the Educational Alliance Art School in New York City. In July 2005, Carlito worked voluntarily with FilmAid International, providing journalism and photography training to young refugees in camps in Kibondo, on the border of Tanzania and Burundi. He is a permanent photography trainer at the Centro de Formação em Relações Públicas for Timor-Leste¹s Government. He is one of the founders and is current head of Timor-Leste Photographers' Association (TiLPA).

Chrystine Hanley took up photography at age 6 and continued shooting on travel throughout the U.S. and Central America. Most recently, her work has focused on the rich culture and natural splendor of the Indonesian archipelago – particularly Bali and Lombok. Chrystine has traveled to Timor-Leste numerous times in the last years to capture vivid images of Timor and its people, one of the world’s youngest democracies. The crisis of 2006 brought frequent visits to centers for internally-displaced persons (IDPs), churches and missions to document the shocking changes in Timorese life and culture brought on by political strife and consequent massive internal displacement.

Prior to her time in Asia, Ms. Hanley managed multi-million dollar business portfolios with numerous Fortune 500 companies, focused on New York’s bustling retail market. With more than 15 years of progressively responsible experience in human resource and financial management, her career focus has been on leading and growing businesses, utilizing creative branding strategies and technical execution of business standards and events. She specializes in staff development, delivering core training in strategic planning, leadership, diversity, skills assessments, crisis management, as well as analyst walkthroughs and meetings.

Besides developing a lifestyle travel business model Chrystine is working with a network of talented photographers to initiate PhotoSafari, an innovative approach to travel and photography. Future projects include looking to sponsor promising youth to attend photo classes and safari’s and holding a camera drive for the ‘I ♥ Timor-Leste’ Culture Week to be given to youth in Dili. Her latest business endeavor, Bali Ultimate Experiences, raises the bar for meticulously planned and executed travel. Ms. Hanley’s primary residence is NYC, with a guest residence in Bali, Indonesia.

For more information please visit http://www.baliultimateexperiences.com/.


Wednesday 16 May

Preview Screening of Ted Folke’s Sequel to Award Winning Documentary Film

East Timor: Betrayal and Resurrection - Timor-Leste: Nation Building 101

6:30 PM Refreshments
7:00 PM Remarks by John Miller, National Coordinator of East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) followed by film

Ted Folke is a Swedish documentary director based in Thailand. Folke has written and directed a number of award-winning documentary films dealing with international issues, including SHELTER FOR THE HOMELESS, FOOTNOTES TO A WAR, and TO BE 30. Most recently, he wrote and directed the independent documentary feature EAST TIMOR: BETRAYAL AND RESURRECTION, shown at the World Film Festival in Bangkok in 2003, and the International Festival of the Hamptons in 2004, and which won the United Nations Correspondents' Associations Ricardo Ortega Gold Medal for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism in 2004. He is a 1983 graduate of the Directors' Line of Sweden's Dramatiska Institutet, and worked for the United Nations in Timor-Leste in 2000 as a television producer for UNTAET. He is currently writing a doctoral thesis for Sweden's University of Lund titled DIGITAL FILM IN POST CONFLICT SOCIETIES

For more information please visit http://www.easttimorfilm.com/

John M. Miller co-founded the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) in 1991. He is ETAN's National Coordinator and has been on staff since late 1996. He is UN Representative of the International Federation for East Timor and coordinates ETAN's New York chapter. He is also corresponding Secretary for the NGO Committee for Human Rights at the United Nations in New York. He served as staff for the Parliamentarians for East Timor observer mission to the 1999 referendum in East Timor and most recently visited East Timor in January 2003. John has appeared on CNN, CNBC, BBC, Canadian Broadcasting, Pacifica's Democracy Now! and numerous other local radio programs. He author of numerous articles and pamphlets, and served as editor and/or publisher for several newsletters and magazines, including WIN Magazine and the Mobilizer.

He currently serves Treasurer of the War Resisters League. In the past, he has worked for National Mobilization for Survival, the Coalition for a Non-Nuclear Harbor, the Foreign Bases Project. Miller attended Antioch College and the State University of New York at Purchase.The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) is a U.S.-based grassroots organization working in solidarity with the peoples of East Timor and Indonesia. ETAN provides information about, and ways to help, East Timor. ETAN supports democratic reconstruction of East Timor. In 2007, ETAN organized the Solidarity Observer Mission for East Timor (SOMET) to a nonpartisan, grassroots delegation to support free, fair and democratic elections in East Timor.

For more information please visit http://www.etan.org/.


Thursday 17 May

Live Video Conference Between Dili, Timor-Leste and New York

Theme: A Commemoration of the 5th year Anniversary of Independence of Timor-Leste

His Excellency President Xanana Gusmão and His Excellency Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta will participate* live from Dili

(*unless unexpected circumstances arise)

6:30 PM Refreshments
7:00 PM Video Conference (8:00 AM Dili Time the following day)

For inscriptions on the list of speakers please contact cabate@postconflictdev.org

Friday 18 May

1:00PM Photo Slide Show - "Fabric of a Nation" by Carlito Caminha & Chrystine Hanley

Hosted by the United Nations Staff Recreation Council Friendship Club at the United Nations in honour of Timor-Leste’s 5th Year Anniversary of Independence

(by separate invitation only)

The UN Staff Recreation Council (UNSRC) Friendship Club is dedicated to fostering friendship and cultural understanding between United Nations staff members, the diplomatic community and civil society. One of the oldest clubs at the United Nations, the Friendship Club meets bi-monthly and is open to membership and participation for anyone with a UN grounds pass.

For further information about the UNSRC Friendship Club, please contact tegnazian@un.org



If you are unable to attend any of our exciting events, please consider making a donation to the Foundation for Post Conflict Development so that the FPCD can continue presenting educational events and administer concrete development projects in countries emerging from post conflict situations .Checks may be mailed to the FPCD, 1 River Place, Suite 2714, NY, NY 10036 or alternatively, secure on-line donations may be made at http://www.postconflictdev.org/

FrontPage

UNITED STATES SPORTS ACADEMY, " America's Sport University "

ACADEMY HONORS PRESIDENT OF ONE OF THE WORLD’S NEWEST NATIONS

DAPHNE, Ala. – The United States Sports Academy has announced that East Timor President Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, leader of the world’s newest country, will travel to the United States to receive the Academy’s International Honorary Doctorate on 19 January at 10 a.m.

The Academy and East Timor are developing plans to implement national sports programs in that country.

A former political prisoner during Indonesian occupation of his homeland, Gusmão has served as President since 2002. He was a key figure in the former Portuguese colony’s 30-year struggle for independence from Indonesia.

Gusmão was born to school-teacher parents in Manaututo in what was then Portuguese Timor, and attended a Jesuit high school just outside of Dili. After leaving high-school at the age of sixteen, he worked a variety of jobs, although he continued his education at an evening college.

In 1966, Gusmão obtained a position with the public service, which allowed him to continue his education. This was interrupted in 1968 when Gusmão was recruited in the Portuguese army for national service. He served for three years, rising to the rank of corporal.

Gusmão became involved in East Timor’s struggle in 1971, after serving five years in the Portuguese Army. He joined a series of peaceful protests against the colonization of what was then known as Portuguese Timor. Independence was granted three years later, but the formation of a new nation was interrupted by internal struggles and the intervention of nearby Indonesia.

Gusmão publicized the violence and struggles with Indonesia, frequently being interviewed by the worldwide media. The attention he received led to his imprisonment by the Indonesian government, but he directed the independence movement from prison. This led to a successful referendum for independence being passed in August of 1999, which caused more clashes with Indonesia.

Pressure from the United Nations, the United States and Australia, in addition to an Australian-led peacekeeping force prompted Gusmão’s release from prison and prompted the beginning of the stabilization process which laid the grounds for East Timor’s sovereignty. The country has now enjoyed nearly five years of independence after 450 years of foreign occupation.

East Timor’s constitution took effect when the territory officially became independent in May 2002. East Timor features a democratic republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government. All citizens 18 and older have the right to vote.

The United NationsOffice of Sport for Development and Peace, East Timor and the Academy recognize the value of sport in the development of a peaceful nation. Sport can contribute to economic and social development and it can improve health and personal growth in people of all ages. Sport can also help build a culture of peace and tolerance by bringing people together on common ground, crossing boundaries to promote understanding and mutual respect.

The Academy is working with the United Nations in the development of sports programs for this young democracy, which is about 200 miles from the northern coast of Australia.

Past recipients of the international honorary doctorate include the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Bahrain His Royal Highness Salman bi Hamad Al-Khalifa, the Governor of the Sport Authority of Thailand Santiparb Tejavanija and former South African President Nelson Mandela.

For over 30 years, the Academy has delivered sports programs in more than 60 countries around the world.

The United States Sports Academy is an independent, non-profit, accredited, special mission sports university created to serve the nation and the world with programs in instruction, research and service. The role of the Academy is to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports.

For more information about the United States Sports Academy, “America’s Sports University,” call 251-626-3303 or visit the Academy’s website www.ussa.edu.