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La’o Hamutuk Annual Report

April 2000 – December 2001

(This is the first such report from La’o Hamutuk, so it includes activities from our founding through the end of 2001.)

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. Program Activities

III. Future Plans

IV. Personnel

V. Financial Report

Appendix I:  Bulletin Foci and Major Articles

Appendix II: Radio Programs

Appendix III: Public Meeting Topics and Guests

Appendix IV: La’o Hamutuk Staff Biographies

Appendix V: La’o Hamutuk Executive Board Biographies

I. Introduction

Mission and background

La’o Hamutuk ("Walking Together" in English) is a joint East Timorese-international organization that monitors, analyzes, and reports on the principal international institutions present in Timor Lorosa’e (East Timor) as they relate to the physical, economic, and social reconstruction and development of the country. La’o Hamutuk believes that the people of East Timor must be the ultimate decision-makers in the reconstruction and development processes and that these processes should be as democratic and transparent as possible. La’o Hamutuk is an independent organization. It works to facilitate effective East Timorese participation in the reconstruction and development of the country. In addition, La’o Hamutuk works to improve communication between the international community and East Timorese society. Finally, La’o Hamutuk is a resource center, providing literature on development models, experiences, and practices, as well as facilitating solidarity links between East Timorese groups and groups abroad with the aim of creating alternative development models.

After four centuries as a Portuguese colony, capped by 24 years of brutal Indonesian military rule, the half-island Pacific nation of East Timor is under transitional United Nations administration, to become independent on 20 May 2002. But this freedom came at a great price – Indonesian military and their militias destroyed virtually the entire country, displacing three-fourths of the population, following the overwhelming vote for independence in the U.N.-conducted referendum in August 1999. And that referendum came only after East Timor suffered decades of malign neglect from the international community, which supported or ignored Indonesia’s illegal and deadly invasion and occupation. But in the current transitional phase, and the future independence period, East Timor is getting a great deal of attention from foreign governments and institutions, who are exploring new ground as they help the East Timorese reconstruct their society and build their nation.

La’o Hamutuk was prompted by East Timorese activists asking for help in coping with the many international institutions newly arrived in their country, and made possible by the international solidarity movement’s desire to continue to support the people of East Timor after the occupation. Working together, East Timorese activists and supportive internationals started the organization in mid-2000, trying to bridge the communication and information gaps between the East Timorese people and the myriad of international institutions here. From the beginning, the organization has tried to follow a model of equitable cooperation between East Timorese and foreign activists, setting an example that is not often seen in the United Nations or the various foreign governments, international NGOs, or multilateral agencies operating here.

Our staff (see Section IV) is approximately half East Timorese and half internationals. All are paid the same and given equal responsibilities. Decisions are made collectively, in a non-hierarchical process. Our Executive Board, which provides input and links with other organizations, includes one international; the rest are East Timorese. We are both a national (East Timorese) and international Non-Governmental Organization, participating in coalitions and networks with both types of NGOs – a role unique in this country. In fact, there are few if any similar efforts anywhere in the world. Most of our materials are published both in English and Tetum (or Bahasa Indonesia), in order to be accessible to various constituencies.

La’o Hamutuk will not take money from the principal institutions or governments with interests in East Timor. Although this makes it more difficult to raise funds, it is essential to our role of providing objective analysis and criticism of those institutions.

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Goals

East Timor is in transition, with an interim government run by the United Nations and with global institutions like the World Bank, the IMF, and U.N. agencies having major roles. This has unavoidably created many misunderstandings and lack of communication both among the East Timorese people and among the many foreigners who are working here. The East Timorese people, having been colonized and occupied for centuries, have never had occasion to deal with these institutions. At the same time, thousands of international civil servants, consultants, "volunteers" and "experts" have relocated to a country most of them had hardly heard of three years ago. Consequently, rumors and confusion abound in the variety of languages, backgrounds, education, cultures and work experiences that exists in East Timor.

In mid-2001, the La’o Hamutuk staff and board conducted a strategic planning process, evaluating our work thus far and refining our principal goals, as follows:

1. To monitor, analyze and provide information on the transitional process and the broader development of East Timor.

2. To empower East Timorese to more effectively participate in the development process.

3. To facilitate relationships with the international solidarity network to provide information on alternative development models.

4. To increase communication between East Timorese and international institutions and donors.

La’o Hamutuk investigates, primarily through interviews and documents, the activities, histories, and priorities of the international agencies active here, and report on them in ways accessible to the East Timorese public. Through our Bulletin (a periodic publication with in-depth analytical articles and editorials), Surat Popular (popular-education-oriented, illustrated pamphlets for those with less formal education), radio programs and public meetings, we provide information to the East Timorese people. At the same time, the English edition of our Bulletin, together with our web site, email list and other media, help internationals in East Timor and around the world better understand what their colleagues are doing here, and how the East Timorese people perceive them.

La’o Hamutuk also helps the people of East Timor hold international institutions accountable. This involves advocating for transparency and clarity about their activities, as well as creating channels for grassroots people to communicate with these institutions. Every Bulletin includes editorials which represent East Timorese civil society perspectives. We also hold frequent public meetings, where decision-makers in international institutions meet with East Timorese activists to explain what they do, answer questions, and listen to concerns. La’o Hamutuk is an active participant in many Working Groups of East Timorese NGOs, which do research and advocacy on subjects such as justice, women’s rights and constitution-building. We also facilitate exchanges and study tours between East Timorese activists and their counterparts in other countries.

Throughout our work, our staff shares skills and expertise. The East Timorese and the internationals who work at La’o Hamutuk learn from each other, increasing our capacities for the future. Since the internationals are usually older and have had more opportunities for education, research and above-ground activism, the East Timorese can increase their effectiveness as advocates and citizens in this new phase of their history. The internationals also learn from their East Timorese colleagues about East Timor’s history and culture, and about how to modify foreign ways of working and communicating to be effective in East Timor.

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Overview
This is our first Annual Report. Although this is for the year 2001, it also includes information about La’o Hamutuk’s activities since April 2000, when we began. It is being written five months before the transitional U.N. administration relinquishes sovereignty to an elected East Timorese government. But even after independence, many international agencies will remain in East Timor, and the new nation will be establishing its relationships with foreign governments and multilateral institutions. The need for La’o Hamutuk’s work will continue.

In our first twenty months, we have significantly improved the understanding among civil society of many of the international organizations here. We have also helped the internationals better understand East Timorese perspectives. In addition to our printed materials, La’o Hamutuk staffers are frequently consulted by journalists, researchers, other activists and staff of international institutions. We are widely seen as a source of objective, analytical information which is hard to obtain elsewhere – and one which strives to view this information from the perspective and interests of East Timorese civil society.

La’o Hamutuk has been heavily involved with East Timorese NGOs, who often look to us for support and leadership. Our staff participates in various local coalitions, including the Working Group on Gender and the Constitution, the NGO Constitutional Working Group, and projects relating to justice and donors conferences. In recognition of our expertise and leadership, La’o Hamutuk staffer Jesuina Soares was chosen to be one of the NGO representatives to the December 2001 Donors’ Conference in Oslo, Norway, and Thomas Freitas was selected to attend the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in February 2002.

We are also part of the network of international NGOs working in East Timor, participating in their meetings and discussions. Our perspective often reflects that of the East Timorese we work with. For example, we often differ from the larger international NGOs in our consistent advocacy for the need to respect East Timorese NGO decision-making and on whether internationals working here should pay taxes.

La’o Hamutuk’s ties with international experts and activists extend beyond East Timor. Many of our staff have extensive contacts with people who have studied, worked on, or experienced development, transitional government, popular education or other related issues in other countries. We are able to draw upon these resources by facilitating visits by such people to East Timor or asking them to write articles or provide input for our Bulletin, thereby giving East Timorese the opportunity to hear perspectives other than those employed by international agencies operating here. In addition, La’o Hamutuk operates an email list where these issues can be discussed by dozens of concerned and informed people around the world.

Beginning in mid-2000, La’o Hamutuk’s office was located in a house in Becussi, on the outskirts of Dili, which also served as residence for La’o Hamutuk’s international staff. In early 2001 La’o Hamutuk joined with other NGOs to reconstruct a destroyed building in the Farol area of Dili, a more central location near many NGOs and international agencies. We moved into our new office in March, and share it with the Sah’e Institute for Liberation, the East Timorese Jurists Association and the Judicial System Monitoring Programme; it is next door to one of East Timor’s largest and most active NGOs, the human rights group Yayasan HAK. In the beginning of November 2001 La’o Hamutuk began working in Baucau, and our office there will open in January 2002 (see Section II).

We have produced 10 issues of our Bulletin, including double issues focusing on the UNTAET budget and justice. It has received high praise from many quarters, both inside and outside the institutions it analyzes. The budget Bulletin is considered the most accessible description of UNTAET financing available anywhere, even for people working within UNTAET and donor governments. Other Bulletins, focusing on the IMF, the World Bank, the health care system, the environment, women, bilateral aid and other subjects are much-appreciated by those who work in the field or institutions covered, or by others who want to learn more about them. The editorial in one recent issue, criticizing UNTAET’s approach to the refugee problem, prompted a letter to La’o Hamutuk from UNTAET head Sergio Vieira de Mello; we printed his letter and our response in a subsequent issue. Other editorials on such issues as CIVPOL-Community relations and how UNTAET should respect the former FALINTIL guerillas, highlighted important controversies, and helped the UN authorities better understand the wishes of East Timor’s civil society.

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II. Program Activities

La’o Hamutuk is involved in a variety of short- and long-term research and monitoring projects. For most of these, we communicate our findings through our publications, radio programs, and public meetings (see below). We also engage in long-term monitoring of the multilateral institutions operating in East Timor. We are currently pursuing an extensive investigation into bilateral projects in East Timor, from both the donors’ and the recipients’ viewpoints. We have identified including the Timor Sea oil and gas field, the U.S.-influenced coffee industry, and justice, as areas for ongoing research.

The following are the principal education and outreach activities conducted by La’o Hamutuk, making use of our research, monitoring and expertise to explain international institutions to East Timorese people and vice versa.

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Bulletin
As part of La’o Hamutuk’s mission to help people understand the international institutions operating in East Timor, we conduct research into their programs and operations here, in the historical and global context of their work. Our findings are published in the La’o Hamutuk Bulletin, which is published approximately every six weeks in both English (circulation 1,000) and Tetum and/or Bahasa Indonesia (circulation 2,000) and circulated at no charge. Since East Timor has no domestic mail service, we have developed a distribution system which delivers Bulletins to NGOs, a dozen public locations in Dili, and every other district of East Timor, where it can be picked up by interested readers. In addition, the Bulletin is circulated by email and posted on the internet in HTML and downloadable PDF format, where it is read by UNTAET staffers throughout East Timor and interested people around the world. Paper copies are mailed to key decision-makers in United Nations Headquarters and East Timor’s donor governments.

Each Bulletin is between eight and 24 pages, with a main topic, as well as a few articles and editorials on other important issues. Some articles are written by East Timorese specialists, some by international experts relating the experience of other countries, and some by La’o Hamutuk staff researchers. In addition, each Bulletin contains one or two pages of "In Briefs" highlighting important developments which may not have received enough attention. Appendix I lists the main focus of each Bulletin published during 2000 and 2001, as well as the major articles.

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Radio programs
Radio is arguably the most effective medium for conveying information to the East Timorese people, and is heard in every district of the country. Since the beginning of 2001, La’o Hamutuk has produced an hour-long program on Radio UNTAET. It started as a bi-weekly program, becoming weekly for the second half of the year. The program, which features one or more knowledgeable guests, is conducted in Tetum or Indonesian and broadcast in every district in East Timor.

From May to August 2001 La’o Hamutuk also had a program on Radio Falintil, which sometimes closely followed the Radio UNTAET program, but often covered other issues.

The topic and guests of each program aired to date are listed in Appendix II.

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Public meetings
Approximately once a month, La’o Hamutuk organizes a public meeting, inviting people from local NGOs and others. These meetings feature local or international specialists, speaking and answering questions about their areas of expertise. The discussion between members of civil society and people with knowledge usually accessible only to "experts" or those inside the system helps to break down the cultural and information barriers that separate the East Timorese people from those who govern them. The meetings held to date are listed in Appendix III.

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Popular Education
"Popular education" describes a philosophy and methodology of community organizing in which all people are both teachers and students, working together for social justice and freedom from exploitation. Since a large portion of East Timor’s population did not receive the benefits of formal education during the Portuguese and Indonesian periods, popular education techniques are among the most effective ways to communicate with many people of East Timor, thereby empowering them to participate in East Timor’s political and development processes more effectively.

Surat Popular
In addition to the Bulletin, La’o Hamutuk publishes a ‘Popular Page,’ the Surat Popular, a 4-8-page illustrated Tetum publication which aims to bring our work to the grassroots of the country. Each Surat Popular focuses on a subject of interest (and often of confusion) to the East Timorese public, and tries to explain it with language and concepts accessible to people without much formal education. Each Surat Popular includes questions to help spark discussion. The following are the topics published thus far; several more are in preparation. Printable versions of Surat Popular are downloadable from the La’o Hamutuk web site .

Saida mak La’o Hamutuk? What is La’o Hamutuk?

Hari Sistema Saude Foun Building a New Health System

Saida Mak Desenvolvimentu? What is Development?

Saida Mak Konstituisaun? What is a Constitution?

Oinsa Prosesu atu Halo Konstituisaun? What is the Process of Building a Constitution?

Direitus Humanus no Ita nia Konstituisaun Human Rights and our Constitution

Banku Mundial iha Timor Lorosa’e The World Bank in East Timor

Exchanges
In September 2000, La’o Hamutuk helped sponsor the month-long visit of two Brazilian popular educators to East Timor (a program organized by Grassroots International). Following on this exchange, in June-July 2001, La’o Hamutuk and the Brazilian group EQUIP (Escola de Formação Quilombo dos Palmares) organized the visit of 11 East Timorese (seven women and four men) to northeastern Brazil where they spent five weeks learning about popular education, in both theory and practice. They explored, among other topics, literacy programs, popular health methods, women’s empowerment, community radio, popular theatre, cooperatives and alternative banking, bee/honey cultivation, ecotourism and environmentalism, water conservation, and liberation-based theology and ministry work.

The East Timorese Popular Educators’ Network (Dai Popular) was formed in August 2001 after these eleven East Timorese community educators and organizers returned from Brazil. Representing nine separate East Timorese organizations, the Dai Popular is a national network that was formed to support and to develop popular education as a tool in the process of democratization and social transformation. It is committed to working at the grassroots and following processes that will ensure greater participation of all East Timorese, male and female, young and old, in both the short and long-term. The Dai Popular is currently establishing a budget and a secretariat to coordinate programs and communication within the network.

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Baucau office
In transitional East Timor, much activity is centered in Dili, the capital, whose population has nearly doubled over the last two years. The districts outside Dili have limited telephone service and transportation, and no mail delivery, so there is a tendency for the non-Dili population (more than 75% of East Timorese) to be excluded from information and decision-making that affects their lives. As part of our efforts to overcome this disparity, La’o Hamutuk distributes our publications and radio programs throughout East Timor. We opened a field office in Baucau in November 2001.

Two La’o Hamutuk staff are based in Baucau. The main priorities of their work relate to popular education: writing future issues of the Surat Popular and coordinating the Dai Popular (Network of Popular Educators) and international exchanges. As our local contacts and visibility increases, the Baucau staff will work with civil society throughout eastern East Timor to help with popular education and monitoring international institutions.

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Resource center and library
The La’o Hamutuk office itself is a valuable resource center for both East Timorese and internationals. In cooperation with the Australia-East Timor Association, we sell books focusing on East Timor, to help internationals better understand the country they are working in. In addition, we have a free lending and reference library, which includes publications on development, women’s rights and gender studies, education, health, and global studies, as well as on East Timor’s languages, history and culture. Our research files contain extensive materials which are available to people who want in-depth information.

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III. Future Plans

During our first 20 months, much of La’o Hamutuk’s energies were devoted to creating the organization, developing our network of contacts, recruiting board members and local and international staff, and determining what to investigate, where to find information, and how to convey it to the East Timorese population. By the end of 2001, these start-up functions have been largely completed. We now have a solid core of personnel, resources, practices, sources, and techniques with which to continue our work.

East Timor is undergoing tremendous transition, and things continue to change. In May 2002, the United Nations will relinquish power to the first independent East Timorese government, based on a constitution which is being written at the moment, and a presidential election scheduled for April. Although East Timor will be self-governing, the country will still depend greatly on international financial support; many international institutions – including the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, UNDP and UNHCR – will continue to be active here. La’o Hamutuk will continue to have much work to do, although we will remain flexible to adapt to the changing situation.

During the first half of 2002, our major areas of continuing investigation will be bilateral aid, the World Bank, the IMF, the transition from UNTAET rule, and developments relating to the Timor Sea oil/gas field. These investigations will form the foci of our Bulletins during this time period. In addition, we will monitor developments relating to gender issues, the Asian Development Bank, the coffee industry, justice, and militarization. The Dai Popular is also developing, and we will continue to encourage and support its work.

In addition, we plan to sponsor another popular education exchange in the first half of 2002. The exchange will bring two people from the Nicaraguan grassroots organizations Puntos de Encuentro and Hombres Contra la Violencia to East Timor to work with the Dai Popular. Based on popular education principles, the exchange will focus on women’s empowerment, rethinking gender roles, and men working against gender violence. One of the principal activities of the exchange will be workshops, in Dili, Baucau and possibly Oecussi, to familiarize East Timorese groups with the methods used by the Nicaraguan organizations to address gender issues at the grassroots level. This is a large agenda that will only be possible thanks to the increased experience of our staff and the growing network of knowledgeable people we can draw on.

After independence, we will continue to monitor developments around the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas in the Timor Sea, multilateral and bilateral aid, the East Timorese still trapped in West Timor, and the emerging relationships between the East Timorese government and international creditors and corporations. We will examine the post-UNTAET UN presence as well as international businesses operating in East Timor. We also plan to sponsor another international exchange which would focus on experiences in Indonesia and the Asia Pacific region with international financial institutions. We have started discussions with several organizations in Indonesia and the Asia Pacific region and will be working to strengthen these ties as well as organize an effective exchange by the end of 2002. Other exchanges could also be considered, depending on the needs and wishes of East Timor’s civil society.

The two of our international staff who are paid from other sources will finish their commitments during the first few months of 2002. We hope to replace the internationals with qualified international volunteers, to keep our staff at its current level. Depending on funding and the success of our Baucau office, we hope to add one East Timorese staff person to that office and to open a second field office in western East Timor (Suai) by the end of the year with two new staff. Starting from the beginning of 2003, we intend to increase the proportion of our East Timorese staff, relative to internationals.

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IV. Personnel

Staff
During our first 20 months, La’o Hamutuk grew from zero to a staff of ten professionals, half East Timorese and half internationals, half women and half men. Eight work in our Dili office, and two spend most of their time in Baucau. The staff is non-hierarchical and makes decisions collectively, although three members (Adriano, Jesuina and Vijaya) currently serve as coordinators to free the rest of the staff from routine administrative tasks. However, all staff members share administrative and program responsibilities, with conscious effort being made to share skills and increase capacities of each staff member. See Appendix IV for biographies of La’o Hamutuk’s current staff members: Thomas Freitas, Mayumi Hachisuka, Vijaya Joshi, Mericio Juvenal, Inês Martins, Adriano do Nascimento, Charles Scheiner, Pamela Sexton, Jesuina Soares Cabral, and Andrew de Sousa. Security for our Dili office is provided by Jaime da Silva.

Former staff
In addition to our current staff, La’o Hamutuk employed several other people during the reporting period, many of whom continue to volunteer with us for specific projects. These include Benjamin Sanches Afonso, Scott Cunliffe, Yannick Hingorani, Joseph Nevins, Mark Salzer, Fernando da Silva and Emanuel Tilman.

Translators, illustrators and volunteers
We use a number of volunteer and paid translators, including Nug Katjasungkana, Djoni Ferdiwijaya, José M.C. Belo, Antonio M. Lopes, Tomé Xavier Jeronimo, and Maria Bernardino. Illustrations for our Bulletin and Surat Popular have been drawn by Nan Porter Design and Sebastião Pedro da Silva. More than a dozen NGOs help distribute our Bulletin to ensure that the information reaches people in all districts.

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Executive Board
La’o Hamutuk
is fortunate to have an Executive Board of leading figures in East Timorese civil society. The Board gives overall guidance and ideas to our program, as well as connecting La’o Hamutuk with broader networks in East Timor. One of the founding members, Father Jovito Rego de Jesus Araújo, has resigned for lack of time. The continuing Executive Board members are listed in Appendix V.

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Judicial System Monitoring Programme
In February 2001, La’o Hamutuk and the East Timorese Jurists’ Association began working with Norwegian volunteer attorney Christian Ranheim to monitor East Timor’s nascent judicial system. Within three months, the Judicial System Monitoring Programme (JSMP) was established with three volunteer international staff and one East Timorese staff. JSMP works to improve the quality of justice provided by the judicial system, to promote human rights and the rule of law in a meaningful and transparent manner for the people of East Timor, and to build the capacity of the East Timorese legal community to constructively monitor the judicial system in the future. Although it is now an independent organization, the Judicial System Monitoring Programme (JSMP) continues to share our Dili office. JSMP current staff includes Christian Ranheim, Caitlin Reiger and Nelson Belo. More information, including JSMP’s reports, is available at http://www.jsmp.minihub.org.

V. Financial Report

All figures below are in U.S. dollars, the current official currency of East Timor (see La’o Hamutuk Bulletin Vol. 2, No. 3). Our fiscal year is the calendar year. During 2000, we were only operational during part of the year. During this reporting period, we worked in three currencies. Due to varying exchange rates, all figures are approximate.

To maintain our independence and objectivity, La’o Hamutuk does not accept funding from any institution with a major involvement in East Timor – namely the United Nations, the World Bank, or the governments of the five top donor countries (Japan, Portugal, Australia, the U.S. and the U.K.).

La’o Hamutuk works hard to keep our expenses down. Our international staff are paid the same as our East Timorese staff ($400/month), a high local wage, but extraordinarily low compared to what the U.N. or international agencies pay foreign staff and "volunteers." Furthermore, the expenses of two of our international staff have been covered by other organizations (Amnesty International USA and Japan International Volunteer Center), and others have worked as short-term, unpaid volunteers. Although La’o Hamutuk will pay for one round trip airfare to East Timor for each of our international staff, other international travel is covered by inviting organizations or other donors. International staff accrue a "readjustment" payment of $400 for each month worked up to the end of the first year, which is payable after they finish working with La’o Hamutuk and return to their home country.

Most of our computer and transportation equipment has been donated, and we forego the "luxuries" used by many other organizations, such as air conditioning, automobiles, or a generator (although, since November 2001, Yayasan HAK has generously supplied a little electricity during the frequent blackouts).

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Statement of Income and Expenses

Category

2000

2001

Total to date

Income

IFET-OP

22,993

4,050

27,043

General grants

3,500

106,761

110,261

Grants for Brazil exchanges

32,427

32,427

Cash donations

7,605

7,605

In-kind donations

3,150

17,400

20,550

Miscellaneous income

55

650

705

Total cash income

26,548

151,493

178,041

Expenses

Personnel

-9,388

-26,981

-36,369

Staff readjustment set-aside

-3,200

-8,400

-11,600

Office supplies

-2,954

-7,835

-10,789

Travel (local and international)

-3,445

-5,615

-9,060

Rent (housing and office)

-2,548

-1,650

-4,198

Brazil exchanges3

-33,158

-33,158

Program work

-864

-4,365

-5,229

Telephone and internet

-3,397

-6,859

-10,256

Fiscal sponsor fees

-1,528

-1,528

Miscellaneous expenses

-290

-239

-529

Total expenses

-26,086

-96,630

-122,716

Net

462

54,863

55,325

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Projected budget for 2002

During the next year, La’o Hamutuk will renovate and furnish our Baucau office and upgrade computer equipment in both offices. This will be our first full year at full staffing level,14 and so our projected 2002 budget is larger than it was while we were growing during 2000 and 2001. The figures below represent what it will take to carry out our realistic program goals for 2002.

Category

Amount

Income

General grants

110,000

Exchange project grants

25,000

Cash donations from individuals

8,000

In-kind donations

5,000

Miscellaneous income

800

Total cash income

143,800

Expense

Wages

-32,400

Readjustment set-aside

-18,000

Health

-10,800

Housing

-6,000

New staff

-12,600

Total Personnel Costs

79,800

Office supplies & services

-3,500

Travel (local and international)

-7,500

Rent

-3,600

Exchanges 13

-25,000

Program work (printing and radio production costs)

-4,800

Telephone and internet

-10,500

Fiscal sponsor fees

-1,500

Miscellaneous expenses

-300

Publications (newspapers and library books)

-500

Security

-600

Translation

-350

Electric

-360

Computer equipment

-3,000

Furniture

-900

TOTAL

-142,210

Net

410

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Appendix I: Bulletin Foci and Major Articles

Volume 1. 2000

1. East Timor’s Reconstruction: Much to celebrate, and much yet to accomplish

§ Reconstruction from a Legal Perspective, Aniceto Guterres Lopes
§ Reconciliation seen from a social-cultural perspective, Father Jovito Rego de Jesus Araùjo
§ Editorial: Falintil and the Responsibility of the International Community

2. Protecting East Timor’s Environment: Regulation and Enforcement

§ UNTAET and Asbestos
§ UNTAET’s review of the Humanitarian Relief Process
§ Oecusse’s Continuing Isolation
§ Editorial: International Funding to East Timor: Charity or Justice?

3. Building a National Health System for East Timor

§ Lessons for Indonesia and Mozambique
§ Mental Health in East Timor
§ A Vision for a People-Centered Health System
§ Unfilled Promises for the people of Oecusse
§ Editorial: Health, Wealth, Apologies and Oil: The East Timor-Australia Connection

4. The World Bank in East Timor

§ Evaluations of the Community Empowerment (CEP) and Agriculture Projects
§ East Timor’s Housing Crisis

Volume 2. 2001

1-2. Funding East Timor’s Reconstruction: An Overview (double issue)

§ Description of sources and uses of external funding
§ Close look at UNTAET Budget
§ Bottled Water Facts
§ Editorial: Equipment in Good Working Order Should Stay in East Timor after UNTAET Leaves
§ Commentary: Taxes in East Timor
§ Editorial: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Facilitates Indonesia’s Impunity
§ Editorial: Community-Community Relations Need Repair
§ Editorial: Money Matters –Questions of Priorities and Process

3. The International Monetary Fund in East Timor

§ Can East Timor Survive the Aid Industry? Some Questions from Mozambique
§ Editorial: Constitution Building: Focusing on the Process
§ Editorial: Dollarization and Democracy

4. Reconstruction & Transition: What Are the Next Steps?

§ Overview of UNTAET/World Bank "Background Paper" for Donors’ conference
§ Editorial: The United Nations: Aiding or Undermining a Resolution of the Refugee Crisis

5. Women and the Reconstruction of East Timor

§ Women’s Charter of Rights in East Timor
§ Articles on Domestic Violence, Childbirth, and Women’s Participation in Rural Development
§ Commentary: International Security Forces and Sexual Misconduct
§ The Provision of School Furniture: Assessing One Component of the World Bank’s Emergency School Readiness Project
§ Editorial: Phillips Petroleum and Canberra Play an Old Game
§ Commentary: For an Interim Constitution

6-7. Justice for East Timor? (double issue)

§ Overview of UN, Indonesian and international justice sites
§ Explorations of UNTAET Serious Crimes Unit, Judicial System, Commission on Truth and Reconciliation
§ Chronology of Justice and Accountability for East Timor 1999-2001
§ Letter from SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello & La’o Hamutuk Responds: Refugee Return Too Slow, Strategy Still Misguided
§ Editorial: Time to Get Serious About Justice for East Timor
§ Editorial: When Should Accountability Start?

8. Bilateral Aid: An Overview

§ Highlights of the priorities of the five largest bilateral donors to East Timor
§ Editorial: Donors Should be Generous, Without Strings

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Appendix II: Radio Programs

Radio UNTAET programs (2001)

11 January Lack of transport for the people of Oecusse

§ Ana Paula Siguera, FFSO (Fundasaun Fatu Sinai Oecusse)
§ Arsenio Bano, Director of NGO Forum

26 January Social and political costs of dengue fever and malaria

§ Monica, PAS Clinic (Pronto Atu Servir)

8 February The Education System from a School Perspective

§ Camilo Belo, high school teacher

9 March Women’s participation in development

§ Bella Galhos, CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency)
§ Rita Guterres, OPMT (Popular Organization of East Timorese Women)

5 April Violence in East Timor

§ Sr. Paulo Martins, Chief of Police
§ Florencio, Youth Against Violence
§ Laura Abrantes, Fokupers (East Timorese Women’s Communication Forum)

19 April Anticipating Diarrhea

§ Monica Monteiro, PAS Clinic (Pronto Atu Servir)

3 May May Day

§ Eusebio Guteres, LAIFET (East Timor Labor Advocacy Institute)
§ Cristovao Pereira, SBST (Serikat Buruh Sosialista Timor)
§ Enrique do Santos, Partido Trabalhalista

12 July Party Elections

§ OPMT (Popular Organization of East Timorese Women)
§ AMST (Associação Mulher Socialista Timor)

9 August Popular Education

§ Nuno Rodrigues, Sa’he Institute for Liberation
§ Zulmira Sarmento, OPMT (Popular Organization of East Timorese Women)

23 August Gender and East Timor’s Constitution

§ Delly Soares Cabral, La’o Hamutuk
§ Maria Angelina Pereira, Oxfam

6 September Recent Election – Success?

§ Eduardo Magno, Asia Foundation
§ Hilmar Farid, Yayasan HAK

13 September Electoral observers

§ Tessa Piper, Asia Foundation
§ José Belo, Oxfam

20 September Women in the struggle

§ Zulmira Sarmento, OPMT (Popular Organization of East Timorese Women)

27 September Constitutional Court

§ Dinisio Babo, AMNEFTIL (East Timor Jurists Association)

11 October The difficulties of finding transportation for the people of Oecusse

§ Paulo Anuno, a student from Oecusse
§ Manuel Siqueira, from Oecusse

18 October Japanese aid to East Timor

§ Mr. Suzuki, JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency)

25 October Gender and REDE Feto (The Women’s Network)

§ Jesuina Soares Cabral, Working Group on Gender and the Constitution
§ Maria Angelina, ET WAVE

9 November The World Bank’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP)

§ Mateus Cabral, Community Empowerment Program (CEP)

16 November Justice for the people of Suai

§ Adriano do Nascimento, La’o Hamutuk

23 November International Tribunal

§ Rosentino Amado Hei, Oecusse youth
§ Mateus Goncalves, Sa’he Institute for Liberation

7 December Coffee and the people’s land

§ Mateus Tilman, KSI

Radio Falintil program (2001); some programs repeated topics from our Radio UNTAET program

May Elections

§ Catarina Fabianson & Ray Kennedy from IEC (Independent Electoral Commission)

May Land and property in East Timor

§ Land Property Unit UNTAET
§ Yayasan HAK
§ Sigit Wardono, Indonesian Mission in East Timor

June The problems with Mercado Lama (Central Market)

§ Nugroho Kacasungkana, Fortilos
§ Nelson Correia, PST (Partido Socialista Timor)

August Civic education in East Timor

§ Colin Stewart, UNTAET Civic Education Department

August UNTAET activities

§ Paul Greening, UNTAET Viqueque

August Political party candidates from Dili District

§ Cipriana Araùjo, Fretilin
§ Antonio Maher Lopes, PST (Partido Socialista Timor)

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Appendix III: Public Meeting Topics and Guests

2000, 2001

2000

3 May Justice and Reconciliation

§ Padre Jovito Rego
§ Aniceto Guterres, Yayasan HAK

17 June National Health System

§ Sr. Maria Dias, PAS Clinic
§ Dr. Dan Murphy, Bairro Pite Clinic

22 July World Bank Agriculture Project

§ Sofie Bettancourt, Mohamed Noureddine Benali and Malcolm Ehrenpreis, World Bank
§ Serge de Verniau, UNTAET Agriculture Office

19 August Lisbon Donors Conference

§ Paul Keating, UNTAET Donors Office
§ Gil Guterres, Lalenok

9 September Popular Economics

§ Valeria Rezende and Carmelita de Conceição, EQUIP (Brazil)

5 October Alternative Methods of Communication

§ Valeria Rezende and Carmelita de Conceição, EQUIP (Brazil)

11 November The Oecusse Situation

§ Ana Paula, UNTAET Office of District Administration

25 November Brussels Donors Conference

§ Keryn Clark, Oxfam
§ Alexio da Cruz, Bia Hula
§ Antero da Silva, KSI (Kdalak Sulimutuk Institute)

16 December The United Nations

§ Charles Scheiner, IFET (International Federation for East Timor)

2001

13 January The proposed Truth, Reception and Reconciliation Commission.

§ Patrick Burgess and Galuh Wandita, UNTAET Human Rights Center
§ Aniceto Guterres, Yayasan HAK

27 January Functions and Procedures of the East Timor Transitional Administration (ETTA) Cabinet.

§ David Haeri, ETTA Cabinet Secretary

17 February Money and East Timor: Understanding the Budget Process for East Timor

§ Michael Carnahan, ETTA Central Fiscal Authority

28 February Women’s Role in the Reconstruction of East Timor with a Focus on the Grassroots

§ Maria Domingas Alves, Fokupers

16 March Community Organizing around Housing and Land Rights

§ Ken Fernandes, Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions

21 April Land Rights

§ Jean du Plessis, UNTAET Land and Property
§ Dr. Lucas da Costa, economist
§ Yoga Sofyar, AidWatch

26 May Understanding the Budget Process for East Timor, part II

§ Michael Carnahan, ETTA Department of Finance

9 June The Impact of Removing the Mercado Lama (Dili’s central market)

§ Ruben Braz, Dili District Administrator

26 June Managing funds in ETTA/UNTAET

§ Michael Carnahan, ETTA Central Fiscal Authority

30 June General elections and the transition to democracy

§ Dr. Jan Knippers Black, Monterey Institute for International Studies, USA

15 July Monitoring Budget Issues in Depth

§ Michael Carnahan, ETTA Central Fiscal Authority

17 September Assessing UNTAET’s performance to date

§ Dr. Jarat Chopra, former head of UNTAET Office of District Administration

22 September The Department of the Inspector General in the Second Transitional Government

§ Mariano Lopes da Cruz, Inspector General

6 October Japanese Bilateral aid in East Timor

§ Mr. Takihara, JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency)
§ Mr. Shibuta, Japanese Mission

17 November U.S. Bilateral aid in East Timor

§ Dr. Nina Bowen and others, USAID (United States Agency for International Development)

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Appendix IV: La’o Hamutuk Staff Biographies

Thomas Sebastião Rosario Freitas
Born in Dili, Thomas studied at Udayana University (Bali) from 1996 until 1999, where he was a member of the then-underground Indonesian People’s Democratic Party (PRD). Thomas was also active in the East Timorese clandestine resistance network, coordinating the Maubere Youth Alliance in Bali. He coordinated the return of over a thousand East Timorese refugees in Bali after the referendum. He is on the Constitutional Working Group’s Steering Committee, and is a prominent advocate of international justice. Thomas joined La’o Hamutuk in April 2001, and his work includes organizing public meetings and La’o Hamutuk’s weekly radio program, as well as illustrating the Bulletin and Surat Popular, and maintaining close communications with East Timorese NGOs. He speaks Tetum, Bahasa Indonesia, and English. In January 2002, Thomas will represent La’o Hamutuk at the World Social Forum in Brazil.

Mayumi Hachisuka
Originally from Japan, Mayumi has been in East Timor since May 2000. Before she joined La’o Hamutuk in July 2001, Mayumi worked in Ermera district with the Japanese NGO SHARE, implementing a Primary Health Care Project. Mayumi’s experiences with rural villages have been a useful asset for La’o Hamutuk’s work. Mayumi is assigned to La’o Hamutuk by the Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC) to support capacity building of Timorese NGOs in terms of aid monitoring and impact assessment of Japanese aid to East Timor. JVC pays her salary and expenses. She speaks Japanese, English, Bahasa Indonesia and Tetum. Mayumi returned to Japan in January 2002.

Vijaya Joshi
Born in Australia of Indian parents, Vijaya worked in migrant women’s advocacy NGOs in Australia. Her specialized areas of interest are women’s movements, militarization and the creation of political structures in new democracies. She has been working at La’o Hamutuk since August 2001, where she focuses on international financial institutions and is one of the staff coordinators. While working at LH, she is completing her Ph.D. dissertation on women’s organizations in East Timor.

Mericio "Akara" Juvenal
Born in Los Palos, East Timor, Mericio completed an anthropology degree at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta in August 2001. He joined La’o Hamutuk in November 2001. Formerly assistant manager for World Vision International’s shelter program in Dili, Mericio also worked with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) as a program officer. He founded both Centro Cultural Maubere, which promotes East Timorese culture, and Fundasaun Lero, a foundation that builds local skills in education and agriculture. Mericio will be working primarily in our Baucau office, focusing on popular education and international exchanges. He speaks Tetum, Fatulucu, Bahasa Indonesia and English.

Inês Martins
Inês was studying economics at the University of East Timor before the Indonesian military destroyed it in September 1999. Born in Bobonaro, East Timor, she worked with ETWAVE (a local NGO which focuses on human rights of women and children). Inês is fluent in Tetum, Portuguese and Indonesian. Inês has been working with La’o Hamutuk since May 2000, and has researched many issues including efforts of the people in Oecussi to challenge their isolation, and the state of street children in Dili. She participated in the popular education exchange to Brazil in July 2001. Inês helped set up our Baucau office, but will return to Dili to complete her university education while working at La’o Hamutuk during 2002.

Adriano do Nascimento
Adriano joined La’o Hamutuk in November 2001. A former English teacher from Suai, Adriano was also very active with the East Timor Student Solidarity Council, KSI (Kdalak Sulimutuk Institute), and other student and youth groups. In the months leading up to the 1999 referendum, Adriano was targeted by militia and forced to leave Suai; he went to Western Europe and the U.S. to campaign for the East Timorese people. He speaks Bunak, Tetum, Bahasa Indonesia and English. His wife and three-month-old daughter have moved from Suai to join Adriano in Dili.

Charles Scheiner
A New Yorker, Charlie joined La’o Hamutuk in Dili in August 2001, although he had been supporting the organization from the USA since its inception. A computer engineer by training, Charlie was the National Coordinator of the East Timor Action Network (ETAN) in the USA, and also represented the International Federation for East Timor (IFET) at the United Nations since 1992. He was International Coordinator of the IFET Observer project during 1999, and continues to work with IFET while in East Timor. His work with La’o Hamutuk focuses on the Bulletin, justice, the UN, and foreign governments’ roles in East Timor.

Pamela Sexton
Originally from the USA, Pamela has extensive experience in Indonesia and East Timor. Pamela lived in Yogyakarta, Indonesia for two years and speaks Indonesian fluently, as well as Tetum and Spanish. In 1999, she was U.S. coordinator for the IFET Observer Project, and observed the referendum in Suai. Pam has experience in women’s and human rights advocacy, development, and popular education, having worked with Peace Brigades International and with Grassroots International. In May and June 2000, Pam helped to set up La’o Hamutuk, and has been on staff since September 2000. She focuses on popular education, gender issues, and international exchanges, and will co-coordinate our Baucau office.

Jesuina Soares Cabral
Jesuina, better known as Delly, has been with La’o Hamutuk since July 2001. The busy mother of six-month old Rosie, Delly is currently finishing a degree in political science at the University of East Timor, in addition to handling administrative tasks at La’o Hamutuk. She previously has worked at IRC (International Rescue Committee), and was active in Organisasaun Solidaridade Klosan Timor Lorosa’e (the clandestine predecessor of the East Timor Students Solidarity Council), where she worked on self-determination and gender issues. Delly is spokesperson for the Gender and Constitution Working Group, and represented local NGOs at the East Timor Donors’ Conference in Oslo, Norway in December 2001.

Andrew de Sousa
Andrew came to Dili from the USA in September 2001 as La’o Hamutuk’s first intern. Funded by Amnesty International’s Patrick Stewart Scholarship, Andrew is volunteering for six months. Andrew was involved with various grassroots activist groups in the United States and co-founded the Arizona chapter of the East Timor Action Network in 1997. Andrew has a working knowledge of Portuguese and Indonesian, and is currently learning Tetum. With La’o Hamutuk, he focuses on the Portuguese government in East Timor and international financial institutions.

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Appendix V: La’o Hamutuk Executive Board Biographies

Sr. Maria Dias
Maria is a Catholic nun and the director of Pronto Atu Servir (PAS--Ready to Serve), a grassroots health project. Through their clinic in Dili and work on Ataùro Island (one of the most isolated and impoverished areas of East Timor) PAS serves the poorest of the poor. While providing treatment for medical ailments, PAS works to address conditions that lead to illness. PAS puts heavy emphasis on popular education for health helping to train local health facilitators, with the goal of creating a sustainable national health system based on local resources. During the Indonesian occupation, Maria ran a clandestine clinic for FALINTIL members and frequently visited the guerrillas in the mountains to treat the wounded. She represented East Timorese women’s organizations at the December 2001 donors’ conference in Oslo, and has met with others doing similar work in Vietnam and various European countries.

Joseph Nevins
The only non-Timorese on the Board, Joseph is also the international coordinator of La’o Hamutuk. From May until August 2000, he volunteered as project staff in Dili, helping to establish La’o Hamutuk, and he returned for the same period in 2001. During 1999, he served in Dili as one of the coordinators of the IFET Observer Project, and had visited East Timor three times previously. Joseph has written two books and numerous articles on East Timor, and is a former instructor in International Development Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Currently, he is conducting research on the interrelationship between reconstruction, reconciliation, and justice in post-occupation East Timor as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley.

Carolina Maria Etifania do Rosario
Carolina joined the La’o Hamutuk board in November 2001. Based in Baucau, she was active in the clandestine movement, and one of the leaders of the East Timorese resistance women’s organization, OPMT. She is currently actively involved with two of the main groups working on gender issues, FOKUPERS and the OMT (Organization of Timorese Women). She works closely with popular organizations throughout the eastern districts.

Nuno Rodrigues
Director of Sa’he Institute for Liberation, Nuno has worked closely with La’o Hamutuk since it began. He went to University of Indonesia in Jakarta, where he studied communications and was active in the Timorese resistance. In Jakarta he also led a study group on Marxism with Indonesian activists. He returned to East Timor in 1999, and began doing popular education work. Having participated in La’o Hamutuk’s exchange with Brazilian popular educators, Nuno is a leader of the East Timorese Popular Educators’ Network. Nuno is also journalist for the local weekly publication Talit@kum.

João da Silva Sarmento
João is currently the coordinator of Dewan Solidaritas Mahasiswa Timor Timur, which is also known as the East Timor Student Solidarity Council. He studied English at the Faculty of Teacher Training of the University of East Timor (UNTIM), which is now called the National University of East Timor. He is writing his undergraduate thesis about East Timor education under transition: in search for an independent educational system for an independent East Timor. Recently he is teaching part-time at the English department of the university. He is also an editor for Suara Timor Lorosa’e (STL), a local newspaper published in Dili.

Aderito de Jesus Soares
Aderito is a lawyer and human rights advocate. He is former Director of Sa’he Institute for Liberation, and the founder and Vice-Chairman of the East Timor National Jurists Association. Born in Maliana, East Timor, Aderito lived in Indonesia for many years where he served as director for ELSAM, a Jakarta-based human rights organization. As such, he defended political prisoners throughout Indonesia, most notably in West Papua. Aderito is the co-author of a book on West Papua, and has written numerous articles on international law and human rights in Indonesia and East Timor. In August 2001, Aderito was elected to East Timor’s Constituent Assembly, where he chairs the committee dealing with the basic structure of the future government.

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La’o Hamutuk

The East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis

Dili office: 1 Rua Mozambique, Farol, Dili, Timor Lorosa’e

Postal address: P.O. Box 340, Dili, East Timor (via Darwin, Australia)

Mobile phone: +61(408)811373; Land phone: +670(390)325013
Email: laohamutuk@easttimor.minihub.org

Web: http://www.laohamutuk.org

Baucau office: +61(438)143724; lhbaucau@easttimor.minihub.org

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