austraLasia #1779

"Sir, this is war!"  Lest we forget.

DILI: 6th March 2007 --  Brother Thomas Alves has just returned to East Timor, to take over the role played so effectively by Brother Adriano at Comoro, Dili, as Technical Director at the Training Centre on the Don Bosco campus near the capital's main airport.  Brother Thomas has been away for four years from Timor, preparing himself for this new role with a BSTE from Manila, majoring in industrial electronics.  He was quite unprepared for what he saw on arrival in Dili.
    "When I entered the compound at the Don Bosco Training Centre, I was shocked to see the people there - women, men young and old, children and babies, settled there all over the place. Gloom, sadness and desperation on their faces. At first I thought these people might be joining the training school. The interesting point is that when I arrived at the compound gate from the airport, I was checked by the guards. I quarrelled with them saying 'this is my house'. Their answer? 'Sir, this is war'"!
    In April of last year there were up to 15,000 internally displaced persons sprawled all around the compound. Today?  No fewer than 10,000!  But the 'normal' teaching continues, if one can talk about normal in this situation. Large areas, like the football field and some undercover areas, are occupied by refugee tents, but the workshops and classrooms are kept free for the trainees.
    Brother has sent a number of photos of the circumstances there, most of them annotated to indicate the who, what, where and when of the situation.  We will put these together with a brief text and run them as a FOCUS on sdb.org, probably mid-April.  austraLasia will advise you at the time of publication.  Bear in mind that April is the scheduled time for the national elections.
    Meanwhile, the Australian Government has announced that it has arranged for voluntary evacuation of all non-essential Embassy staff. fearing that the recent serious deterioration in security, especially in Dili, may result in violence against foreigners and Australians in particular.  The situation is worse in Same, south of Dili (there is no Salesian presence in Same) where Australian forces yesterday led a raid on the hideout of the rebel leader, Major Alfredo Reinado.  Four rebels died in the raid but Reinado escaped unhurt.  Reinado supported in Dili have demonstrated, demanding that Australian troops leave the troubled island.
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