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A deep dive into an island’s heart & soul

Writer's picture: KirstySwordGusmãoKirstySwordGusmão

For the past few months I have had the great pleasure of working alongside Dr Lisa Palmer of Melbourne University on developing her amazing Digital Archive of Timorese Culture and Ecology, a labour of love for Lisa and her Canada-based colleague, Dr Susanna Barnes.


Like Lisa, I am a Timorese by marriage & passion, however, unlike her, my experience of the country and its people has earnt me only a superficial understanding of the profound place of traditional belief systems and practices in the lives of ordinary Timorese people. Having been swept up in the modernising agenda of the development industry through my work as founder and Chair of the Alola Foundation, I have only skirted the edges of indigenous Timorese culture and its role in defining and shaping its people’s world view. Whilst I have worked hard over the past decade or so to see a greater space accorded to Timor’s many local languages in the education system of the country, working with Lisa on her archive has filled many gaps in my knowledge of what makes Timor and its people tick.


If, like me, you are curious to delve more deeply into the heart and soul of Timor-Leste, its psyche and spirit world, then I recommend Lisa’s new book to you.


Island Encounters: Timor-Leste from the Outside In” (ANU Press) is free to download:



This article in Melbourne University’s “Pursuit” offers a taste of the poignant and personal stories of life in Timor which are told in the book.






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"A Woman of Independence"

BOOK INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781742624020
Format: eBook
Pub Date: 10/11/2007
Category: Biography & True Stories / Biography: general
Imprint: Macmillan Australia
Price: $16.99

"Alias Ruby Blade"

 

Feature Documentary Film (2012)

Using astonishing footage of the years-long resistance, director Alex Meillier presents a highly personal account of the courage needed to create a new democracy in modern times.

You can buy "Alias Ruby Blade" on Google Play Movies, YouTube as download or rent it on Google Play Movies, YouTube online.

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About Me
I was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1966. As a student of the Italian and Indonesian languages at Melbourne University in the 1980's I became aware of the plight of the people of a small half-island called East Timor. A colony of Portugal for 500 years, East Timor or "Timor-Leste" was invaded by its huge neighbour, Indonesia, in 1975. It's a long story, but like many Australians and other citizens of the world, it made me angry and sad to learn that my own government aided and abetted that invasion in order to gain the upper hand in negotiating access to oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea, just north of Australia. At the cost of a quarter of a million Timorese lives. I decided to do something about it. And I still am today. 
 

Contact Me:

kirsty@alolafoundation.org

 

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