Youth
Timor-Leste and a Lethargic New Generation
Thursday, July 14th, 2011The Irrawaddy
By MATT CROOK
JULY 14, 2011
DILI—It was a humid night and I wandered home in the dark, cursing the government of Timor-Leste for yet another power cut in Dili, the country’s tiny capital. I was lumbering up the road to my house, illuminating my path with my mobile to avoid the crater-like potholes, when I [...]
TIMOR LESTE: Future Lies in the Young Nation’s Hands
Friday, July 8th, 2011DILI – Timor-Leste is a young nation in every sense. Nine years after achieving formal independence in 2002, ending 24 years of savage occupation by the Indonesian army, half of its population of 1.1 million is under the age of 18. Many of its children lost friends and relatives during the Indonesian era and its [...]
Snipping Away at Youth Unemployment
Wednesday, November 17th, 2010DILI, Nov 11, 2010 (IPS) – In a small city where most of the 22,000 inhabitants rely on subsistence farming to put food on the table, one young woman has gone against the grain with a business venture that embodies the changing times in Timor-Leste, South-east Asia’s newest and poorest nation.
‘I’ve felt a big change [...]
East Timor aims to send teen mums back to school
Friday, April 16th, 2010DILI, April 16 (AFP) – When Graziela Sarmento was 16, she got pregnant, dropped out of school, left her parents behind in the countryside and went to live with her aunt and uncle in Dili, East Timor’s capital.
Three years later her life revolves around Bruno, her son, with her dreams of an education dashed and [...]
Challenge to shift youth from resistance to development mentality
Friday, April 2nd, 2010DILI, 2 June 2009 (IRIN) – Disenchantment among young people who fought for independence during Timor-Leste’s resistance years could lead to unrest if they are not included in the country’s development process, analysts warned.
“They feel their existence is not relevant any more in this independence era,” said Ozorio Leque, 28, leader of Colimau 2000 – [...]
No work in Timor-Leste
Friday, April 2nd, 2010With 25% of Timor’s population aged 15 to 29, competition for jobs is stiff. Meanwhile, the soaring popularity of martial arts threatens conflict in the future, writes Matt Crook
Guardian Weekly, December 17, 2008
For the past six years Jose da Silva, 20, has lived in a small youth camp in Dili. His mother is dead [...]
Art class in Timor-Leste
Friday, April 2nd, 2010Indonesia’s 25-year military occupation of Timor-Leste has come to an end, but for many it is still a country devastated by violence. Cesar Lourdes, 25, is a senior student at the open-door art school Arte Moris, in Dili. He describes a place where young people can paint and sculpt their way towards a deeper understanding [...]