We are writing for your help on a special publication, to be released in late August 2000, on the momentous events of the last year in East Timor.
It will be a small, four-color book of anecdotes, oral histories and photographic images that documents, in a highly impressionistic way, last year's national consultation process and the 30 August 1999 vote; the human and physical dimensions of the ensuing violence and nationwide destruction and the on-going reconstruction of the nation as it moves toward independence.
We are looking to reproduce in the commemorative book exceptional photographic images and personal anecdotes that capture aspects of the past year's events in East Timor. They might document or be related to the national consultative process, itself, or to the post-election violence and destruction, or provide a unique glimpse of the on-going process of rebuilding lives and livelihoods. You, or someone you know, may have a particularly poignant or compelling photograph or story that should be considered for inclusion in the book. You may also know of people who have done extensive documentation of events and the destruction. We urge you to send such material or contact names as soon as possible. You should also know that we will be contacting Timorese directly about the project via Tais Timor and Radio UNTAET.
The principal audience for the book will be the Timorese people themselves -- most of whom have had virtually no access to any media during the past nine months. It will provide them, for posterity, an impressionistic history of an extraordinary year in their path to independence. Hopefully, the book will also be of general use in schools and churches and by the international and domestic media as they focus on the first anniversary. As well, we sense it will have a large, foreign audience of people who have worked in East Timor in the past and/or have an on-going concern and affection for the Timorese people and follow closely the events leading to their full independence. While we are not able to pay a fee for any material that is ultimately published in the book, we will provide a credit and acknowledgement of contributors. If the book, which will be distributed for free in East Timor, should subsequently be sold internationally, any royalties that the publications unit might earn from such distribution will be donated to a Timorese non-profit foundation.
If you have an anecdote or story, please e-mail it before the end of June directly to brennonj@aol.com or mail it to
Brennon Jones
Publications Unit
OCPI, UNTAET
PO Box 2436
Darwin, NT 0801
Australia
Telephone +61-408-825-969
Fax +61-8-89-815 157 or Fax +1 212 963 2180
Thanks for your help.