Tiny voices echo in ransacked Dili orphanage<\/p>\n
By Kurt Schork<\/p>\n
DILI, East Timor (Reuters): Shafts of sunlight knife through
\nthe ransacked rooms of a Dili orphanage as a barefoot boy wanders
\nthrough its empty hallways playing haunting, discordant notes on
\nhis recorder.<\/p>\n
He is one of half-a-dozen former residents who return every
\nday to play and wait for the return of the other children who
\nlived here, most of whom were evacuated on Sept. 6 as pro-Jakarta
\nmilitias rampaged through East Timor's capital.<\/p>\n
\"We're living in the stadium now but this is our home and we
\nfeel happy when we're here,\" 12-year-old Madalena de Castro said,
\nexplaining why she comes back to the orphanage every day.<\/p>\n
\"We're waiting for the others to come back. I want to be here
\nwhen they arrive so we can live together like we used to.\"<\/p>\n
About 72 children -- some orphans, others surrendered by
\nparents no longer able to care for them -- were living at the
\ngovernment home known as Panti Asuhan Seroja Dili when this city
\ndescended into chaos after East Timor opted to break from
\nIndonesian rule in an Aug. 30 ballot.<\/p>\n
Most of the children were evacuated to West Timor, but a
\nhandful stayed, cared for by the parents of a neighborhood boy.<\/p>\n
The urchins now live among several thousand other internally
\ndisplaced East Timorese at Dili's football stadium, which is
\nprotected by multinational troops sent in under a U.N. mandate to
\nrestore peace to the territory.<\/p>\n
Amandio Soares, 13, remembers well the morning of Sept. 6,
\nwhen he and a few others fled on foot through the streets of the
\ndevastated capital.<\/p>\n
\"The militiamen were at the front door and the back door and
\nwe could hear them talking about throwing a grenade inside, but
\nthey didn't,\" Soares recalled.<\/p>\n
\"We walked through the street to get away. I was afraid
\nbecause we could hear shooting and there were a lot of buildings
\non fire.\"<\/p>\n
\"When we returned to the orphanage the militia had stolen
\neverything -- our rice, our medicines, the generator, our beds
\nand even our knives and forks.\"<\/p>\n
Comic books, sketch pads and school lesson sheets litter the
\nfloors throughout the orphanage.<\/p>\n
Mounds of school uniforms have been discarded in the
\ncourtyard. Some school buildings were burned. All were
\nsystematically looted, including even the toys.<\/p>\n
\"We had a football and another ball but the militia took those
\ntoo,\" complained six-year-old Alfredo Amaral. \"Some days we get
\nbored.\"<\/p>\n
As Amaral spoke the other children took turns rolling a
\nbicycle tire through the orphanage hallways. One tried on
\ndiscarded, mismatched shoes but couldn't find anything to suit.<\/p>\n
The Australian-led multinational forces are gradually
\nrestoring security to Dili and beginning to branch out to other
\nareas of the territory. As a result, many internally displaced
\npersons are beginning to return home.<\/p>\n
But the future for refugees evacuated to West Timor, as were
\nmost of the orphans from this home, remains unclear.<\/p>\n
Militia activity in that part of Indonesia is strong and the
\nchildren at Panti Asuan Seroja Dili may have a long wait for the
\nreturn of their friends.<\/p>\n
Playing amidst the debris of their former home the children
\nseem happy enough, believing as only children can in the future.<\/p>\n
Lying on the floor near them, next to a poster displaying
\nBritish footballer Eric Cantona of Manchester United in full
\nflight, was a poster depicting Jesus, on which was written:<\/p>\n
\"I asked Jesus: 'How much do you love me?'\"<\/p>\n
\"This much,\" he answered.<\/p>\n
\"Then he stretched out his arms and he died.\"<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tiny-voices-echo-in-ransacked-dili-orphanage-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }