Sierra James(f): In Timor-Leste, 75% of the population is under 25 years old; a huge portion of the population are young people. And because of this, they really are the ones who need the most assistance to help change the future and make it more positive in Timor-Leste.

HOST: Hallo, peace-loving viewers, and welcome to Good People, Good Works. In the first in a two-part series, we travel to the world’s “youngest nation” Timor-Leste, which gained autonomy in 2002, to visit the non-profit organization Ba Futuru, which means “for the future” in Tetum, the country’s national language.

Sierra James (f): The reason that we chose peace as a priority and the reason that we do peace building is because I think it’s very important for the lives of people to have ways to resolve conflict without using violence. Everyone has needs, and if they can get those needs met in a way that everyone can feel like they’re winning, it can be very positive. They can get along together, they can stop the violence.

Sierra James (f): Ba Futuru does a calendar every year, and in the calendar we have pictures from all of our projects. In the back of the calendar we have a message from the President of Timor-Leste, talking about his support for the organization Ba Futuru. He’s a very big peace builder, and he won the Nobel Peace Prize, Jose Ramos-Horta, in 1996 and he’s very supportive of our peace-building initiative.

HOST: Established in 2004 by Sierra James, a native of Seattle, USA, and others, Ba Futuru is a distinguished non-governmental organization that protects children and young people and promotes peace in Timor-Leste. To date, more than 20,000 children, young adults, teachers, staff of other non-governmental organizations and community leaders have participated in the group’s programs and courses that constructively change lives and values.

Marcal: My name is Juliana de Oliveira Marcal. My nickname is Lica. I work in the NGO Ba Futuru as project coordinator for children. Why do I like to work here? Because I care so much about the future. Because in this organization there is a lot of work to do. Through active programs in this organization, I can help them - how to understand what peace is and how to live in peace.

Sierra James (f): So when I first came to Timor-Leste, we didn’t have the idea to start an organization, we had the idea to start a project, and that came from the fact that I was working with the kids in my community. Every day after my actual work finished, I would go home and we would do art in my backyard, and we’d hang out with the children. We realized very quickly that the children had a lot of violence in their lives, they had a lot of risk going on with children, and there was no places for them to get assistance at that time. That was 2004.

HOST: Understanding the instability in their lives, Ms. James contemplated how she could further help the youngsters.

Sierra James (f): I originally came here for my master’s degree to implement some of the things I had learned in my conflict resolution program, and the organization that I was working with was doing conflict prevention, but not teaching conflict resolution between people. So I saw a need for the conflict resolution aspects. So I sat down together with a colleague from Australia named Leilani Elliot and she has a background in human rights, and so she helped to develop the human rights part of the curriculum, I worked on the conflict resolution part.

And we really just wanted to start a project with the kids. So originally we just started in our backyard, and then we started working with orphanages, and then we realized to sustain the project we needed funds. And in order to get funds, we had to start an organization to apply for different contracts, so we could actually do more work.

HOST: The Transformative Arts and Human Rights Education (TAHRE) Program is Ba Futuru’s core project and was developed by Sierra James and Leilani Elliot. The initiative teaches participants how to protect their own and others’ rights and reduce violence.

Sierra James (f): The reason that we incorporate a lot of art into the program is because that’s a way for kids who cannot talk about what they’ve been through. They have seen some pretty difficult things. During 2006 to 2008, many of them were pushed out of their homes, living in refugee camps inside the country, so they called them “IDP” camps, “Internal Displaced Person” camps.

And during that time, the children lost their whole house a lot of times, sometimes they lost family members as well. There was a lot of problems going on in their lives. So in order to help them to cope with this, sometimes they cannot talk about it openly, they can use arts, they can use dancing, they can use singing as a way to express themselves positively, and to become involved in positive-cycle social activities that can help them to heal from these events.

We also provide counseling and other types of one-on-one activities for people who have more severe trauma and we make referrals to the government and other organizations that work in this area. But when we first started, there was very little going on in Timor-Leste to support children; we started out focusing in orphanages.

HOST: Ba Futuru has created a number of materials for the TAHRE Program. The curriculum for TAHRE is in a document called the “TAHRE Guide,” which is free to download from Ba Futuru’s website. The guide has been adapted for use in Latin America, Africa and the USA by various organizations.

The “Positive Discipline Manual” is another resource used in the program that informs adults and youngsters of non-violent ways to discipline children. Through in-class role-playing and conferences, program participants explore how to promote human- rights awareness and conflict resolution and learn about trauma counseling.

Moreover, arts, sports, games, journal-writing, songs and drama are employed to teach the program’s principles. In 2009 over a thousand youth participated in training sessions held at Ba Futuru’s Peace Center in Comoro, Dili and in Tasi Tolu.

Sierra James (f): So this is a “Help Card,” and this Help Card is important because it’s something that people can take with them, especially for young girls and kids who are experiencing violence. And it has a number, the contact number for the police. It also has the information so that they know who to call when they have a problem, what kind of relationships are positive, what kind of relationships might be abusive or negative. So this is a card that they can take with them and they can get assistance.

HOST: Juliana now describes some other important Ba Futuru undertakings.

Marcal: The projects for the future of children, we call it “Strengthening Peace in the Lives of Children.” Through this project we have initiatives to stop the violence against the children, to increase awareness, understanding the orphans, as well as to train the teachers and the people who care about the children. Now, Ba Futuru works together with the Minister of Social Solidarity. In the minister's office there is one department called the Child Protection Department. Then through this department Ba Futuru works together with them about how to protect the children.

HOST: Zuzera Costa Lopez was once a troubled teenager, who abused alcohol, got into fights and spent time in prison. After attending several peace building training sessions held by Ba Futuru, he gave up violence, realized his previous behavior was wrong, and became a community facilitator for Ba Futuru to help lost teenagers and others start a new life.

Translation(m): He said this is a message for the world, a message, to all: We have to think about our future. The conflict that happened in the past, let it pass but think about how to plant a new thing for our generation, for our new generation and also for our sons and our daughters. If one day we get married, in order that our daughters and our sons can be proud: “Oh, my dad does this, does these things, does these things, does the best thing for us.” So right now do something like prepare yourselves to do the things and then do the development in your life.

HOST: In the past Xavier Madeira was also involved in violence and conflict, but has left his old way of life behind and become a community facilitator for Ba Futuru thanks to participation in the organization’s programs.

Azama Madeira(m): This is my message to my country and also to all: All you need to do right now is to cooperate with each other, work together to prevent the conflict, like the conflict that happens in the community, or in the city, wherever. We are together in order to prevent it, so we can find something like a good life in our country.

HOST: Our appreciation Sierra James and other Ba Futuru staff for your important contributions to the development of the world’s youngest nation. Your wonderful programs are sowing the seeds of harmony and goodwill across the land. May peace always prevail in Timor-Leste and elsewhere across the globe.

For more details on Ba Futuru, please visit www.BaFuturu.org

OUTRO: Respected viewers, thank you for your company today on our program. Please join us again next Sunday on Good People, Good Works when we’ll present more on Ba Futuru and its praiseworthy endeavors. Coming up next is The World Around Us, after Noteworthy News. May beauty and harmony always fill our world.