More than a billion people across 60 nations are living in fragile or failing states, like Haiti, Bosnia, the DRC and East Timor. What is needed to stabilize these particular countries?
Special correspondent Kira Kay examines East Timor's ongoing effort to rebuild itself, 10 years after winning independence from Indonesia. The report is part of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting's Fragile States project, a partnership with the Bureau for International Reporting.
Credits:
Reporter: Kira Kay
Producer / Camera / Editor: Jason Maloney
Production Associates: Gayathri Vaidyanathan, Elspeth Montgomery
A production of the Bureau for International Reporting
In partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
It was one of those bits of luck that you come to rely on from time to time as a reporter in the field: you take a chance on a questionable story element, travel a distance to cover it with pretty low expectations and then you hit paydirt: it turns out to be one of the cornerstones of your work.
Eduardo Belo Soares showed me a photo of himself surrounded by rebel soldiers, taken on the eve of East Timor's vote for independence 10 years ago. On their faces were expressions of weariness combined with a bit of shock – as if it was just occurring to these fighting men that now the hard work was about to begin: the birth of their new nation was at hand.
Veterans, widows, children who never knew their fathers—all gathered on the red-earth hills overlooking the blue seas of the Wetar Straits. Before them, two dozen flag-draped coffins, very small, clearly designed to carry only a few bones each. For these families, this was a day of both great pain and great pride.
August 30, 2009 marked the 10th anniversary of East Timor's internationally organized referendum in which 79% of the population voted to break away from Indonesia and build a nation of their own.
This is a painting lesson that combines Pablo Picasso's famous 1937 Guernica with current day issues presented from The Pulitzer Center.
This is a painting lesson that combines Pablo Picasso's famous 1937 "Guernica" with current day issues presented by the Pulitzer Center.
This is a painting lesson that combines Pablo Picasso's famous 1937 Guernica with current day issues presented by the Pulitzer Center.
In this lesson, students will investigate their daily cost of living and develop and understanding of the safety structures in their environments.
This lesson plan outlines a project that allows students the opportunity to connect with a contemporary crisis somewhere in the world.
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