PART 2 OF DAY THREE: CAMEA VILLAGE (JUNE 25, 2008)

by Katharine Schroeder

After arriving back at the UN compound, we got into our cars and drove to an oceanside restaurant - aptly named "Oceanside Restaurant" - to have lunch. Across the street from the restaurant was the beautiful shoreline. Up and down the beach we could see small huts where people were living. There was even a beached boat that was being used as someone’s makeshift home. Because of all the destruction during the wartime, many people were left homeless and were now living in UN provided tents, burned out buildings, or hastily constructed huts. If this beach were in a more accessible area, it would certainly be a hotspot for tourists. Perhaps the future of Timor-Leste will include a beachfront area with a boardwalk, hotels, and restaurants, like Cannes or Atlantic City. Jackie talked a lot about his wish for the ability to invest enough money here to bring the area to life and make it a tourist destination, thereby providing jobs for the local people and a way to boost the economy of the whole country.

Someone living in a beached boat along the coast road.

A house on the beach.

The beach across the street from the restaurant.

You can see people living right on the beach.

Photo by Xavier Lee.

X Lee makes it his habit to touch the water whenever he travels to new places.

After we took a few photos, we heard Dorothy calling us back, and we reluctantly left. The restaurant was a very casual open-air place right across from the beach and served a wonderful assortment of local and Chinese dishes right there on the front patio. A soft breeze was blowing in from the ocean and it was quite relaxing and pleasant. During lunch we were joined by a UN staff member who spoke Mandarin Chinese, and this prompted Jackie to gift me with several lessons in Putonghua. Jackie is a born teacher; patient yet firm, and I came away from lunch with several new vocabulary words under my belt.

After lunch I was taking some photos of a majestic coconut palm right off the patio when Jackie came up to me and told me to be careful,  the coconuts could fall and hit me on the head. I told him that I’d take my chances that I’d be safe in the few seconds it took to make a photo or two. As he watched, he told me that in some countries they train monkeys to climb the trees and throw the coconuts down. Since I didn’t see any monkeys around, I suggested that maybe he’d like to climb up and grab me a souvenir. He said he'd love to, but he had to do an interview.

Before we left the restaurant, Jackie had to sit for an interview with a local reporter. In order to save time, they had decided to find a place nearby to film rather than return to the hotel. Luckily, someone generously offered to lend their apartment above the restaurant for the team to use. There was just a cameraman and a reporter, so we didn’t need a lot of space, but what we did need was quiet and that required us to close all the doors and windows and turn off the air conditioner. Within minutes it was terribly hot in the apartment, and thankfully the interview was over quickly. Afterwards, Jackie talked to the couple whose apartment we were in. They had just arrived in TL from England and were here to help with the rebuilding effort. Jackie thanked them for their dedication to such a good cause and after taking a few photos, we were on our way.

Downstairs a crowd had gathered; it looked mostly like restaurant members and their families and Jackie happily posed for photos with all of them. One woman kept thrusting her son at Jackie, and after taking the baby, Jackie’s expression immediately indicated that perhaps the child needed a diaper change. I never did ask Jackie exactly what was going on; here are the photos, so you can judge for yourself. What do you think?  Wet diaper?

This is the coast road near the restaurant. Jackie wanted to show you how beautiful it was. As we drove along, he said that he wished he was Bill Gates and could spend enough money to transform this into the next Cannes:

Our next stop was the School Aidak Bihare in Camea Village. This small school on the outskirts of Dili had been damaged and looted in 2006, and although repairs had been made they had not been able to replace all the lost materials yet. A great many of the students who attend this school live far away and had to walk up to two hours to get there. Most of the parents in rural areas are not very involved with their children’s educations, and many of them are reluctant to even send their children to school because they fear for their safety. Many of the boys are needed to help out in the rice fields and the girls marry early, causing the dropout rate to be quite high. It was Jackie’s mission to encourage these children to stay in school and impress upon them the importance of education for their futures.

Jackie was given a shower of flower petals when he arrived.

Jackie went from classroom to classroom, talking to the kids, listening to them read, and watching them while they were engaged in learning activities. When he was done with the tour of the school, everyone went out onto the playground and Jackie skipped rope with them, then went over to the volleyball court for a quick game. Afterwards, all the students gathered in the courtyard and Jackie spoke to them as a group. He told them that they lived in a beautiful place with lovely mountains and valleys and that they should feel thankful for this. He expressed his understanding of the challenges they faced, and encouraged them to keep trying, even when times were tough. He told them that there were people all over the world who loved them and cared about them.

It's one thing to have Jackie Chan standing in front of your class, but it's another thing entirely when he puts his hands on your shoulders. This little guy looked positively terrified! Don't worry;  he was smiling moments later.

This little girl got upset when she missed while jumping rope with Jackie.

She started to walk away, but Jackie pulled her back saying "Try again!"

The kids asked Jackie to jump solo.

Jackie says hello to some kids who are trying to escape the hot sun.

These girls are sketching the mountain view.

Jackie plays volleyball with the students.

This gentleman was watching the volleyball game.

After his speech, Jackie wanted to organize everyone for a group photo. There were so many students, it didn’t seem possible, but somehow he got them all to group together on the playground.

After the photo, Jackie asked the kids if they had a school song they could sing to him, which they did. It was lovely to listen to all their young voices and see their beautiful smiling faces. Jackie’s visit had certainly raised their spirits; I could see this even in the short time we’d been there. When we’d first arrived, there were very few smiles. Now no one could stop. Jackie just makes people happy and no matter where he goes, people end up smiling.

We left the school and drove to the Becora soccer field. When Jackie arrived he was given another beautiful tais and then he was led to viewing area where he waited until it was time for him to do the kick-off to start a game between two local teams. While Jackie was busy greeting the local and UN officials, X Lee was out on the field filming some of the players. Somehow he managed to get them into perfect formation in preparation for Jackie to join them for a group photo. This was no easy task since many of the kids don’t speak English. In fact, there is an ongoing problem in Timor-Leste because it seems that everyone speaks a different language. As a result of Timor-Leste being occupied by Portugal and later Indonesia, people speak Tetum, Bhasa Indonesian, Portuguese, English, and a dozen local dialects. This causes many problems when trying to recruit teachers, since many of the children end up being taught in a language they are not familiar with.

Jackie watched the teams play for a while and then he and several others took a few penalty shots. Afterwards, Jackie took a megaphone and spoke to the players and onlookers. He congratulated them for their involvement in their soccer teams, telling them that sports are a great way to build self-esteem and teamwork. He told them that exercise was good for both the body and the mind, and urged the attending government officials to continue to support the teams.

Dorothy took this great photo of Jackie just about to kick the soccer ball.

All of the players wanted to touch Jackie.

Jackie speaks to the kids.

PART THREE, DAY THREE:  JACKIE AT DILI STADIUM

PART ONE, DAY THREE: AINARO

Text and photos ©The JC Group. All Rights Reserved.

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