PART 1 OF DAY 3 (JUNE 25, 2008)

by Katharine Schroeder

Jackie was in Timor-Leste on a UNICEF mission to spread the word of peace to the young people of this struggling country. The day’s schedule was packed full of many activities, the first of which was a helicopter ride to the mountain-top village of Ainaro. After rising quite early and packing up all our gear for the day, X Lee, Dorothy and I met in the hotel dining room for breakfast. Jackie stayed up in his room; it was more practical for him to do this since there was no private area in the restaurant where he could eat. When we finished we met Jackie in his room and after making sure we had everything we needed, we went downstairs to the waiting cars. On the way to the UN airfield, people were lined along the streets waving to Jackie. As had become his habit, he leaned out the window of his car waving back, leaving smiling and excited people in his wake.

A few minutes later we arrived and walked out to the helicopter to wait for Jackie, who had stopped in one of the compound offices. While we waited, I wondered why I wasn’t nervous about taking my first helicopter ride. I thought it was probably for the same reason that I’m never fearful when traveling with Jackie. He has been flying all over the world for more than half his life and I figure that he’s a good luck charm; nothing will ever happen when Jackie’s with us. Therefore, it was with no hesitation that I boarded the helicopter with my colleagues, several videographers and photographers, and UN staff.

Onboard, we took our seats and one of the co-pilots gave us a carefully rehearsed speech: buckle your seatbelt, insert your earplugs, here are the exit hatches, let me know if you want me to close the windows. He gave each of us a set of colorful foam earplugs which we immediately inserted, and after waiting a few minutes while the pilots prepared for take off, we were suddenly airborne. It was thrilling and exhilarating to be flying over the beautiful landscape of Timor-Leste. Unfortunately, the wind created by the propellers blasted right into the window behind where Dorothy and I sat, so we had to ask the co-pilot to close it. For some reason that I don’t understand, the window behind Jackie, despite being open, did not create the same kind of hurricane-force.

I took this photo to show you the shadow of our helicopter. Can you see it on the right side?

I noticed Jackie looking down at the mountains and sea below and when he turned away from the window, I impulsively held out my camera to him, gesturing for him to take some pictures. Inside the helicopter, we could use only sign language since the noise made any conversation impossible. Jackie smiled, reached out, and took my camera. He spent the next twenty minutes taking photos from his window. When I saw how much fun he was having, I crossed my fingers and hoped that the settings on my camera were the proper ones for taking photos from a moving helicopter. The wrong settings would guarantee that none of the pictures would come out. Later, when we looked at the photos on the computer, it was apparent that luck was on our side. The pictures were exquisite; all properly exposed and not one of them blurry.

Here's a photo Jackie took of Josh Estey, the UNICEF photographer:

At the same time, Josh took a photo of Jackie:

Photo ©Josh Estey

Jackie took a photo of us:

And at the same time, Dorothy took a photo of Jackie:

After about a half hour ride, we approached the landing area, which was simply an empty field near to where the assembly would take place. When we landed, all of us exited the helicopter ahead of Jackie and while he waited inside, he took a panoramic photo to show you:

Click to make it bigger.

Once Jackie joined us, we were given a warm greeting by local officials and several children, who presented us with the ceremonial tais.

Jackie is given a tais by a local girl.

 

As Jackie walked from the helicopter to the assembly field, he was welcomed by the local people, who did a traditional dance for him. There were dozens of dancers, most dressed in colorful tais and feathered headpieces. A few of the performers were quite old, but they whooped and jumped like youngsters. There were many children as well, some of them banging on drums and all of them chanting and singing. It was tremendously chaotic as we made our way up to the field; everyone was trying to get right in front of Jackie to take his photo. When they did this, however, they blocked his view of the dancers, so it took a lot of persuasion to keep people to the sides. Sometimes Jackie’s staff has to help out when we are on these kinds of trips, keeping the path cleared in front of him and assisting the security team in making sure that no one grabs him or surrounds him too closely. It was quite difficult to take photos in all the confusion and I would need two hands to count the number of bruises I ended up with! But none of this bothered Jackie. During all this commotion, he was smiling and waving, obviously enjoying the colorful and noisy reception.

Up at the assembly field, there were hundreds of people waiting anxiously for Jackie to arrive. A large roar erupted from the crowd as he appeared and took his seat on the small staging area set up for the event. On the field were dozens of martial artists, dancers, and musicians waiting to perform. The show they put on was quite colorful and entertaining; Jackie watched attentively as each group performed.

These lucky kids got to sit in Jackie's lap.

While the performances were going on I took the opportunity to wander around and take some photos of the local people:

I ventured away from the field and walked a bit up a path where I found several dilapidated houses, some covered with graffiti. As I lifted my camera to my eye to take a photo of one house, I noticed a tiny girl standing in the corner of the front porch holding a big yellow comb and staring at me with a blank expression on her face. I lowered my camera and smiled at her. No reaction. She did not appear to be curious or afraid; she just stood there, her expression unchanging. I tried saying hello and waving, but nothing happened. She didn’t seem to mind having her photo taken, so I took a few pictures and then moved on.

After walking a bit more, I went back to the field where Jackie was just preparing to talk to the crowd. He took the microphone in his hand and stood up, then began to speak. He told the audience that he had come to Timor-Leste to encourage them to embrace the message of “Discipline, Respect, and Unity.” He talked to them about the sadness he felt when he’d found out that some people were using martial arts in violent ways, and he shared his own experiences with everyone. He told them how he’d also been guilty of using his martial arts skills for fighting, but that he’d quickly remedied his ways. He said that it was essential that they respect the martial arts and respect themselves and each other. He talked about the importance of education, urging them to study hard for a better life. He shared his own experiences from the Peking Opera School, telling them about the abuse and near-starvation he suffered at the hands of his teacher. "But I never gave up," he said. He told them that he was no one special, but that he was a hard worker and that if he could succeed, so could they. Although I’d heard Jackie say these things many times, I couldn’t help but be moved by the passion in his voice and on his face as he spoke to the spellbound audience.

Just before it was time to go, Jackie was invited down to the field to participate in the tebe-dahur, a traditional Timorese dance where participants form a circle, linking arms and performing a simple march while singing. Once the circle was formed, dozens of people entered the middle in order to take pictures. I looked around to see if any of the security team was going to ask them to move, but they were occupied keeping the crowds under control. I felt terrible; the beautiful circle dance was being ruined by dozens of people holding their digital cameras and phones up to Jackie’s face. Although I did not savor the idea of trying to get these people to move out of the circle, I made a decision to try anyway. Happily, the intruders did move away when I directed them to; perhaps my UNICEF identification tag made them think that I had some kind of authority. I didn’t care, as long as the circle was cleared and Jackie could enjoy the dance with the local people. And enjoy it he did. It took him only a moment to memorize the movements, and he was soon swaying and chanting with the other dancers. Every minute or so he would move to another area of the circle so he could link arms with a different group, giving everyone a chance to dance by his side. It was exhilarating to watch this unlikely gathering – a Chinese superstar dancing alongside Timorese elders and children; laughing and singing beneath the bright sun high up in the mountains of Timor-Leste.

Soon it was time to say goodbye, and we left the assembly field to head for a small coffee farm nearby. Since we’d come by helicopter, we didn’t have our regular assigned cars, and there was a bit of confusion trying to figure out who would go in which car. Dorothy and I ended up jumping into the rear cargo area of Jackie’s SUV, leaving the hatch up since it was very very hot. As we drove to the coffee farm, Jackie turned to me and asked, “How did I do?” I knew he was referring to his speech and I was honest with him, as I always am when he asks me my opinion. I told him that it was one of the most moving speeches I’d ever heard him give; that even though I’d already heard the stories many times, he’d presented them with such honesty and passion that it had caused tears to spring to my eyes. “I made it all up,” he said, and laughed. It was clear that he was pleased, and of course he was joking when he said he’d made up the stories. He had shared many painful personal experiences with the audience and there was no doubt that his words were sincere.

Soon we arrived at the small coffee patch and the home of one of the local youths. The house appeared to be haphazardly pieced together from sheets of corrugated metal. Inside, Jackie was introduced to several of the people who lived there. Incredibly, there were only three small rooms; it was hard to imagine that this tiny building housed thirteen people. Jackie talked with the elder of the family, a man who did not know his own age, but who thought that maybe he was about 90 years old.

Maybe this little guy was trying to escape from the heat outside.

After a few minutes, Jackie was shown around the outside area and one of the little girls presented him with a sack of Timorese coffee beans. When it was time to leave, we jumped back into the cars for a ride to the nearby Office of the District Administrator, where a small buffet of local snacks and cups of homegrown coffee awaited us.

As usual, Jackie ate with gusto and encouraged the rest of us to sample all of the offerings on the table. He said that one of the ways to get a feel for a place is to try the local food. As we ate, one of the UN staff members told us a little about the area and about the coffee. He said that the Timorese coffee was quite well-regarded and that one large international coffee chain was already purchasing the beans. If production could be increased, certainly it would be good for the country’s economy, but for right now, most of the coffee produced was consumed within Timor-Leste itself.

Jackie enjoys some Timorese coffee.

The lovely buffet of locally grown foods.

Jackie shows you the bracelet he was given by some local youths.

Have a sweet potato!

Group photo with the Australian soldiers. 

After sampling the fragrant Timorese coffee and several of the cakes and fruits, it was time to head back to the field for our helicopter flight back to Dili. Jackie took photos with a group of Australian soldiers and some local officials, and as we were leaving he spotted another baby. After planting several loud kisses on the baby’s cheeks Jackie jumped into the car and we were on our way.

I took some photos of some of the buildings we passed along the way:

"St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School"

Back in the helicopter, the co-pilot gave another speech, then asked us to put our earplugs in. Several people hadn’t kept theirs and Jackie gave them a quick talking-to about not wasting things, telling them that they should have kept their earplugs from the first ride in order to reuse them. Of course all of Jackie’s staff members had kept ours; we’d had a lot of experience with Jackie’s dedication to conservation. As the helicopter took off, I handed my camera back to Jackie, who accepted it enthusiastically. Because it was later in the day now, the light had changed and Jackie made some stunning photos. You can see these pictures in a photo album here on our website. (Click on the link at the end of this article.) As we flew over the mountains, Jackie would periodically turn to me and with hand gestures, try to “talk.” It was impossible to hear anything in the helicopter, and Jackie’s sign language was a bit confusing, but I think he was trying to tell me that he’d succeeded in taking some great pictures, so I gave him the okay sign and that seemed to satisfy him. X Lee was sitting with Jackie for the ride back and every now and then the two of them would remove their earplugs and shout into each other’s ear. In one photo I took Jackie is laughing at something X Lee said. Later, I asked X Lee what he’d said to Jackie to make him laugh and he told me that Jackie had commented about what a wonderful feeling it was to travel and see the world in this way. X Lee had replied, “Certainly! You jump, I jump!”

Because I’d given my camera to Jackie, I was obviously unable to use it to take his photo in the helicopter. I had brought my old camera with me on this trip as a backup, but attached to it was a long telephoto lens. For those of you who don’t know about telephoto lenses, well, they’re great for taking photos from a distance, but when you’re in a confined space, you can’t get far enough away to take anything but a close up. I was so close to Jackie (relatively speaking) that I had to lean back and practically lay on top of poor Dorothy in order to get far enough away. Thankfully it worked, and there are many lovely photos of Jackie taken in the helicopter to share with you:

If you look carefully you will see Jackie has stuck his left arm out the window.

And this is the stunning picture that he took. Interestingly, after I posted this photo on our website, I received an email from a massage therapist who said that Jackie had the strongest Palmaris Longus tendon she'd ever seen. (The Palmaris Longus tendon is the one that runs from your wrist up your inner forearm.)

We asked Josh to take a photo of our team, but X Lee was too busy to smile for the camera.

PART TWO, DAY THREE: CAMEA VILLAGE

PART THREE, DAY THREE: DILI STADIUM

JACKIE'S PHOTOS FROM THE HELICOPTER

Text and photos ©2008 The JC Group. All Rights Reserved.

 

Message comment

Type your comment here (maximum: 400 characters) Help us keep the comments clean. Click REPORT ABUSE next to any inappropriate or offensive comments. Please refrain from posting any phone numbers, web links, home addresses, etc.
	Your name: