Madison-Ainaro Sister City Alliance Maintains Solidarity Links

Spring 2005 Home

East Timor hits potholes on the road to independence

Support Democracy! Become an Election Observer

Petroleum dependency

Support Resolution on “Comfort Women”

U.S. Re-engages the Indonesian Military: Rights, Democracy Suffer

Justice Remains Distant for East Timorese

Crimes Against Humanity From Ford to Saddam

Munir Update

Chega!’s Recommendations & the U.S.

Madison-Ainaro Sister City Alliance Maintains Solidarity Links

New Year Dawns with Threats to Human Rights in West Papua

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Madison-Ainaro Sister City Alliance Maintains Solidarity Links

The Madison-Ainaro Sister City Alliance (MASA) has continued to forge strong solidarity ties between mountainous Ainaro and our home city, Madison, WI. Through delegations, fundraisers, and community events, we’re working hard to keep alive the valuable connection between people here and there.

Our annual Tour de Timor bike ride continues to be a success — for both Madison and Ainaro. Dozens of riders join us each spring for a casual afternoon of bicycling, and we raise around $2000 each year, most of which goes to mini-grants for small community groups in Ainaro. We also continue to support — with finances, supplies, and logistics — the Bairo Pite Clinic and the work of Dr. Dan Murphy, including a maternal and child care clinic in the Hatubuilico region of northern Ainaro district.

Regular delegations to East Timor are a benchmark of our organization; while we did not host a proper delegation in 2006, we were privileged to have a number of dedicated individuals serve as ambassadors for MASA. Among these was Colleen Coy, with Madison’s fair trade coffee roaster, Just Coffee. Colleen fell in love with East Timor upon her arrival and wound up spending several months there. After a short visit back home, she will return to East Timor in early 2007 and plans to live there for some time.

Communication with Ainaro is difficult, but through our partners in Ballarat, Australia (who also have a sister city relationship with Ainaro), we’re working to maintain open lines of dialogue and flow of information. We’re focused on a number of possibilities for the future, including hosting a Timorese student in the U.S., music exchanges, and more delegations.

We’ve also begun preparations for the coming Tour de Timor 2007. If you’d like to help us with this or other projects — or if you’d like information on hosting your own Tour de Timor, please call Eric at (608) 244-4563 or email: eric@etan.org. For full details on MASA, visit our website at www.aideasttimor.org.

— Eric S. Piotrowski, Madison ETAN