Upcoming Benefit for East Timor (corrected posting)

A Fundraiser for East Timor

Thursday, October 26, 7:30 pm, Glen Park, San Francisco
The Home of Moher Downing and Luis Kemnitzer

Hosted by Dennis Bernstein, Matthew Jardine and the East Timor Action
Network/S.F.

Dennis Bernstein is an award-winning radio and print journalist who hosts
KPFA radio's popular daily "investigative newsmagazine" Flashpoints. His
articles about abuse of corporate and state powere been published in The
Nation, The San Francisco Bay Guardian and other publications.

Matthew Jardine has written extensively about U.S. complicity in the
brutal Indonesian invasion and occupation of East Timor. He recently
returned from East Timor where he spent three months working for La’o
Hamutuk ("Walking Together" in Tetum), a project which monitors
international organizations dominating East Timor's reconstruction and
pushes for genuine East Timorese participation in their activities.

Ajiza Magna was active in the East Timorese resistance movement within
Indonesia while working toward her undergraduate degree in economics.
She left university to be in East Timor during the lead up to the August
30, 1999 independence vote.

Ajiza currently coordinates work on women’s and labor issues at the
Sa'he Institute for Liberation (SIL) in East Timor (see more on SIL
below). Ajiza has also worked with the outstanding East Timorese women’s
organization Fokupers, and she represented East Timor at a United
Nations meeting on labor issues in Geneva.

Vegetarian dinner, dessert and refreshments will be served. Signed
prints by noted political artist Eric Drooker will be available for
large donors. Minimum donation is $30. Proceeds go to the Sa’he
Institute and to direct medical aid for East Timor. Seating is limited,
please RSVP to Sara Smith at sarars [at] uclink4.berkeley.edu or 510-595-7741
and we will send a map and directions. If you cannot attend but wish to
make a donation, please make check payable to Global Exchange, write
East Timor Relief in memo field and mail to:
ETAN/S.F. P.O. Box 420832 S.F., CA 94142

Tel. 415-626-9906 e-mail bterrall [at] igc.org website
http://www.etan.org

Ajiza will be speaking at the following locations in the Bay Area:


Wed. Oct. 25 12 noon S.F. State, HSS 248, near 19th & Holloway

Wed. Oct. 25 3:15 pm Stanford University, Room 125 Memorial Auditorium
(551 Serra Mall, paid parking available in lot on Galvez Street).

Thurs. Oct. 26 UC Berkeley from 4-6pm in 223 Moses Hall (near the Bell
Tower)

Due to the Indonesian military’s destruction of food stocks and
agriculture infrastructure, people in East Timor are suffering from
widespread malnutrition. Unemployment is estimated to be 80 percent.
Nevertheless, East Timorese are struggling to rebuild homes, schools,
and communities, dedicating their energies to the construction of a
democratic and just society. The East Timorse people are also working to
secure justice and judicial accountability from the Indonesian
government and military, and long-overdue support from countries which
supported the occupation of East Timor.

Numerous grassroots organizations are doing essential work along these
lines, and they desperately need support. In a country where the average
annual income is an estimated $225, a little goes a long way. We are
focusing our fundraising efforts on two groups that are desperately in
need of funds:

Sa'he Institute for Liberation (SIL) is committed to education for
critical consciousness and democracy. They have translated texts into
Indonesian for mass distribution, including a critical look at the
history of the World Bank
and a people's history of the pro-independence political party Fretilin.
They have coordinated youth projects in community education and
community organizing. SIL is building a
"people's library" and welcome books in Indonesian, Portuguese, or
English, particularly volumes on education and political organizing.
Contact Ben at 415-626-9906 or bterrall [at] igc.org for more information on
ETAN’s book drive for this library.

Prontu Atu Servir (Ready to Serve) is a grassroots health project led by
Sister Maria Dias. Through their clinic in Dili, and their work on
Atauro island--one of the most isolated and impoverished areas of East
Timor-PAS serves the poorest of the poor. While providing treatment for
medical ailments, PAS works to address the conditions that lead to
illness. PAS puts a heavy emphasis on popular education for health,
helping to train local health facilitators, with the goal of creating a
national health system that is sustainable and based on local resources.
Thanks for whatever help you can provide.