23 February 2010
Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Selection Committee
Albeit unusual for a parent to write a letter regarding a daughter’s nomination for the Gwangju Prize, I believe my point of view can provide perspective on the broader issue of what it means to a society when our youth literally risk their lives to protect those of others, while at the same time assist in providing information which may be useful for assessing the qualifications of Sierra James for the Gwangju Prize.
I was awoken at 2 am by the phone ringing, I am a physician and this is not an uncommon event in my life, but the person on the other end of the phone line was not a patient but rather my daughter. She had been working for two years in Timor-Leste on a peace building and human rights initiative that she stared in 2004, before the conflict reemerged and the situation there grew even more dangerous. Timor-Leste is one of the newest countries in the world and one of the poorest nations in Asia.
That night on the phone she got directly to the point. It was the worst headache she had ever had, to go outside she had to wear dark glasses because the bright light was too painful; she had a fever. Then she said that her neck was very stiff, too stiff to bend. I knew that her life was on the line in an instant.
She had an infection in her brain and spinal cord, it was a medical emergency, but there were very few physicians in Timor and at that time it was still unstable. There was nothing I could do but urge her to go to the hospital. I had visited briefly in Timor and already knew that there was not much there - no real laboratory support, few medications, and the hospital was still surrounded by a camp that housed hundreds of Internally Displaced Persons from the recent civil unrest.
Eventually she was able to get into the military hospital where Australian doctors and nurses attended to her treatment. They decided that it must be meningococcal meningitis, although they couldn’t test for it in-country. They were able to get her the medication she needed swiftly before she died, even in the United States this can be challenging as we often only have minutes after diagnosing someone to get them treatment for this disease before they expire.
As a parent I had to decide, to insist that she give up her work in Timor and return home or to let her stay and be at ongoing risk, where danger literally was around every corner.
A few months later another incident occurred, which I learned about from her brother. She had been detained by drunken men with machetes when they stopped her car on a back road by standing in the roadway. As the men turned around to discuss what to do with her, she stepped on the accelerator and was able to get away narrowly escaping what could have only been a very bad outcome.
On another occasion she called me in tears after she returned to her house to find it covered in blood and missing all of her worldly possessions. The intruders had killed her puppy with a steel shafted arrow from a small crossbow - these were common at the time as they were silent so an ideal tool in robberies at night - and then taken just about everything, not even the hot water heater was still left in the wall.
It was an educational experience for her to realize that all the material things in life do not matter so much, but it was also practically hard to rebuild her life and overcome this traumatic experience so that she could continue the human rights work that had become her passion. She considered herself lucky in a way as at least her house had not been burned to the ground which was a common strategy to prevent evidence coming to light about the identity of the thieves.
There was a point at which I had to give up and try to let go of my fear that she would be killed or maimed in the seemingly endless civil war that was going on in Timor-Leste. The only comfort I had was that she was doing what she loved. Back in the United States the most likely reason for a young person to die would be in a motor vehicle crash, a senseless, meaningless way to die, but that was a small comfort. The only comfort came from knowing that she was following her heart to serve other people and to be fully alive to a life in solidarity with those that were suffering.
Others will tell you more of her work and her accomplishments in peace building, human rights education and being a resource for the people of Timor-Leste, but there are two stories about her work itself that I want to share with you.
During the height of civil strife in Timor-Leste the police and the army were at odds and the country become divided between those from the East and those from the West. Sierra had been working for several years by then to bring people together, developing programs that taught human rights and child protection while also providing people with alternative dispute resolution skills to resolve their differences peacefully. One of the young men that she had trained was on a bus when it was stopped by a group of vigilantes with machetes. They came on the bus and said that anyone from the East side of the island had to come with them. Several people slowly and fearfully stood to leave the bus with the vigilantes, but before harm could come to them Sierra’s student a loveable young man with keen intelligence and courage stood up and said to everyone on the bus, what if I were from the East? Then slowly, first one then two then everyone on the bus rose to their feet looking at the men with machetes. They backed off the bus and the bus went on with all the passengers. When I heard this story I knew that Sierra had done her work in Timor well and that someday she would be free to return home and leave this small nation in the hands of those whom she had trained and who would be the real future of that small nation.
The final story is about how the work of peace building goes on in the community in much more settled times. She has taught about the human rights of children and of women in particular but perhaps the most telling story is one when two of the heads of villages, Chefes, who were required to attend her trainings on conflict resolution and human rights. Women are not often in positions of authority locally and the elderly men charged with being both judge and jury in local conflicts seldom listen to a women’s perspective, however almost all of the trainers that Sierra has working with her are Timorese women. Women have a natural affinity for peace and human rights being the center of family and having to resolve many conflicts each day. These village headmen begrudgingly sat in the back of the class with their arms crossed. But over the course of several days what they learned was how to resolve conflicts effectively with the best chance of everyone in the conflict being heard and feeling a sense of ownership in the final outcome. By the end these elders were not only happy they were there but grateful for their new skills. As one said, he had to live with the people in the village for the rest of his life and the better he could negotiate and resolve conflict the more likely he would have a peaceful and happy life. The word spread and now there is a waiting list for the heads of villages to take the training on conflict resolution at their own initiation, even though it is taught by women, most of whom are much younger than the village leaders. These are the kinds of outcomes that are hard won and long lasting.
Peace comes to a country one person at a time. I could not be more proud of my daughter and her work and humbly ask that you consider her gifts to the people of Timor-Leste, her time and talent, and that they may warrant consideration for the Gwangju Prize.
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