easttimor

Patriotism runs high during a flag raising ceremony in the capital Dili, marking the country's Declaration of Independence 25 years ago after the departure of the Portuguese. East Timor's biggest political party Fretilin, declared independence on the 28th November 1975, only to see Indonesia invade two weeks later.

3 youths share the only chair in a classroom at Santa Maria Secondary school in Suai, 200km West of Dili . Students in East Timor study Portuguese, Bahasa and a little English in schools where teachers and furnitures are hard to oome by. Apart from residential buildings and shops, educational infastructure was badly burnt when militias fleed to the West during the aftermath of the referandum in September last year.

Winnings and loses exhange hands while a gamblerling man removes his dying roaster from the fighting pits in Dili. Cock fighting, a tradition found in many parts of South East Asia, is a daily event in many parts of East Timor. A three inch blade tied to one feet of the roaster where both cocks fight till one is severly injured or dies while bets are place. Both usually end up on dinner table. Millions of rupiahs exhanged hands daily in this impovish country that is rated the world's fourth poorest nation.

An elderly East Timorese man passes out at the side of the road, after drinking one too many of the local palm wine Sabu, which contains up to 60 percent alcohol, depending on which district it's brewed. Drinking sessions sometimes start as early as 9 in the morning. Intoxiction has been blame for domestic violence in Dili and many rural areas.

After more than 650 years of first the Portuguese and than Indonesia's brutal rule, East Timor gain independence after Indoneisia gain democracy. After the overwhelming vote for independence in the September 1999 referandum and the violence that followed, the country begans the slow process of self reliance after a terrible history where hundreds of thousands of people were killed during Indonesia's attempt to wipe out the people's resistence, whether in the form of a gun or a banner. With the United Nations leading the path to total independence, East Timor is on it's slow road in rebuilding its civil and political lives. The following photos were taken in November and December 2000. All the following photos are copyrighted by the Associated Press and not to be reproduced in any manner without the permission of the Associated Press.