Cursed by nature, history and a vengeful Indonesia, East Timor will gain nationhood with an adult population whose average schooling stopped in the third grade. Jobs are few, and skilled carpenters or plumbers, let alone doctors and lawyers, are nowhere to be found. Seventy percent of the capital is in ruins, destroyed in September by retreating anti-independence militias. Tilma sits in his small store, amid charred beams and scorched, crumbling walls. He is surrounded by a few bags of rice, some batteries, toiletries and household goods.
Business is lousy.
He is asked whether the price East Timor paid in suffering as a result of its August vote to split from Indonesia was worth it. There's not a person who wouldn't vote the same way again, even if they knew the consequences. We've got our freedom. We're rid of the oppressors. There's no price you can put on that, on getting your dignity back.