project. Oxfam’s approach is to learn to

read, write and count in an everyday

context – participants make their own

reading materials based on their own

experiences and with their own words.

We promote a literate environment,

group participation, and women’s

empowerment. Family members and

participants who can read help those

who cannot, and the group as a whole is

encouraged to learn by themselves when

Oxfam facilitators are not present.

It all happens through making simple

books, with the first book for each

group usually being A Ka’u Gala – or

My Name Is – with a photograph and

sentence about each member. Gradually,

as the project progresses, everybody

Many men and women, in any

country, feel ashamed if they can not

read and write or do simple mathematics,

and their children often feel ashamed of

them as parents. In Timor-Leste, Oxfam

Hong Kong is running a literacy and

numeracy programme with the whole

family in mind.

Timor-Leste is one the world’s

newest nations, founded in 2002 after

a brave fight for independence from

Indonesia. It is also one of the poorest

countries, with about 42 per cent of its

people living below the poverty line,

and only about 50 per cent of adults

literate. In the past, Bahasa Indonesia

was used in schools and for official

purposes; now the indigenous Tetun

language has become one of the official

languages, and people want to learn it

properly. Good mathematics and basic

bookkeeping skills are also desired in an

economy that revolves around buying

and selling in the informal sector, and

where street markets in villages and

towns act as centres of the community.

The project began with a pilot in Dili

District in 2005, extended to Liquica in

2006, and will next be implemented in

Manatuto. The project works with both

children and adults, but women are the

focal point, as poverty and illiteracy

rates are high among women and

their status often very low, both in the

community, and within the family.

The way of learning is integral to the

Reading the everyday

Summer in Hong Kong – a season

of fullness. The sun seems larger. Trees

wider. People’s minds more open.

Somehow, there is a sense that more

is possible.

Well, this edition of O.N.E is full of

people who are changing their lives for

the better. Some very realistic dreams

are coming true.

Adult women who had never

picked up a pencil are now writing and

reading. People who never had the

courage and confidence to speak up for

themselves are now creating better jobs,

transportation and safer homes. Women

and children who had been bought and

traded are returning home safely. The

government is directing departments

to put the needs of impoverished rural

people as a top concern, so children

are going to school. Peace might finally

seem achievable. Teenagers are traveling

and opening their minds, hearts, and

worlds.

Of course, summer can be too hot

and sweaty, just as change can be

dignity. She seems to enjoy her new

skills, smiling as she learns, as if she is

so happy to finally know things that had

been denied to her for more than forty

years. She sits with her back so straight

and tall as if she knows she deserves to

be as aware, and as alive, as possible.

Yes to fullness. Yes to summer.

Madeleine Marie Slavick

Editor, Oxfam News E-magazine

Oxfam Hong Kong

emagazine@oxfam.org.hk

exasperating and demanding. Some

of the newly literate women in Timor-

Leste struggled and struggled along

the way: learning how to hold a pencil

was just the first of many difficult steps

to literacy. Yet they persevered and

persevered. Cesarina (pictured below)

is one of the women who had never

stepped inside a classroom but who

can now read, write and do simple

bookkeeping.

When I see Cesarina in the photo-

graphs, I see happiness and pride and

ONE Family literacy in Timor-LesteONE Space for peace in the PhilippinesONE After the tsunami in IndiaONE Journeys to CambodiaONE Education policy in ChinaONE Trafficking in the Mekong

from Timor-Leste

August 2007

unwritten local language, should be

represented, and then how it could

be translated into Tetun. For the Nana

pasta Homan pasta, they also had to

agree on the precise steps of basketry.

When content is approved by everyone,

a black and white version is made, a last

check is done, and then the final colour

one is printed up.

For numeracy, the principle of

the everyday is also followed. The

participants learn to recognise numerals,

how to write figures , do simple

bookkeeping and record everyday

business transactions. Dice, card games,

and counting games are useful tools.

It has not been easy for everyone.

Some people forget easily. Others still

struggle with how to hold the pencil.

Adults who had never been to school or

to any kind of adult education class tend

to have the most difficulty – if they had

been to school, even for only a year of

lessons, they quickly remember things

they had learned. Starting to read and

write late in life can be especially hard,

and some of the older people struggle

so much and try so hard that there can

be nothing but admiration for the way

they persevere. At the beginning, many

of them only wanted to know how to

sign their name, but the books have

been such an incentive that they want

to do more.

It has been very exciting to watch

the whole process evolve and to see

the pride that participants have taken

in their efforts. Many women say that

learning to read and write is beneficial

for themselves as well as for their

children; for with their new skills,

they can be better teachers in the

home. Several other organisations have

become interested in the project, and

Oxfam Hong Kong has been offering

advice, training, and support for the

teaching and learning methods to be

replicated in other places.

Oxfam Hong Kong has been supporting projects in East Timor/Timor-Leste since 1999.

learns to write their name and a few

simple sentences about themselves.

Other books so far include family photo

albums and Nana pasta Homan pasta,

a book on the step-by-step process of

making a woven bag, all the way from

growing the plant, dyeing, and weaving,

to getting the product to the market.

Photographs are taken for the books,

and captions written in both the local

and national language. Oxfam Hong

Kong’s team sits with the group, writes

the participants’ words as the text, and

talks about things like pronunciation,

word formation, and grammar. The

team also models the writing. It is a lively

process, as the participants discuss how

a word in Tokedede, their previously

Creating space for peace in MindanaoGenela C. Buhia writes from Davao City in the Philippines

Hau nia naran Cesarina.A ka’u gala Cesarina.

Hau nia naran

A ka’u gala

In her late 40s, Cesarina has just learned how to write her name. Her family was so proud of her achievement that they worked with her to help her learn how to read too, and she can now read independently. The first time she used her signature was when she gave a handicrafts training in another town. Here she is, on the cover photograph, signing the form for her per diem payment. Photos by Francisco Fernandes and Nico Ximenes of Oxfam Hong Kong.

ONEstory

Peace-building in the Mindanao

context faces immense challenges,

as the problems go back to Spanish

and American colonial times which

involved discrimination of Moros’

and ethnic people’s rights to self-

determination. Some parts of Mindanao

have been mired in deep poverty for

generations, and the ARMM is an area

characterised by the intertwining and

mutually reinforcing issues of poverty

and conflict.

The Mindanao history reveals that

peace-building is always more than

the signing of an agreement and

outpouring of aid for roads and houses.

Forging sustainable peace also means

working together to create space to heal

physical, historical, social-economic and

psychological wounds. Trust must be

restored. Political and social gaps must

be bridged.

In the summer of 2006, people in

Mindanao were hopeful. There had

been no full-blown war for 2 years,

and some peace advocates were saying,

“We have broken the 3-year cycle of

war!” Fighting in 1997, 2000 and 2003

had killed about 120,000 people and

displaced about 2 million, and it seemed

as if the ceasefire agreement signed in

2001 between the Government and the

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)

was finally holding. But then, sporadic

gunfire between government military

and MILF soldiers in the Autonomous

Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)

dampened the optimism. In the first

half of 2007 alone, fighting returned

in January and March between the

military and MILF, mostly triggered

by clan feuds as well as land disputes

between and among some settlers and

Moro groups.

in the Philippines

Yet, a movement for peace in

Mindanao continues. Some conflict-

prone villages in Central Mindanao have

declared themselves as peace zones, as

spaces to create peace while people

rebuild their lives and livelihoods. Oxfam

Hong Kong has supported this effort,

and several other conflict mitigation

projects, development initiatives, and

peace dialogues.

One particularly recognised local

group is the Bantay Ceasefire of the

Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) which

has about 500 volunteers in key hotspots

for monitoring, peacekeeping, conflict

prevention, mediation and investigative

missions. The MPC engages directly with

the peace panels of the government

and with the MILF, bringing in the

perspectives of Moro people, Lumad

(non-Muslim indigenous people) and

Christians. Their work is locally and

Mindanao

from Timor-Leste

internationally regarded. One woman

who volunteers says, “We cross rivers by

boat, we ride horses or carabaos just to

talk to the elusive commanders of the

MILF. We climb the hills and jungles to

reach AFP (military) camps, forgetting

the risks and fears.”

In March, President Macapagal-

Arroyo declared to step up all measures

for peace and stability and to advance

the talks between the government and

the MILF, and a peace agreement is said

to be in the offing. A recent GRP-MILF

Courtesy of Community Organizing Multiversity Centre and right photographs courtesy of Initiatives for International Dialogue/ Mindanao Peoples Caucus

“We crossed rivers by boat, we rode horses or carabaos just to talk to the elusive commanders of the MILF. We climbed the hills and jungles to reach the AFP (military) camps, forgetting the risks and fears”, relates Baileng Mantawil, a woman Bantay Ceasefire Volunteer.

statement indicates some progress

towards reaching a consensus on the

contentious ancestral domain issue. This

would pave the way for discussions on

other core parts of a comprehensive

peace agreement. Even as another war

is imminent as I write this article, the

people in Mindanao continue to hope

that a genuine peace process will truly

be upheld.

Genela C. Buhia leads Oxfam Hong Kong’s work in the Philippines. The agency has been supporting projects in the country since 1986, with a con-centration in Mindanao since 2004.

in India

As I reflect on my recent trip to

southern India to assess post-tsunami

projects, I particularly remember a

woman named Konduru Mangamma, a

woman who has been instrumental in

making her village a better place after

the tsunami.

Konduru, 30, sells fish and works as a

farmhand in a small 19-family village in

Andra Pradesh for a living; she supports

her four children through this work.

Even before the tsunami of December

2004, fishing was becoming harder and

harder in Andra Pradesh: the supply of

fish was dwindling, and the cost of diesel

was rising. The catch was often so small

that Konduru did not have any fish to

sell at the market.

When the tsunami struck, Konduru

lost her boat. She told me that to cope,

she frequently made porridge, which

stretched the little rice that they could

afford. She used less curry, which was an

unnecessary expense. Her family often

ate only one meal a day.

A nearby community group, Rural

Reconstruction Society (RRS), happened

to have visited Konduru’s village

just before the tsunami, and they

immediately raised funds for emergency

relief in the area. With support from

Oxfam Hong Kong, RRS distributed

fishing nets and cash for everyone to

repair or build their boats. To ensure

good quality construction, villagers used

some of the funding to hire a carpenter

to design boats with no engines: this

allowed for fishing in both deep and

shallow water.

At the end of 2006, Konduru joined

the women’s credit cooperative set up

by the village as part of the RRS-Oxfam

project. She applied for a loan of 2,000

Rupees to be able to buy more fish for

resale. All applications were screened

by all members, who appointed a

guarantor, and set the interest at 2

Rupees a month for every 100 Rupees

borrowed. Konduru told me that the

terms are much better than conditions of

normal creditors, who require repayment

in full and that fish be sold to them at a

price they quote. The plan gives Konduru

enough time to earn money and repay

without these pressures.

Some women also decided to try

other income projects, such as making

incense for a nearby manufacturer. They

attended training by the company while

RRS provided the capital for the initial

production expenses. It takes about

seven hours to prepare one kilogram

– work that the women do right in the

village – and payment is 250 Rupees per

kilogram. Their first batch of incense is

now ready to be sold to suppliers.

In a discussion I had with Konduru,

14 other women and 5 men, I was told

that other than the concrete assistance

of boats and loans and jobs, one of

the real gains people in the village

have achieved from the RRS projects

has been with their negotiation skills

with authorities and people who hold

power and make decisions. In the past,

they had not been as confident and

as clear with stating their needs, and

rights. Now, they exude a confidence.

They told me that their new sense of

strength is mainly due to the fact the

committee formed to implement various

rehabilitation projects has really evolved

into something functioning more as

a community collective. People have

been empowered by the strength of

collective action.

The changes in Konduru’s village

are evident. The community collective

petitioned the government to allocate

land that would be safer when cyclones

come or if another tsunami should

strike again: the village has since been

relocated to that selected site. They

convinced the bus company to resume

regular service in the area (it had

stopped with the tsunami); buses now

go right to the village. They urged the

electricity company to accept the fact

that people’s hardship has been so

severe that cash payments have just not

been possible: fees still owed by families

from around the time of the tsunami

have finally been waived.

There is still a lot of work to do to

recover from the impact of the tsunami

and to address the roots of poverty.

Yet, with the new collective, a new

community bank, new boats, and jobs

that supplement fishing and farming,

the future in Konduru’s village looks

different from the past.

Lourdes Lasap works with the Oxfam Hong Kong Humanitarian and Disaster Risk Management team. Based in Hong Kong, she has previously worked in Darfur, Sudan, and The Philippines.

JourneysWe ask, “Chum Ku-ium dei?” Do you

remember me?

Tian answers, “Chum!” I remember!

Tian is a boy we taught last year in

Cambodia. Somehow, seeing his smile,

his hope, his health, was what we had

been yearning for as we returned to his

village of Thnger, this time together with

a group of youth from Hong Kong.

Our first journey, in 2006, had been

so enlightening. When the six of us

returned to Hong Kong one month

later, we had changed. We realized how

much we could offer to society that we

– all of us students at the University

of Hong Kong which sponsored the

opportunity to visit Cambodia – set up an

organisation named Humanity in Focus

(HIF). With our mission, “By the youth,

through the youth, to the youth of the

world”, we strive to serve children and

youth in developing countries. We also

run education activities to inspire Hong

Kong youth to care about humanity,

accept their responsibilities in this global

world, and believe that they can make a

difference. This second trip to Cambodia

was exactly that: inspiration.

There were about 200 youth who

wanted to come, but the limit was 12.

This time, HIF had to plan the journey,

and it took months and months to

prepare everything. A thanks goes to

Village Focus International and Oxfam

Hong Kong.

On 13 June 2007, we finally arrived.

The youth could finally see another side

of life. For five days, they could feel the

‘simple’ yet ‘difficult’ life of a farmer,

and every night when we sat together

to talk, we could sense that they were

maturing, observation by observation.

They put so much effort in designing

the lessons for the children in Thnger.

They taught with all their soul. We knew

that the bonds formed in just five days

were strong; we knew that like us one

year before, their minds were already

changing.

Next stop was a city slum, another

world never seen by the youth.

Frustration and powerlessness seemed

to be everywhere – in the residents

and the participants, too. As we made

in Cambodia

After the Tsunami: New Community, New Boats, New Bank, New JobsLourdes Lasap writes from Andra Pradesh

Konduru (far right) with credit cooperative members and their incense. Photos by Julia Kalmirah / Oxfam Hong Kong

home visits, the youth tried to untangle

the social problems that created this

poverty. We could almost hear their

hearts crying. Humanity in Focus truly

believes that it is this compassion that

will keep them fighting for equality and

social justice in the world.

One participant, Tao Meng, said,

“Through cloud and rain, we survived.

We learned more about the world,

we learned more about ourselves, we

learned more about people just beside

us. I feel so lucky to have met you all. I

loved those days we stayed together,

I simply LOVED it! You are my friends

forever…”

Text and photographs contributed by Humanity in Focus: www.humanityfocus.org/ygcp07/Main/index1.0.htm

Batik training in at-risk

communities

is so full of snacks. One night, Tak-wah

feels so sick from all the junk food that

he throws up a chocolate monster who

brings him to the land of chocolate: he

sees the real life of cacao farmers. By the

end of A Wonderful Journey, Tak-wah

is asking a lot of questions. Where do

my snacks come from? Who grows my

food? To borrow this 10-minute cartoon

(in Chinese), go to http://cyberschool.

oxfam.org.hk/eng/resources.php

OXFAM HONG KONG WEBSITEwww.oxfam.org.hk

OXFAM BOOKSOxfam Hong Kong has created more

than 30 books, some in Hong Kong, some

in Taiwan, some on the Mainland, some in

Chinese, some in English, some bilingual,

and some mostly with images, which cross

all languages. Through publishing the

voices of poor people around the world,

we want to change the way people think about poverty. We want justice.

Oxfam recently supported the publication of 西部．希望　大山里的孩子們 (a book

on education in western China, in Simplified Chinese).

To order books: www.oxfam.org.hk/public/bookstore/list?lang=iso-8859-1

E-NEWSIssued every month in English and Chinese, this e-bulletin provides the latest

from Oxfam Hong Kong, with bite-sized news on emergencies, campaigns,

community projects, public education and fundraising. Oxfam e-News is emailed

to more than 80,000 volunteers, campaigners, donors, Oxfam Trailwalkers, council

members and subscribers. The Editor is Echo Chow.

To subscribe: www.oxfam.org.hk/public/contents/16830 (English version)

www.oxfam.org.hk/public/contents/7263 (Traditional Chinese)

www.oxfam.org.hk/public/contents/7265 (Simplified Chinese)

MOKUNGOxfam Hong Kong publishes this

quarterly magazine in Traditional Chinese.

Mokung, which means both “no poverty”

and “infinity”, highlights a different

aspect of development in each issue.

The Editors are Tung Tsz-kwan and Fiona

Shek. The June 2007 issue focuses on

social enterprises.

To subscribe: www.oxfam.org.hk/public/

bookstore/?lang=big5

Mokung is online at www.oxfam.org.hk/

public/contents/category?cid=1017&lang=big5

CANOxfam Hong Kong is supporting this

new photo-based magazine in China.

CAN means both “look” and “do” in

Chinese, and each 150-page edition (in

Simplified Chinese) examines a different

topic. The next edition, in October, will

focus on workers and their products.

The Chief Editor of the quarterly is the

writer-photographer, Liu Wai Tong. CAN

is available on the mainland and at select

bookshops in Hong Kong.

ONELINKs

What can people do about Climate Change and Poverty?

Please tell us at:

http://forum.oxfam.org.hk/?c_lang=eng

ONEquestIoN

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17th Floor, 28 Marble Road, Northpoint, Hong KongO.N.E, published in the middle of each month, is also online:

www.oxfam.org.hk/one//

Hong Kong

When the central government

of China instituted a policy in 2000 to

close many rural schools and improve

the ones closer to towns, Oxfam

supported research to assess the

impact: young children simply could

Tak-wah is called ‘King of

Snacks’ by his classmates. He especially

loves chocolate. At every recess, he is

nibbling on something and throws half-

full wrappers in the trash. At dinnertime,

he can almost never finish the good,

homemade food, because his stomach

not walk such long distances to school,

and the drop-out rate was increasing.

Oxfam made policy recommendations,

and in 2006, the Ministry of Education

issued a directive to local governments

to implement the policy according to

students’ needs. In one impoverished

county of Guizhou, 10 schools due for

closure have remained open, yet over

35 remain closed. Oxfam continues to

monitor the situation.

Yang Lan / Oxfam Hong Kong

Human Trafficking Program is working

against this injustice. We are supporting

the safe return of people who have been

trafficked, as well as vocational training,

social services, emergency aid, research,

advocacy, and awareness-raising among

at-risk groups.

Somewhere between

200,000 and 450,000 people are being

sold or traded in the Mekong region

each year – mostly women, children and

ethnic minority people being forced or

lured into sex work, debt bondage, and

unpaid labour, usually in urban areas.

This trend in human trafficking is

part of the rural to urban migration

trends across the Mekong: villagers are

being drawn to cities by the growing

demand for cheap labour in both the

formal and informal workforce.

The Oxfam International Anti-