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country and its people and became determined to help them in their seemingly
hopeless struggle for independence. Little did she know then where her passion
for the cause would lead her.

Over the next decade, Kirsty worked as an undercover activist in Jakarta,
becoming an increasingly valuable operative within the East Timorese
independence movement. In 1994 her work brought her into contact with the jailed
leader of the resistance movement, the charismatic Xanana Gusmao. Through their
letters, smuggled in and out his prison, they fell in love. This unlikely but
remarkable romance, no less passionate for their being so forcibly separated,
was further tested when Kirsty was compelled to flee Indonesia one step ahead of
its feared intelligence service. It was not until the fall of President Suharto
and Xanana s subsequent release from prison that Kirsty was finally reunited
with the revered independence leader.

Working beside Xanana, Kirsty found herself at the very centre of the epic
events that saw East Timor freed from Indonesian occupation: the vote for
independence, the militia groups murderous rampage that followed, the
intervention of Australian and international peacekeeping forces, and the slow
and painful rebuilding of a devastated country. Today, the former guerrilla
commander and the activist live together as president and first lady, with their
two children, in a country where fear has been replaced by hope.

The ALOLA foundation was originally established in 2001 to raise awareness about
the problem of sexual and gender-based violence in East Timor and to benefit
women, children and their communities in East Timor.

Today, the Alola Foundation has grown to respond to a range of other needs of
East Timorese women such as advocacy, economic empowerment, education and
literacy, maternal and child health and humanitarian assistance. A wide range of
initiatives including the Women's Resource Centre, Friendship School Program,
National Breast Feeding Association, the Friends of Alola and East Timor
Exhibitions has been developed to continue to build links between East Timor and
the rest of the world. The foundation works in direct partnership with women's
non-profit organisations in East Timor.

Alola is the childhood nickname of a young East Timorese girl from Suai called
Juliana dos Santos. During the violence of September 1999, Juliana was kidnapped
by a militia leader and taken to Indonesian West Timor. She was 15 years old.
This militia leader still holds her today.

========================= 


EXPLANATION OF NAME "ALOLA FOUNDATION"

Addendum: The 'Alola Foundation' story is revealed in Kirsty Sword Gusmao's
biography "A Woman of Independence" (Pan/Macmillan 2003) which was launched in
Sydney with Jose Ramos-Horta speaking last November 2003. On page 308 Kirsty
explains that 'Alola" was the nickname for Juliana dos Santos a 15 year old East
Timor girl. 

The book tells the story of a 15 year old school girl - Juliana dos Santos
(knick-named "Alola") who was brutally kidnapped from the Suai Cathedral grounds
on 6th Sept 1999. Minutes before she watched, as her 13 year old brother and 200
other people, including priests, were macheted and murdered by the "Laksaur"
militia. 

Eighteen months later, in March 2001, Juliana's parents appealed directly to
Kirsty as 'First Lady of East Timor', to do something to retrieve their
kidnapped daughter. Kirsty took their case, symptomatic of the rape, torture and
murder of hundreds of Timorese women, to the UN Human Rights Commission in
Geneva. As a result of Kirsty's efforts, the Indonesian Government was forced to
allow a brief meeting in a West Timor police station between the kidnapped
daughter and her parents.

After repeated rape, "Alola" by then had born a child to the militia leader,
Igidio Manek, who claimed her as (one of his) "wives". Remember "Alola" , as one
of the few survivors of the Suai Massacre, would be a key witness to any future
UN War Crimes Tribunal hearing against him.


Despite the brief family reunion in the Indonesian police station, not
surprisingly, the family were not allowed to reunite. "Alola" is still a virtual
prisoner in the squalid West Timor camps where armed "militia" still operate and
conduct cross border raids into East Timor. Australia wants to pull out its
peace-keeping border troops this coming May 20th 2004.

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