Two big events in November kept ICFJ staffers very busy: the 2009 Media Awards Dinner and the Grand Opening of the Suai Media House.

The biggest challenge was that both events occurred within three days of each other. One in Dili and the other 200 kilometers away on a very bad road – an eight hour trip! The staff at ICFJ pulled off both events like clockwork – despite attempts by Mother Nature to spoil the fun!

ICFJ helped the five Timor-Leste journalism associations organize this year’s Awards Dinner which was held at the Presidential Palace – outdoors – at the start of the rainy season ... A recipe for disaster? It was that close to being a train wreck.

One hour before the event, the skies cleared, the high winds died down and the rain stopped, but not before drenching the table cloths and blowing away some of the banners. ICFJ staff and other volunteers went into action - ordering new table cloths from the caterer and chasing down most of the banners.

By the start time of the event, everything was in place and most guests had no idea that disaster had almost struck.

The event itself was marked by good, short speeches – the Oscars could learn from this event – and great traditional dance routines. The keynote speaker was President Jose Ramos-Horta – who joked that he’d once worked as a journalist, but had never won an award.

More than 300 guests attended the Awards Dinner and approximately 11,000 USD was generated from ticket sales – all of these funds were placed into the Media Trust Fund, set up by ICFJ to continue media assistance programs after the current project ends.

On November 24, sunny skies greeted guests at the grand opening of the Suai Media House – the fourth Regional Media House (UMR) that ICFJ has formally opened in Timor-Leste. The other three facilities are located in Baucau, Oecusse and Ermera. The ICFJ office in Dili actually serves as a fifth media house.

The trip to Suai is not easy. Suai is located on the south coast of Timor-Leste and the road is mountainous, narrow and pockmarked. My predecessor labeled the road “pukefest highway.” It takes eight hours or more to travel just 200 kilometers. Most of the staff traveled by four wheel drive vehicle. A few took a tiny private plane – a ride that takes just 30 minutes.

The ceremony was marked by amazing traditional music and dance. One musician played a hand-made stringed instrument and sang folk songs in a haunting voice. He was joined by two other singers and six young girls who danced barefoot.

More than 75 people from the community attended the opening. Those speaking at the ceremony included the district administrator, the president of the syndicate of journalists, the director of ICFJ-TL, representatives from USAID and AusAID, as well as the media house coordinator.

Even before the media house was officially opened, it had been used by journalists: during the local elections in October, stories and photographs were fed to Dili from the Suai Media House using its high speed internet connection.

Unlike the other media houses, the Suai facility has been integrated into an existing program – the Covalima Youth Center, an organization that has been working with the community for several years, helping to promote the flow of information around Suai. The new media house will complement the youth center’s continuing work in the district.

Baucau Media House coordinator Manuel Ximenes had a surprise guest on November 10th. Manuel knew that U.S. Ambassador Hans Klemm would be stopping by for a visit, but Ambassador Klemm brought someone with him – Jose Ramos-Horta, the President of Timor-Leste.

Manuel gave the visitors a tour of the recently opened facility and demonstrated the high speed internet connection by bringing up www.timortoday.com. President Ramos-Horta said he was impressed with the media house and the website.

Ambassador Klemm was giving the president a tour of USAID –funded projects in the country.

Meanwhile, ICFJ has been helping three independent newspapers to purchase a printing press. In late November, ICFJ staffer Antonio Soares traveled to Jakarta, Indonesia, with an inspector to purchase the printing press and other accessory equipment. The printing press should arrive in Dili in December.

ICFJ’s Summer Journalism Program for UNTL’s Social Communications students was in full swing in November. The program aims to expose students to real-life challenges inside a newsroom. The students were embedded at several newspapers for two weeks and then spent another two weeks working at the campus radio station, Radio Akademika, learning how to do broadcast journalism.

Some of the students have had their stories appear in the newspapers, while others have become regular contributors to Radio Akademika’s evening news program that airs each day at 6pm.

Forty of the eighty-plus Social Communications students took part in the journalism program.

Classes at UNTL will resume in January, and the 80 or so Social Communications students are expected to return. The courses for the new semester are not yet finalized, but they will likely include “Writing II” and “Media’s Role in a Democracy”. Forty freshmen students are expected to sign up for the course “Introduction to Social Communications”.

ICFJ is hoping to sign a MoU with UNTL in December to begin curriculum development for the four-year Social Communications degree program at the National University.

In late November, ICFJ hired a curriculum coordinator, Andreia Pires, to guide the process with UNTL and other partners. Andreia will be coordinating a soon-to-be established working group that will include at least one university partner outside Timor-Leste.