East Timor’s (Timor-Leste) debut on 20 May, 2002 as the newest nation was the culmination of a long struggle for independence. Four centuries of Portuguese colonization, Japanese occupation during World War II and 24 years of brutal Indonesian annexation resulted in sustained and systematic devastation. Six years after independence, East Timor remains the poorest country in Asia and has been experiencing civil and political unrest since April 2006. The history of violence has left East Timor with unprocessed trauma and a very young population – 25% of people are under 5 years of age; 50% are under 15 years of age, and around 80% are under 25. Although many of these young people have grown up in an environment of violence and uncertainty, some are looking for ways to participate in developing a peaceful society.
Rose Magnowas a picture editor for many years working with top-notch photojournalists from Black Star Photo Agency in New York to Time Magazine - Asian Edition in Hong Kong. After falling in love with Timor-Leste during her holiday visit in 2002, she moved to the world’s newest nation and lived for three years working as a freelance photographer. She was involved in setting up the USAID funded Centro de Fotografia in Dili, training several young Timorese in photography and archival. She collaborated with local Timorese photographers in a photography exhibition ‘Timor-Leste: In Times of Peace’ in Dili, which was invited to join a group show ‘Viva Timor-Leste’ in the Portuguese Consulate in Paris, France. In 2008, after being out of the country for 2 years due to civil unrest, she returned to Dili to teach photography to young people. Her awards include: Award of Excellence (Picture Editing Category) at the Applied Arts magazine competition in Canada and First runner-up at the Photographer of the Year Competition of the Foreign Correspondent’s Club (FCC) in Hong Kong. Rose studied Film, Theatre and Literature in Paris and New York and recently obtained a graduate certificate in Conflict Transformation Across Cultures.
Ba Futuru, meaning 'For the future' in the Timorese language, Tetum, is a non-profit development organization established in TImor-Leste in 2004.
Ba Futuru's mission is to contribute to peace-building and sustainable human development by facilitating the psychosocial recovery of conflict-affected, vulnerable and at-risk children and youth, and by developing the knowledge, skills and values of community leaders, young people in the areas of human rights, children's rights, child protection and non-violent conflict transformation.