ACbit – Chega! Ba Ita Learning from the Past, for A Better Future
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Augusta Soriano da Silva has said enough.
Augusta put aside a portion of every harvest to feed the resistance members, including her brothers, who met on their farm three times a month. After spies reported the family to the local military post, her mother, brothers and older sister were taken to jail. Augusta was left behind to take care of her blind father. Almost every night the Indonesian military and civil defense forces came to the house to intimidate them, kicking down the door and forcing her to “dance” with the soldiers. Subsequently she and her brother were exiled to Atauro Island for three years.
Augusta now lives with her three children after her husband passed away due to illness. She supports her family by selling produce and raising small livestock. She has never received any government assistance, and says,
If you speak of justice, I don’t feel like I have justice, I only have suffering.
