Constancio Pinto of East Timor, who has one more semester left before graduating, says he never dreamed he'd see the day when one of his countryman would be speaking at Brown
Six years ago Indonesian soldiers captured Constancio Pinto and placed a gun to his head. They beat him so badly that he begged them to end his life. Even though he did not reveal information about the resistance movement in East Timor, the soldiers let him go after several days of imprisonment.
Pinto left East Timor soon after, leaving behind his wife and family to tell the world of his people's struggle to escape Indonesian oppression. After a brief stay in Portugal, Pinto came the United States and then to Brown, where he is only one semester away from completing an undergraduate degree in development studies.
"I have come along way," said Pinto, 34, who spent much of his childhood living in the jungles of East Timor on the run from Indonesian soldiers. "But more importantly the struggle of East Timor has come even further. I would have never imagined that Bishop Belo and José Ramos-Horta would win the Nobel Peace Prize, and that both would be speaking at commencements of Ivy League schools in New England."
Ramos-Horta delivered an Ogden Lecture at Brown Sunday, May 25. Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo received an honorary degree from Yale.
The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the two East Timorese has heightened attention to the situation in East Timor, something Pinto has tried to do since he left his homeland under the cover of darkness.
After completing finals this semester, Pinto went on a West Coast speaking tour. At stops in Washington, Oregon and California, Pinto said he was pleased to see a change in the public's knowledge of East Timor's struggle for independence. "Instead of speaking to a dozen or so people who knew little of East Timor, I found myself speaking to hundreds of people who knew of East Timor's struggle," said Pinto, whose talks received wide media coverage.
Pinto readily acknowledges that being away from his homeland has been difficult. He said his first few years at Brown were fraught with loneliness and the difficulties of a new language and culture. But over time that burden has been eased by the kindness of the Brown community.
The arrival of his wife and son in his sophomore year eased things as well. The reunited family now includes a year-old daughter, Tima.
"It has been hard at times balancing school, a family and my responsibilities to my people," said Pinto. "I chose to take three courses during a couple of semesters to ease that burden. The extra semester will give me time to work on my thesis," which will examine economic development in East Timor.
Upon completing his degree requirements, Pinto will apply to graduate school at Brown and elsewhere. "I am very grateful to Brown," he said. "I feel like a new person since I have been here. The University has been very kind to me and my family and opened up a new world to me."