East Timor: A New Independent Country

About the Book

East Timor or Timor-Leste officially the Democratic Republic of Timor­ Leste is country in Maritime Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor,the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Occusse, an enclave on the northwestern side of the island surrounded by Indonesian West Timor. Australia is the country's southern neighbor, separated by the Timor Sea. The country's size is about 15,007 km. (5,794 sq,m) East Timor was a de facto province of Indonesia, whose territory ccrresponded to the previous Portuguese Timor and to the presentlty independednt country of Timor Leste. From 1702 to 1975 East Timor was an Overseas territory of Portugal named "Portuguese Timor"in 1974, Portugal initiated a gradual decolonization process of its remaining territories,including Portuguese Timor. During the process, a civil conflict between the different Timorse parties erupted in 1975. Indonesia invaded East Timor and in 1976, it formally annexed the territory, declaring it as its 27th province and remaining it Timor Timur. The United Nations,however, did not recognize the annexation,continuing to consider Portugal as the f legitimate administering power of East Timor. Following the end of Indonesian occupation 1999, and a United Nations administered transition period,East Timor became formally independent of Portugal In 2002 and adopted the official name of Timor Leste.

About the Author

Felipe Cofreros spent twenty five years of aggregate experience in teaching literacy, adult education, pre-school, elementary, high school, college and the administration of instructional English as a Second language [ESL] services among Indo-Chinese refugees [Vietnamese, Lao, Khmer and Hmong] in the International Catholic Migration Commission [ICMC], Philippine Refugee Processing Center [PRPC] in Sabang, Morong, Bata-an, Philippines for a decade. Felipe also taught English as a Second Language [ESL] in different countries in Asia and North America: Saint Mary College in Nagoya City, Japan for two years; Regent College and Pannasastra University of Cambodia in Samdech Pann, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia for two years; The United Nations [UN] Language Center in Dili City and Manufahi district in East Timor for two years; Zoni Language Centers in Manhattan and Queens, New York City, New York, United States of America [USA] for seven years and Effective Tutoring Systems in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America for three years. Felipe’s vast experience as a curriculum developer in Arts and Crafts program in the International Catholic Migration Commission [ICMC], Preparation for the American Secondary School [PASS] Program in the Philippine Refugee Processing Center in Sabang, Morong, Bata-an, Philippines; Saint Mary College in Nagoya City, Japan; University of Saint La Salle in Bacolod City, Philippines; La Consolacion College in Bacolod City, Philippines and Assumption Convent School in Iloilo City, Philippines greatly contributed to the creation of the following books that he wrote: A Handbook of Basic Art, Part 1 [Painting Processes in Playing with Colors, Different Crayon Techniques]; A Handbook of Basic Art, Part II [Basic Drawing, Painting and Making Crafts] and Let’s Weave [An Ancient Hand Art of Interlacing Two Groups of Threads]. He has also written more than a dozen of Children’s Picture Books with illustrations and comprehension questions: A Pre-school Math Workbook “Let’s Build Our Math Skills Workbook” For children ages three years old and up; Inside Japan: Its People and Culture and Effective Ways To Assess English Language Learners [For Intermediate and Advanced Levels]. Felipe graduated as scholar or its equivalent to cum laude from the University of San Agustin in Iloilo City, Philippines with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education with specialization in Social Studies and Art Education. He got his Latin, Spanish and Theology courses at the Seminary of San Agustin in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines and a Master of Arts credits in Language and Literature Program, Teaching English as a Second Language [ESL] in De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines. He got his Master’s Degree in TESOL and Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology from an on-line university in the U.S.A. Felipe obtained quite a number of certificates in different disciplines such as: TESOL Teaching Certificate Course, Lingua Edge, LCC, TESOL Teacher Training Systems at West Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills, California, USA; Managing People for Maximum Performance in John F. Kennedy School of Management, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; The Roots of Learning: Society for Effective Affective Learning in Brighton, England, United Kingdom; Basic Japanese Language and Japanese Sumie Art in Saint Mary College, Nagoya City, Japan and the New Role of Art in Education in the University of the Philippines in Iloilo City, Philippines.