In this classroom narrative article I discuss some of my
experiences as a teacher in an Australian government-funded English
language development aid project during the United Nations Transitional
Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). The program formed part of an
emergency response to the devastating violence that accompanied the
Indonesian withdrawal from the country after 24 years of occupation. Using
journal extracts based on my ethnographic research in East Timor, I outline
some telling pedagogical and social disconnections that arose between the
development community and the community it purported to serve. I note
aspects of my experience that might be relevant to other language
development aid projects in a post-colonial, globalising world.