Hello, everyone. I hope everyone is well.
I guess it is the rainy season in Japan. We have been having unusually dull weather here in East Timor. However, we had an exciting event here so exciting that we forgot about the bad weather. Mr. Jackie Chan visited our Comoro Youth Center!

Do you know Mr. Jackie Chan? He is an action movie star from Hong Kong. We can also see him in Hollywood movies. He is actually a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. He came to East Timor to give messages of “discipline, respect, and unity” through exchange activities with martial arts groups and invite young people to actively work to establish peace and social stability in this country. Mr. Chan visited our Comoro Youth Center to directly exchange with young people in this country. The Comoro Youth Center was chosen as his destination to visit because it is known in East Timor for its excellent activities. How honorable!

On the day of Mr. Chan’s visit, everyone had been excitedly waiting for him since morning. A little before he came, security services from the police, community residents, and mass media people started to gather. A total of more than 4,000 people gathered to see him.? Isn’t it amazing? This is the power of Jackie Chan.

Finally Jackie showed up. He appeared cool and handsome in a turquoise blue T-shirt and white pants. Director of a partner organization, Mr. Jacintha, and I welcomed him. I thought Mr. Chan looked more muscular than he looks on TV. He is an action star after all.

We showed him around in the center to explain all the activities held and get him to meet the children. The English class was the first. The students, who are able to speak English, directly spoke to Jackie in English. They asked a lot of questions: “What do you think about this country?" "What made you decide to come to this country?" "How did you learn English?" etc. Jackie politely answered to each one of them: “I love the smiles of the people." "I was assigned to visit this country as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador." "I study English by listening to music and watching movies."

The students wanted to talk more to Jackie, but we had to go on to the next class. Next was the literacy class for preschool children. The children welcomed Jackie with a song. Meeting the children, Jackie smiled with a beaming face. Jackie loves children. Surrounded by children for photos and shaking hands with them, he was actively interacting with children.

Next was the electronic devise repair course. There were a lot of machines under repair in the room. Jackie was curiously looking at them. The students had him press a button on the electric bulletin board they had made. When seeing the flashing letters reading “WELCOME JACKIE”, Jackie was greatly impressed and cried “Wow!” He then earnestly asked instructor Tiago lots of questions: “What are you going to do after graduation?” “You look young, but how old are you?” etc.

Then we went to see the class for children who dropped out of the literacy class. Jackie looked quite surprised to see students at various ages and asked “Which one of you is the youngest?”　 Instructor Odete explained to him why these children do not go to school. Jackie was surprised even more to learn that they contribute to family income by selling fish and vegetables. He said "It is great that families and friends help each other."
Then finally sports. Jackie explained that he loves sports. First basketball. Receiving a pass, he tried a three-point shot. Once, twice, three times...he could not make it. Then the fourth shot. He finally made a basket! After that he successively sank shots. He is really talented at sports. He seemed to be having great fun.

Then volleyball. Again Jackie had a ball tossed. Then he played a game of volleyball with children. He played with both a girl team and a boy team. During photo-taking Jackie was smiling a big smile, surrounded by young people.

The final activity was soccer. Jackie was great at soccer. From kickoff to penalty kicks, his performance was truly excellent.

At the end of his visit, Jackie gave a speech on the stage. He said,
“We are experiencing various disasters all over the world. In my home country China, too, there were great earthquakes, and a large number of people were killed. I always think why such disasters occur? What is going on in the world? Among all, human-causing disasters, that is fighting and wars, are especially heartbreaking. I hear that martial arts are used for fighting in this country. I want everyone to understand that martial arts are not for fighting but sports. I also want you to learn to have future visions and dreams through martial arts. I would like to contribute to peace making in East Timor as much as possible. Let’s work together to create a peaceful world!"

I agree with him. Lots of disasters occur all over the world. We recently had earthquakes in Myanmar, China, and Japan. We must not start fighting when a number of people are suffering from natural disasters. It is awful to fight or bully friends, needless to say to hurt people. I think the three messages from Jackie, discipline, respect, and unity, should be also taken seriously by people in Japan. Controlling selves, respecting others, and working together with friends: these are important not only in East Timor but in any country. I want everyone in Japan to keep the messages from Jackie in mind. I will too bear them in mind and do my best in East Timor.