East Timor - TIMOR LESTE

 

AI just returned from my first visit to East Timor, the troubled island you have certainly seen many times on TV these past years.
Once East-Timor was given freedom from 400 years of Portuguese colonization, the Indonesian military occupied and ruled it from 1976 to 2002. When the Timorese people in a referendum voted for a free East Timor, heavy fighting by Indonesian Military and pro-Indonesian Militia followed, leaving the country by 75 % destroyed, 30 % of the inhabitants dead and 50 % of the survivors refugees in West-Timor or elsewhere.

May 20, 2002, Timor became an independent country, named TIMOR LESTE (East Timor).
The older generation in Japan remembers what Japan looked like after the war - well, Timor is just like that. The buildings are in ruins, the people are terribly impoverished.

40 ethnic groups with 40 different languages and dialects live on this island, these are indigenous peoples of all shades of brown colour, straight or kinki hair, all vibrant of life and joy, in spite of all suffering.

60 % of all adults are illiterate, but now big efforts are being made to bring all children to school, once the infrastructure will have improved. There are many health stations in the villages, but for all social work the financial possibilities of the new government are extremely limited. The oil found in the Timor Sea, by international convention belonging to East Timor, has not been released to Timor, it is being exploited by the Australian Government. Without oil Timor will not be able to survive, as it has little to offer in terms of trade. The country is covered with high mountains and the soil is poor. Timor once was famous for the export of Sandalwood, which no longer is growing there. Timor once was an coffee producer, but coffee prices are only a small part of what they used to be, and even Vietnam is removing its coffee plantations. Timor still has no market, no partner to export even the smallest produce, as Indonesia is putting high taxes on products from East Timor.

So much help is needed in East Timor. It is a country under reconstruction and relies on foreign help, our help!

There are still good mission schools in East Timor, giving the best education and vocational training. But only few can pay for schooling, books and clothing.


During this trip I elected the District Venilale, right in the mountains, to help the children of many villages who could go to the 15 Don Bosco-Schools in the area.

The cost is 130 Yen per child per month. Certainly we will add some contribution for clothing and school-material. We can start a feeding program for the lean months, when hunger is rampant, and 80 % of the children are malnourished. I saw many babies and small children with a high degree of malnutrition.

While the German Government Program is helping to develop agriculture and the health situation, its "food security program" can only reach a relatively small part of the people. It will take years to bring about a visible improvement. Mr. Kohl, formerly Team Leader of GTZ Northern Laos, now in Timor, is trying his best to promote the poorest people in mountain areas.

ATCA wants to help NOW, as fast as possible. With the Salesian Missioners and their famous Don Bosco Schools, and Mr. Kohl as head of the Timor Mission of the German Government Aid, we have the best partners we could find. They suffered through all troubled years, some of the priests and sisters were killed, but the founder in Timor, Father Locatelli from Bergamo, Italy, is still there, training hundreds of young men in different professions, up to computer science. These well-trained youth will be the main pillar for this new country, with also a training in peace-keeping and reconciliation after much trouble. I was invited to join some meal with them, and their enthusiasm and urge for work gave me much hope.


Now let us help as many children as possible to get a basic education.

Our help is immediate, for every 130 Yen ( 1 Euro) per month a child can join the Don Bosco Schools in Venilale District, and with a little more we can give a very basic meal some days a week. Father Palomo, a Filipino Salesian Priest, will be very happy to start this partnership with ATCA, and promised to search for the poorest children in the villages so they will not be left out, while Father Locatelli continues with the vocational training of the youth in the mission center.



Your always grateful

Margareta Weisser
ATCA INTERNATIONAL

April 2004
 

NEW ATCA CAMPAIGN:

1 Euro per child per month - to study at a Don Bosco School
in East Timor!

Please help to give these children a future!