Poverty in Vemasse, East Timor by Allan Clausen

MONASH FRIENDS OF VEMASSE

East Timor (Timor Leste) is the poorest country in our region and one of the world's poorest. However, this poverty is not "in your face" - you don't see people lying around looking at death's door. In fact this is rare anywhere except in times of extreme famine. 

In 2005, a group of Monash residents and other interested people began meeting with the goal to raise fund to help residents living in Vemasse, a village situated about 90km east of Dili in East Timor. In 2007 we were fortunate to discover Alex Gusmao from Vemasse who was studying Community Development in Melbourne. Alex helped the community in Vemasse to establish a committee, which determines their priorities for us to help with.

In December 2008 Monash City Council voted to formalize the relationship with the Vemasse Sub-District and to provide some support to Friends of Vemasse. In May 2008 four of our committee members, who financed their own trip to visit Vemasse. This is our story.

POVERTY IN EAST TIMOR

Portugal was the colonial power for some 400 years in East Timor. They were the first and last of the European colonial powers and probably the worst in that they did little for the local people - they were there purely to exploit.  When a revolution in Portugal in 1974 overthrew the dictatorship, the Portuguese quickly abandoned their colonies. Subsequently, Indonesia became the new colonial power.

Indonesian colonialism was marked by ruthless suppression of opposition.  However, Indonesia, unlike the Portuguese, did do a lot to develop the country, in particular building roads, providing electricity and developing an education system.  However, before and after a vote in 1999 showed overwhelming support for independence, there was intimidation and much killing by the local militias who supported integration with Indonesia. As the Indonesians left they took with them whatever they could and destroyed whatever they couldn't.  Buildings and equipment were destroyed, power lines removed and virtually all of the Indonesian schoolteachers departed.

The result was that this newly independent country began in 1999 with huge problems - power poles with no transmission lines, destroyed power generators, burnt out school and other public buildings and few teachers etc.

Malnutrition can be seen in the distended bellies of children. Every year there is a two month food shortage but a few years ago there was a period of severe drought which extended that period each year. The overdependence on staples of sago and rice means diets are unbalanced.

VISITING VEMASSE

Vemasse is a Sub-District of the District of Baucau in East Timor. The Vemasse Committee has been using the money we raised to support two schools, which received no government funding and most of the teachers depended on small school fees from parents. Although it is intended that schooling be compulsory for all children up to year nine, it is was apparent in some of the remote villages that there were children of primary school age who were not at school, seemingly because of lack of buildings & teachers. Some school buildings have been repaired or rebuilt but many bear the scars of the Indonesian departure. 

Three years ago four of our group visited Vemasse. The committee was embarrassed to tell us that all of the money we had sent to date, including smaller amounts for two other projects, had been used to support the unpaid teachers. The reason for this was a drought had set in so that few parents could then pay the school fees either in cash or in kind. So our money was helping to keep the teachers alive.

During our visit, we also noticed how basic the school buildings are in Vemasse. The schools are often with unlined walls & ceilings and have just openings for windows.  Stationery & equipment are also scarce. We observed children doing exams on scraps of paper.

This made us realize how desperate and difficult the situation is on the ground. Thus, supporting the livelihood of the teachers and schools has remained our first priority. In addition, we have also been providing funding for other purposes and shipped school supplies and furniture to Vemasse. Currently we have a proposal before us to fund urgent repairs to the junior secondary school in the hills.  We are happy to have Wheelers Hill Lions joining with us in this new venture.

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

Our trip to Vemasse in 2008 was a very fruitful experience, which has given us some understanding of their situation and seeing their response. Although facing many problems, the East Timorese are happy people. They may be way down the list in the poverty stakes but their happy and welcoming nature simply shines through.

From Allan Clausen, President of Monash Friends of Vemasse

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~vemasse/help.html