Hey!
this is now east timor's blog (what the...)

so i guess i'll start off with a very short summary of east timor in the past...

East Timor is a country in SouthEast Asia, and has one of the lowest per capita GPDs in the world (it has a small economy).

it shares the island of Timor with Indonesian West Timor.

So now that you know where it is...

East Timor was colonised by Portugal in 1702, after a fight with the Dutch divided the Island of Timor.  It was known as Portuguese Timor until the decolonization of the country.  East Timor then declared itself independent on the 28^th of November, 1975.

Nine days later though (wow that was short lived) Indonesia decided that they like the country and invaded and occupied by Indonesian forces before the declaration could be internationally recognised.

The reason Indonesia gave for occupying ET was that they said the the political party FRETLIN was communist. This being the time when America was very scared of communism, and America fearing a domino effect with the whole of south Asia, they supported Indonesia’s actions.

In July 1976 ET was declared Indonesia’s 27^th province, but its status in the UN still said that it was governed by the Portuguese. 

A guerrilla force, Falintil, fought against the Indonesian invasion from 1975 to 1999.

The Indonesian rule in East Timor was very brutal, and was often marked by extreme violence.  The death toll from 1975 to 1999 has been estimated by Amnesty International at 200,000.  This was almost a third of the East Timorese population.

A UN-supervised referendum was held on 1999, on whether East Timor should stay under Indonesian occupation or should become indepent.  80% said that ET should become independent.   

But pro-Indonesian militia and Indonesian forces retaliated, killing and burning many East Timorese. 

Indonesia finally let the UN in on Spetember 12^th.  A peace keeping force, led by Aus was established.

On May 20^th, 2002 East Timor was internationally recognised as independent. 

So that is the history ( i think i did pretty well summarising 30 yrs into  a ¾ of a page…)

But ET was not in the clear yet…

More recently, in 2006 unrest began over the dismissal of 591 soldiers that had deserted their barracks, and 500 ppl were killed and 20,000 fled their homes (you may remember this on the news… i do)

After this, there came a big i-will-quit-if-you-dont thing between the President and the Prime Minister.  (how can there be a prime minister and a president???)  Under rising pressure, the Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri resigned.

With many of the ppl who fled the 2006 violence still displaced, and ET’s increasing reliance on international communities for food and aid, it’s not looking too good for East Timor.

There are currently 21 projects funded by World Vision Australia in East Timor:

• Three relief projects, one funded by AusAID, the Australian Government’s overseas aid agency, and the other two funded by Australian donors
• Two projects co-funded by AusAID and the Australian public
• One project funded by the 40 Hour Famine
• One project supported by the Smiles Gift Catalogue
• One project funded by the United Nations Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
• One project funded by the World Food Programme
• Three Gift-in-Kind projects
• Nine projects funded by Australian donors under other programs

Yeah this is really fanastic to have someone takl about East Timor.

In 3 weeks I begin an assignment I'm doing on the Timor-Leste situation as part of my introduction to International Relations course at uni.

Day 7 – 25^th Jan

• Infant survival project – very high infant mortality rates in 4-6 communities around clinic. Focus: midwife training, basic health care, assistance in deliveries, health education, home visits, mobile clinic once everyone month (doctor visits from Dili)
• In the first year, reduced infant mortality rate by 50% (now 1yr, 3 months old). It’s a small project and budget, but it has seen massive results.
• 3 staff (2 midwives), trained 8 birth attendants, must walk to community health centre to obtain vaccines etc.
• Traditional attitude – proper to deliver baby at home
• District hospital is 80km away and expensive to travel to, if needed, they walk.
• All medicines and treatment by clinic is free.
• Posters on wall – nutritional info and food types, stages and risks of pregnancy, HIV/AIDS – Abstinence, Be faithful, Condom. Child immunisation
• Chief of village very supportive of clinic provides backup to district hospital. Clinic has started 2^nd phase in November, recruiting more midwives.
• 60-65 people per day (Mon and thurs), other days allocated for home visits.
• 2000-3000 people live in the area, last year 14 children died in the area and one mother. Over the previous 5 years, 500 children died (from survey)
• 1^st phase – 30 mortalities, 2^nd phase – 15
• Total population of Bacau – 180,000 and total number of doctors – 10
• Leading illnesses – malaria, diarrhoea, respiratory infections, also if malnourished, they don’t have the immune system to fight diseases