.jpg "East Timor Children") East Timor Children BACKGROUND Fragile Democracy
When an overwhelming majority of East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia in 1999, it led to violent opposition. Australian-led peacekeeping troops were deployed and on 20 May 2002 East Timor was internationally recognised as an independent state.
Father Riley visited East Timor shortly after independence and committed to helping an orphanage located in the tiny town of Baguia, in an impoverished area deep in the mountains. .jpg "Image")
Water must be carried from the local spring back to the village about half a kilometre along badly damaged roads. Working alongside the local church, plans are underway to utilise local labour to install larger tanks and solar pumps to pipe water underground, and also to renovate and expand the orphanage’s buildings.The orphanage renovations will involve building another storey on top of the existing building, giving the children new sleeping and bathing areas. The existing downstairs rooms will then be converted to recreational and study areas - allowing play times when it is raining. To improve the orphan's diet and ongoing health, we wish to start a food programme. This will cost AUD$1800- per month, which will purchase nutritious food such as fruit,vegetables and eggs. We need your help to make this happen and would welcome your donations! .jpg "Entertainment") Entertainment  Baguia orphans performing welcome song for Father Riley during visit January 2007
Country Facts  Map of East Timor CAPITAL: Dili LOCATION: Timor-Leste is located in Southeast Asia, in the East of the Indonesian archipelago and North-West of Australia. The nation comprises the eastern half of Timor Island, along with the enclave of Oecusse in Indonesian West Timor, the island of Ataúro directly facing Dili, and the islet of Jaco at the Eastern tip of the island AREA: While Timor-Leste is comparably small at just 15,000 square kilometres, the island is extremely mountainous. The highest peak is Mount Ramelau at nearly 3000 metres with much of the rest of the country mountainous, though there are various extensive plateaus. CLIMATE: Much of Timor-Leste experiences distinct wet and dry seasons, and the vegetation varies from tropical through to semi-arid. POPULATION: The population of Timor-Leste is now just over one million people. While the largest concentration of the population is found in the capital of Dili, the majority of the population live either in regional centres or rural communities across the nation’s 13 districts. RELIGION: In regards to religion, the vast majority of the population are Catholic (over 90 per cent) with small populations of Muslims, Protestants and Hindus. LANGUAGE: The official languages of Timor-Leste are Tetun and Portuguese while Indonesian and English are designated as working languages. However, much of the population does not speak either Tetun or Portuguese as a ‘mother tongue’, and there are more than 30 languages used across the territory with some of the larger language groups being Bunak, Kemak, Makasai and Mambai. NATURAL RESOURCES AND INDUSTRY: Much hope has been placed in the potential tax revenue derived from oil and gas in the Timor Sea. With long and acrimonious negotiations with Australia regarding a maritime treaty, and subsequently the access to the Timor Sea, many hope that revenue will soon begin to have an economic impact within Timor-Leste. The majority of the population remain subsistence farmers, with coffee one of the most important agricultural exports. CURRENCY: Currency is based on the US dollar (though now with coinage unique to Timor-Leste). CURRENT ISSUES: Contemporary Timor-Leste faces many challenges. Impoverishment, unemployment, poor and non-existent social services, low standards of living, literacy, general and maternity health, have all endured and are common experiences for a great many East Timorese. Continuous disapproval of the government from sections of the community, as well as allegations of corruption and mismanagement, unresolved tensions over land and property, have turned into different forms of social unrest. The most serious upheaval however has occurred in 2006, with the complete collapse of security in the capital and fighting between highly factionalised police and military forces. In the ensuing power vacuum, the emergence of gangs, based to a significant extent on an ethnic division between Lorosa’e (the East of Timor-Leste), and Loromonu (the West of Timor-Leste), has demonstrated in the most dramatic fashion the many difficulties that Timor-Leste faces as it continues the process of nation-building. Source: The Globalism Institute - RMIT University
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