By Bridget Riggs
DILI — The people of East Timor face an enormous job to reconstruct their country, devastated after the Indonesian army (TNI) and its militias launched their post-ballot scorched-earth policy.
Travelling through Dili and some outlying towns and villages, the most striking image is the burnt-out frames of people's houses, all of which had been gutted, every single possession destroyed. Yet, the common graffiti on these buildings — "Don't cry East Timor, we will rise from the ashes" — left me with a great deal of optimism, a reminder of the East Timorese people's resilience and determination.
As the United Nations moves to phase two of its operation, setting up a transitional administration, the people still lack essential resources, prerequisites for rebuilding their lives.
For instance, the weekly provisions of food and non-food items given out by the UN-backed NGOs are totally insufficient. Those provided for by the big NGOs receive two kilos of rice per person; two small bags of powdered babies' milk; six candles; two cakes of soap (one for laundry); two kilos of sugar per family and three toothbrushes. But for the rest, especially those people still in the hills, food aid is still scarce and many are severely malnourished.
The queue of people outside the UN office seeking work increases every day. If they are not fluent in English, they are sent away or given menial jobs such as street sweeping. The UN is organising mass street cleaning, a "job" that involves mostly women using traditional brooms. These women work all day for a kilo of rice.
It is abundantly clear that the UN is not carrying out the necessary consultation and coordination with the people. The East Timorese have fought and won their freedom from Portuguese colonialism and the Indonesian dictatorship. The East Timorese have already paid a high price for their freedom; Western powers — particularly those such as Australia, which backed Indonesia's occupation — must be pressured to do more.
Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) is demanding that the Australian government, having been complicit in war crimes against the Timorese, pay reparations. These could be funded by redirecting the military aid budget now used for training the murderous TNI and by imposing a levy on Australian businesses that stand to gain from exploiting East Timor's natural resources.
The solidarity movement has a responsibility to assist people-to-people projects which will help strengthen the Timorese people's self-organisation and empowerment. They need our help, and now.
ASIET, now a registered NGO with the United Nations Humanitarian Operations Centre (UNHOC) in East Timor, is supporting the Maubere Cooperative Foundation (KOPERMAR). This group, formed in late 1997, organises small coffee farmers, plantation workers and other East Timorese. It has a central office in Dili and branches in Ermera, Liquica, Same and Alieu, all of which have been bruised by the post-ballot terror campaign.
KOPERMAR, which involves activists from the Socialist Party of Timor (PST), is seeking to re-establish its cooperatives and its newspaper, Tuba.
Right now, in the midst of the general chaos in Dili, KOPERMAR is conducting English-language classes from 7am to 7pm. Thus far, 1500 eager East Timorese, ranging in age from nine to 40, cram into a makeshift classroom with no in-house sanitation, illuminated by a solitary globe. Five teachers help these students take their SMR (primary school) and SMP (secondary school) examinations.
KOPERMAR is also developing a 15-hectare sustainable farm near Manatuto, just outside Dili. Some 90% of the town's infrastructure was destroyed by Mahadome, the local militia group.
The land was donated to the cooperative by a local family. The activists hope that this sustainable farm project will generate income for other local self-sustaining projects.
When I visited, the head of the donor family, an elderly woman, looked with pride at what had been her family's land. She told me that this project symbolised a new beginning for the East Timorese people.