wfn.org | ADRA Prepares Displaced Timorese For Wet Season

["Christian B. Schäffler" <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

October 22, 1999
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

ADRA Prepares Displaced Timorese For Wet Season 

Jakarta, Indonesia. (APD) As the rainy season threatens the lives 
of displaced Timorese living in low lying makeshift camps in West 
Timor, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is 
acting quickly to establish safe, temporary housing for the most 
vulnerable of families.

"While the push is to get as many people back to East Timor as 
possible, as quickly as possible, it is going to be a slow process 
as repatriation is expected to take several months," says Murray 
Millar, ADRA Indonesia associate director. "An interim measure is 
vital to limit the growing number of deaths that are already 
occurring in the existing camps." 

This week, ADRA started organising provisions for a new, safer 
camp site in West Timor. The site, located in Kupang District, 
about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Kupang City, is well suited to 
wet season conditions, and is expected to house up to 1,000 
high-risk families for up to six months. Vulnerable families with 
women and children will be given preference. 

A volunteer water engineer from Australia is expected on Sunday 
to begin siting suitable locations for contractors to begin drilling a 
well to supply water for the camp. Elie Gasagara, who recently 
assisted ADRA's programs in Kosovo, will arrive on Monday to 
begin managing the program. 

"We are hoping that within three to four weeks the camp will be 
ready for occupancy," adds Millar. "We're also praying that the 
rains will hold back to enable this work to proceed unhindered."

Once the camp is finished, the World Food Programme (WFP) 
will provide staple food rations to the people, with support from 
ADRA's international network, the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other non-
governmental organisations (NGOs). The new camp is also 
located adjacent to an ADRA health clinic and a Seventh-day 
Adventist school. "Teachers from the school have agreed to work 
an additional shift to enable children to gain some education 
while they are waiting to either return to East Timor or resettle 
within West Timor," explains Millar.

ADRA Indonesia reports that since the August 30 referendum on 
independence, an estimated 500,000 out of  890,000 residents 
have been displaced, with up to 200,000 seeking refuge in West 
Timor.

"A majority of the displaced people are living out in the open 
under crude shelters and must contend with a landscape which 
offers sparse vegetation for cover, and little or no drainage," 
says Millar. "It is one of the most barren places I have visited in 
Asia." 

In late September, more than 40 ADRA staff and volunteers 
helped to deliver 2,700 food parcels to displaced families. Each 
family parcel contained rice, green beans, cans of fish, and a 
packet of milk. The parcels, valued at nearly US$13,000, were 
funded by ADRA's office in Australia.

ADRA, formed in 1956, is an independent, humanitarian agency 
established with the specific purpose of individual and community 
development and disaster relief in more than 120 countries 
world-wide.