The first thing that strikes you entering central Dili is the density of military and law enforcement presence. UN helicopters and the organisation’s signature white Land Cruisers move alongside Australian Army personnel, Portuguese police, East Timorese forces, and representatives from numerous non-governmental organisations. Having declared independence from Portugal in 1975 and endured Indonesian occupation a year later, Timor-Leste continues to bear the consequences of a protracted independence struggle — damaged infrastructure and the displacement of thousands of civilians among them.
A long day of travel across spectacular but punishing terrain — steep, rugged hills on deeply rutted dirt roads — brings the CARE team and me to the small village of Uat. We are met by a gathering of women and children, warm and welcoming, who have travelled considerable distances to participate in CARE’s hygiene education activities, delivered in partnership with a local NGO as part of the Integrated Rural Development Project.
CARE places considerable emphasis on building the capacity of Timorese NGO staff, who today lead the sessions — educating families and distributing hygiene kits containing a towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, nail clippers, and cotton buds. Every child under five years of age receives a kit. It is part of a broader initiative that will see 2,300 kits distributed over the following two months. One of the mothers, Akita, tells us that her children have never owned toothbrushes before, but that after today’s session she will teach them to use each item in the kit.
These are modest interventions with significant consequences. Improved hygiene practices reduce the incidence of diarrhoea and other preventable illnesses that contribute to Timor-Leste’s high rate of child mortality. Combined with the nutrition education also being delivered, the program offers Akita’s children a stronger foundation for health — and the knowledge to carry those practices forward to the next generation.
Returning to Dili, it is difficult not to reflect on the contrast: that a toothbrush and an hour of education may do as much to save lives as the considerable military and logistical infrastructure we pass on the road back to the city.
