Title. Timor Leste: Helping displaced families to cope.
Date & Location: Timor Leste, Dili, Baucau town, villages outside of Baucau
Sound: English and Tetum
Duration: 5.20"
Date & Location: Dili 15-16 June 2006. Baucau district 19 June – 21 June 2006
Cameraman/editor: Paulino Kintas
Produced by: Roland Bigler, Pauline Wall, Estanislau Guterres
Source: ICRC – Access all.
Preview (RealMedia stream 56Kbs - 128kbs):
Newsfootage/timor-difficult-lives


For full details of the World feed, go to the EBU website and/or see below for timings and technical specification:

For broadcast tapes and information on footage: Virginie Miranda, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva,

Shotlist:

Dili
00:14 Destroyed buildings
00:15 Tanks on street in Dili
00:19 Destroyed buildings
00:21 Comoro pumping station
00:23 Comoro pumping station and truck
00:37 Truck going into the seminary of St Peter and St John where an estimated 5,000
displaced people are living
00:38 Seminary of St Peter and St John. Filling the water tank
00:41 Seminary of St Peter and St John. Children carrying jerry cans in wheelbarrow.
00:43 Seminary of St Peter and St John. Children at water taps.
00:45 Seminary of St Peter and St John. Temporary accommodation. Mother and child.
00:47 Shot of Timor Leste Red Cross Society (CVTL) board, outside their headquarters
00:48 Truck leaving CVTL headquarters

00.50 ICRC/CVTL truck carrying non-food aid stopped by troops at Hera checkpoint,
outside of Dilli
00:52 ICRC/CVTL truck and vehicle on the road to Baucau district.

Baucau
00:54 Primary school in Baucau, serving as a temporary camp for displaced people. Delivery of non-food items.
00:58 Primary school camp, Baucau. Exterior shot of main building in which displaced families are living. Shows the tarpaulins supplied by the ICRC/CVTL.
00:59 Primary school camp, Baucau. Inside hall. Shot of sleeping child.
01:02 Primary school camp, Baucau. Shot of family inside hall.
01:04 Primary school camp, Baucau. Shot of man inside hall.
01:07 Primary school camp, Baucau. Outdoor makeshift kitchen. Older lady washing up.
01:10 Primary school camp, Baucau. Outdoor makeshift kitchen. Family cooking.
01:12 Primary school camp, Baucau: Outdoor makeshift kitchen.
01:15 RSS village, Baucau. Distribution of non-food items to displaced families. Shows ICRC
delegate, local people and packages.
01:21 RSS village, Baucau. Filling of water bladder.
01:25 RSS village, Baucau. Shot of ICRC watsan delegate turning on taps. Local children are cheering each time he turns on a tap.
01:27 RSS village. Children filling up jerry cans and other containers.

Villages outside of Baucau
01:28 Countryside shot. Heading to the village of Triloka
01:32 Triloka. Families appearing.
01:34 Triloka. Distribution of non-food items.
01:42 Triloka. Children running carrying ICRC/CVTL packages.

01:44 IVW with Robin Bovey, ICRC ecosec delegate

Q: "Can you tell me what is the situation in Triloka here today?

IVW Robin Bovey:
"Well, it's very similar to what's happening in Baucau where a lot of people who've moved from Dili and come east if they're from the east – so a lot of these families are from the east, and they've come back to where they feel safe. And what we find in Baucau is that they'll be staying a lot in the larger concentrations of people. For instance in the bus terminal, but here it's not quite so simple, so they've come to stay in empty houses, they've come to stay in relatives or friends' houses, and the situation is that it is already a very poor area."

Q: "And what is it today that the Timor Leste Red Cross Society (CVTL) and the ICRC have brought with them?"

IVW. Robin Bovey

"We've brought basically something that will allow people to sleep a little bit more comfortably. We've bought tarpaulins, which they can either use on the ground if it's damp – and a lot of the places they're sleeping in it is damp on the ground. Sleeping blankets because actually despite the sunshine, it's actually very cold at night. Cold enough for everybody to feel pretty chilly. So if you've come from Dili it feels really cold. Cooking sets, baby kits, hygiene kits for families. So it's a cross section of materials that allow people to deal a little better with their lives.

03:15 Wainau village. Shot of family looking out the door of a house. ICRC packages can be seen.
03:22 Wainau village. Robin Bovey, ICRC delegate hands over baby kit to mother.
03:26 Wainau village. Group of villagers standing outside house where ICRC has just
distributed non-food items.
03:30 Wainau village. Inside house. Shot of woman and two young children.

03:34 Q."I understand that some very large figures have been quoted about people who have come into the Baucau district?" "I think up to 24,000?"

IVW Robin Bovey, ICRC delegate.
.
03:43 "The only thing that we can say is that yes, you are quite correct. That's the figure
we're working on – around about 4,250 families. We have no idea at the moment how many of these are in fairly desperate need, and what we're doing is doing assessments and distributions more or less concurrently."

04:04 Bucoli village. People gathered around ICRC truck delivering non-food aid.
04:07 Lady (Lucia) being handed a baby kit.
04:12 Lucia walking down a pathway to her makeshift home.
04:15 Shot of Lucia's temporary accommodation.
04:19 Shot of Lucia coming outside of makeshift room holding a baby.

IVW Lucia Maria da Silva. Mother of newborn baby in the village of Bucoli. (Translation from Tetum).
Lucia Maria da Silva had just given birth to her tenth child three days prior. Lucia, her husband and nine children had come from Delta in Dili on the 1st of May. Everything they owned in Dili has been destroyed. They are living in a shelter that is normally used for storing bamboo or palm leaves. It is open on all sides, and Lucia and her husband have enclosed part of it using tarpaulins, corrugated iron and other materials. Another tarpaulin had been needed to give greater protection from the weather, and a tarpaulin was among the non-food items the ICRC and CVTL gave to Lucia and her family. However, although the items delivered will make life a little easier for Lucia and her family, they still have many needs:

04:28 "Yes, this baby was born here. I came from Delta, Dili the 1st of May and the baby was born here. I feel my baby needs medicine, and my other children, they need medication for skin rashes, and we need some food, and some place to stay because this is very small and it is a difficult place to sleep in, because the bed is only made from bamboo (pointing).

This place is not permanent, but when the situation improves, we will go back. I want to go back, but all my things are destroyed, and now we have to work in the fields to get some food. When we have enough food we will go back to Dili."

Baucau
05:02 Baucau bus terminal. Shot of little girl sat alone looking sad.
05:04 Baucau bus terminal. General shot
05:05 Baucau bus terminal. General shots children.
05:07 Baucau bus terminal. General shots children
05:11 Baucau bus terminal. Men improving temporary accommodation.
05:14 On the road back to Dili. Truckloads of people heading east.
05:34 End.
05:36 Credits.

STORY: HELPING DISPLACED FAMILIES TO COPE

Timor Leste is a small and poor country of about one million people, which became independent only in 2002.

In February 2006, existing political tensions in Timor increased, escalating at the end of March and erupting into armed violence at the end of April. People were killed and injured, and houses were burnt down. As a result, tens of thousands of people left their homes, some 60,000 taking refuge in 50 temporary camps in Dili, and others fleeing to other districts.

One of the main needs of displaced families was access to clean drinking water. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Timor Leste Red Cross Society (CVTL) took charge of the Comoro pumping terminal, the only facility in Dili that provides clean drinking water for trucking. The pumping terminal is producing over 200,000 litres of drinking water daily. The water is trucked by the CVTL, local authorities and other humanitarian organisations to displaced camps in Dili.

With the political situation unresolved, attacks on houses, and tensions continuing, large numbers of people began leaving Dili for other districts, in particular the east, where some 25,000 people fled to the Baucau district. Concerned about the situation of displaced families outside of Dili, ICRC and CVTL teams began carrying out assessments and distributing non-food aid to families living in other districts.

In the Baucau District, families are staying with relatives, in temporary camps, makeshift shelters, and in derelict buildings. The climate in the Baucau area is cooler than that of Dili, which makes life harder for families. At a temporary camp for displaced families at a primary school in Baucau town, most families are staying in the main hall, but some are sleeping outside under the veranda, open on all sides to the elements. Access to water and cooking facilities was limited.

In a temporary camp set up in Baucau bus terminal, many families live in open fronted rooms, and others in basic makeshift shelters, both of which do not provide families with total protection from the cool night air. In addition, not all families had blankets to help keep them warn. Sanitation conditions at the bus terminal were very poor with four latrines being shared by displaced families, local villagers and market stallholders.

A large number of displaced families are also staying with relatives, increasing household numbers dramatically and putting pressure on family resources.

Non-food items such as blankets, tarpaulins, cooking sets, hygiene and baby kits and jerry cans have been provided to the families staying at the bus terminal, school and to those living with relatives. The tarpaulins have proved useful as windbreaks and the blankets have helped to make the cool nights more bearable. In addition, water bladders and taps have been set up at the school and six other sites, and some 45,000 litres of clean drinking water is being trucked daily to these points. Water is also being provided on an as needs basis to other locations.

On the 20th June, ICRC and CVTL teams commenced distributing non-food items to displaced families living in villages outside of Baucau. As in Baucau, a large number of families were staying with relatives, in one village, 80 families were living in five houses, Other families were staying in abandoned buildings and basic makeshift shelters.

In the village of Bucoli, Lucia Maria da Silva had just given birth to her tenth child three days prior. Lucia, her husband and nine children had come from Delta in Dili on the 1st of May. Everything they owned in Dili has been destroyed. They are living in a shelter that is normally used for storing bamboo or palm leaves. It is open on all sides, and Lucia and her husband have enclosed part of it using tarpaulins, corrugated iron and other materials. Another tarpaulin had been needed to give greater protection from the weather, and a tarpaulin was among the non-food items the ICRC and CVTL gave to Lucia and her family. However, although the items delivered will make life a little easier for Lucia and her family, they still have many needs:

ITW. 04.28 Lucia Maria da Silva (Translation from Tetum)

"Yes, this baby was born here. I came from Delta, Dili on the 1st of May and the baby was born here. I feel my baby needs medicine, and my other children, they need medication for skin rashes, and we need some food, and some place to stay, because this is very small and it is a difficult place to sleep in, because the bed is only made from bamboo (pointing).

This place is not permanent, but when the situation improves we will go back. I want to go back, but all my things are destroyed, and now we have to work in the fields to get some food. When we have enough food we will go back to Dili."

While Lucia and other displaced families are hoping that they will soon be able to return to Dili, other families are still leaving the city.

To date the ICRC and CVTL have assisted some 604 families (3,500 people) in the Baucau district