Red Cross brings clean water, health program to East Timorese

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

Tomorrow the world celebrates Red Cross day. To commemorate the occasion The Jakarta Post takes a glimpse at the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in East Timor concerning a clean water and health program, along with the more sensitive issue of detention visits.

BILUMAHALO, East Timor (JP): Mothers and children gather at the village center. Many children appear to be dressed in their "Sunday outfit". Mothers look on curiously, anxious as nurses from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) weigh and measure their children.

It has been a long wait, but the ICRC-PMI has finally come to the village of Bilumahalo. And with it there is already an expectancy that things will get better.

Some learn of it from health dissemination lectures, others have seen the results in neighboring villages. Whatever the case, they know that their lives could be better and submitted a request for assistance.

The ICRC, in cooperation with PMI, began their water and sanitation program in 1988. It was consolidated in 1994 and now comprises a clean water project and public health program.

The project entails the construction of a water well system from a nearby spring which is then connected through a simple pluming system to the settlements. The distribution runs from just a few hundred meters to eight kilometers.

Water projects are not uncommon here. But the ICRC is somewhat distinct in that it is almost a self-help plan for the village.

It is the villagers themselves who make the request. The project is not thrust upon them by a group of well-intentioned outsiders.

According to the ICRC's resident water sanitation engineer Jean Vergain, 53 water projects in 33 villages have been completed with another four under construction.

The 143 approved requests is evidence of the villagers trust toward the project.

To construct the water project, 31 Timorese are employed, known as the ICRC-PMI operation team, and divided into five teams.

In the village of Dair, Liquisa, some 60 kilometers west of Dili, villagers first had to make a one-kilometer road upstream through rough terrain so equipment could be brought in.

Jean said the plumbing system is based on simplicity, using forces of gravity and simple pumps to channel the water.

Once completed the water is connected to taps and latrines in the villages. A local resident is selected to oversee the water system and taught how to make minor repairs.

In Dair, 30-year old Alfredo was chosen to oversee the maintenance of his village's recently completed water project. He is proud of his duties.

"I was chosen because I was the most responsible," he said in Tetum dialect, adding that he had been taught to make small repairs.

When asked what he would do if damages occurred, he replied that he would get in contact with the ICRC office.

"But do you know where the office is?"

"No," he replied. "But I could always ask."

Since 1994 the water projects have been associated with a public health program. Villagers are educated on health and nutrition. Nutritional surveys are also conducted before and after the start of the water project.

Villagers are taught to use latrines, the proper dispensing of waste and other basic hygienic habits.

ICRC nurse May Jahel admits that teaching villagers such health concepts can be tough since it concerns changing people's mentality. Washing and bathing can be taught, but whether they will pick up the habit is another question.

After all, there is often very little impetus, except trust, to prompt the villagers to change their lifestyle.

The results of the health survey are forwarded to Indonesian health authorities. It is actually the government who then acts should a medical need arise. The ICRC operation team functions more as a monitor and disseminator of information.

Aside from the financial aspects of the project and the fine work of ICRC delegates in East Timor, it appears that much of the work here can be conducted by Indonesian authorities.

Secretary to the East Timor branch of the PMI Ign. Pudjiono said it has anticipated the possibility that at one point the ICRC will not be there.

Thus far the ICRC and PMI have worked well together.

Cooperation in the late 1970s and early 1980s focused on emergency food and medical assistance, followed by repatriation, and tracing and mailing services. Since 1979, 1,464 people have been assisted in the repatriation, family reunion or migration program.

The key to the program's success is that the villagers themselves ask for assistance and partake in constructing the water project.

This allows for a sense of ownership and self pride among the people. The water project is theirs because they built it and through health dissemination they also realize the chance to improve their well-being.

All the elements are voluntary. They are not required to follow a preset program, they are merely being suggested how to live better.

Whether they decide to follow these guidances is their own prerogative. Their health can only get better if they realize how to live better.

The grand design of these projects is inherent with the ICRC's humanitarian objective of preserving the physical integrity and dignity of the people.

Alleviating suffering and raising the dignity of the Timorese helps to forge a climate of tolerance and goodwill in a province which has seen so much strife.

It is hoped tolerance and goodwill will bring about peace.

The village of Bilumahalo doesn't have its water project yet.

It will be interesting to see whether the assistance of ICRC will give this remote peaceful village some peace of mind.