The campus at Don Bosco school in the western suburbs of Dili usually hosts a couple of hundred students and faculty in its classrooms and gymnasium. Now it shelters more than 12,000 of the capital's residents who were displaced after the recent civil disturbances. To help stabilize and improve conditions, USAID partner Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is working with camp organizers and Don Bosco officials, offering expert advice in camp management and providing a range of vital supplies to residents.

The primary focus of CRS's work at Don Bosco is on health. CRS has already delivered 2,200 mosquito nets to all the families with children and is planning new strategies to combat mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. Residents at several camps are also using CRS hygiene kits and learning better hygiene skills. Don Bosco School headmaster, and now camp coordinator, Brother Adriano de Jesus is working with CRS staff to organize clean-up crews and water monitors who use CRS-supplied cleaning equipment. CRS has also identified 12 nurses among the camp's residents who will soon be working with CRS to delivery basic health services to the camp.

"The support provided by CRS is essential," says Brother Adriano. "It needs to continue in order to maintain the health of the all the children and the other residents we have here." New USAID funding ensures that CRS's work will continue at Don Bosco and other camps. Currently CRS is supporting all 35 camps for displaced people in Dili and another 5 camps in Baucau, Timor-Leste's second largest city located 120 km east of Dili. CRS also helps managers at several camps with food distribution, health education, and security.

"This will require a long-term healing process," explains Jessica Pearl, head of CRS. "Full reintegration is not going to happen overnight. Even if we see a stable, secure situation for two weeks, it will take a long time for everyone to feel secure enough to go home again. On the other hand, we don't want to set things up in a way that indicates that the camps are providing long-term living accommodations."

USAID is funding these vital CRS activities through its Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and through the USAID Timor-Leste Small Grants Program. This support ensures that emergency supplies and expertise reach those in need in Timor-Leste. It is an integral part of USAID's strategic objective to improve the health of the country's people, particularly women and children at greatest risk.