An estimated 150,000 people fled their homes in Dili after civil disturbances in April and May. Access to health care is one of the most pressing problems for many of the internally displaced people (IDPs) who now live in camps around the capital city or in communities in rural districts that are hard pressed to accommodate their needs. To help address this problem, USAID awarded a grant to Bairo Pite Clinic, one of Dili's busiest public clinics. Now the clinic's medical teams can reach IDPs in 11 of the city's 50 camps and visit remote villages every week where government health services are not available.

More than 70,000 people have been living in IDP camps around Dili, and medical specialists from Bairo Pite Clinic see almost 500 patients a day.
USAID support covers rental and repair for seven

vehicles for staff transport. The vehicles also serve as ambulances for those patients who must be referred to the national hospital. In addition to providing health care at the camps, clinic staff and volunteers visit eight villages outside Dili every week that are beyond the reach of the Ministry of Health's basic services delivery network.

The delivery of medical care improves the lives of many of the country's IDPs during this difficult period. Joana da Costa is living with her family in the grounds of the Dili Police Academy just west of the city center. "I am happy that the doctor comes here to provide treatment because I don’t have money to buy medicine or to take my child to the hospital," she explained.

In a remote highland village in Liquica District, west of Dili, Ana Merita da Silva sought help from the clinic's team for a respiratory complaint. "Now I can come to this clinic when I have problem because I know that there is a doctor coming from Dili every week," she said.

USAID has provided a wide range of support to Timor-Leste's IDPs since May, including special grants to its implementing partners through its Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. USAID's grant to the Bairo Pite Clinic helps achieve its strategic objective of improving the health of the people of Timor-Leste, particularly women and children.

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