by by Trygve Olfarnes*

05 December 1999

BONN: United Nations Volunteers (UNVs) are back in East Timor to help local leaders rebuild their communities and support the United Nations Transitional Authority for East Timor (UNTAET).

Out of the total of 500 UNVs from 73 countries who assisted in organizing the 30 August referendum on independence (UNVNews Issue 85), 100 UN Volunteers were selected to help prepare for the installation of UNTAET. When the fighting, destruction and looting broke out after the results of the ballot, they were transferred to Darwin, Australia. While they waited for the multinational force to get the situation under control, they received training for the job as civil administrators at subdistrict levels in East Timor.

So far, 57 of them have made their way back to towns and villages across the newly independent territory. "We jokingly refer to our UNVs in the field as Bupatis," said Kevin Gilroy who coordinates the UNV effort in East Timor. Bupati is the equivalent of mayor in Tetun, the predominant native language spoken in East Timor.

In the lush mountains of the coffee-growing Ermera district, Australian Diana Baker (31) works with local leaders to kickstart education and other basic services. She also provides a link to UN agencies based in the capital, Dili and reports on the need for relief items. Ms. Baker joined the UNV group in East Timor "almost by accident", but said she stayed on because the election process was such a positive experience.

"I feel like I work in tandem with the local population," she says. People are eager to get their communities back on their feet. Homes in most villages in the area are only scorched skeletons without roofs, windows or anything of value left inside. The rainy season comes earlier in the mountains than in the lowlands. The planting season is therefore over, and road repairs are complicated by wet conditions and mudslides.

"Needs vary from village to village, in some cases the situation is quite depressing," says Ms. Baker. "A lot of people are still missing, and people are worried about family members who have not returned." But the willingness to rebuild and rehabilitate seems strong. Baker has organized meetings with leaders of the National Resistence Council to discuss the improvement of infrastructure, food and water supplies, and population movements. "People are coming forth with testimonies about human rights abuses, so we feel that we are trusted among the population and that they want to cooperate with us," she says.

Rumiana Decheva (40) from Bulgaria was among the first to come back to East Timor after the UN evacuation. She landed at the airport in Dili on 7 October as one of only five civilians from the international community. "The fires were still burning, the smell was terrible," she recalls. Once on the ground, she established the Dili Reconstruction Committee, which is divided into working groups on themes, such as transportation, labour, property issues and the national archives. "We passed out the word, and the relevant officials started to come to our meetings," says Ms Decheva. The working group on labour has so far registered 5,000 civil servants and will establish a clearing house for jobs.

"I wanted to be in a place where development and relief is appreciated, and I feel this is the case for East Timor," she says. "I can see real results of my work here every day."

*Trygve Olfarnes is a Public Affairs Officer with the United Nations Development Programme. He was recently on mission to East Timor.