Over the Easter weekend in March, cyclonic rains, landslides and flash flooding wreaked havoc across Timor-Leste: 45 dead, 10,000 displaced and around 4500 dwellings destroyed. Rural areas were hit hard by severe weather with crops, water infrastructure and roads destroyed.
To make matters worse, the floods struck during a critical COVID-19 lockdown, forcing people to abandon their homes for crammed refuge centres. This caused an uptick in community transmissions which for months continued to rise.
In the wake of the dual disasters, Corner Store Network, xpand Foundation and Tradewinds joined forces to raise money for essential food, water, PPE and infrastructure for those affected. With your support and generous donations we’ve been able to raise US$115,000 for our friends, colleagues and partner organisations in Timor-Leste.
This money has been used to deliver:
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100 tonne of rice delivered across 3 districts and sub-districts: Dili, Baguia, Ermera
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200,000 surgical face masks
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25 LifeStraw community water filters
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4 generators for emergency power backup
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40 solar panels and inverters
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2 x 200ah lithium batteries
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4000 bottles of drinking water (generously donated by CAPI water)
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2 shipping containers in partnership with Rotary Donations In Kind
The money also been used to repair:
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3 roads in Baguia damaged by landslides
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2 bridges in Baguia damaged by flooding
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Water pipes and water infrastructure damaged by landslides
While a great start and a huge achievement, there is plenty more work to do. The Corner Store Network, xpand Foundation and Tradewinds will continue to work with local communities and provide support and assistance where needed, particularly through the purchase of coffee and trees.
We are all incredibly appreciative to every one of the 275 people, families and groups who donated, and grateful for the trust people have placed in us to deliver community support in Timor-Leste, so from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.
We’d like to say a special thanks to the following people and organisations for their generous contributions:
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English Family Foundation
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H & K Johnston Family Foundation
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Conservation International Timor-Leste
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Rotary Donations In Kind (in particular Bob Glindemann and Laurie Fisher)
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CAPI water (in particular Emma Evans)
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Corner Store Network Timor-Leste (in particular Dina Sequiera and Martinho Gorety)
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Ho Musan Ida (in particular Leopoldina Guterres and Sahe Da Silva)
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Baguia community, in particular truck drivers who changed the cost to make the 15 trips to Dili and back for rice. We made the conscious decision to use local Baguia trucks so that as much of the raised funds would stay in the rural and remote areas.
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Alter Trade Timor