Key Points
- Heavy rains from March 29 to April 4 caused floods and landslides in Timor Leste and Indonesia
- In Timor alone, there are more than 30 dead, 14 of them in Dili, and thousands of people displaced
- The destruction of critical infrastructures, such as roads and bridges, is making it difficult to control Covid-19, the number of cases has increased exponentially
- Kirsty Sword Gusmão, ex-first lady of Timor, and founder of the Alola Foundation, is assisting communities devastated by the floods and affected by the resurgence of Covid-19
Dili, the capital of East Timor, one of the closest nations to Australia, just 700 kilometres from Darwin, spent Easter Sunday, practically submerged.
Floods overtook the capital causing violent landslides. There are 40 dead and 10 missing, according to the Civil Protection statement obtained by Agencia Lusa. More than 4,000 people have been displaced. These numbers are reviewed daily by the Timorese Defense Forces.
As it recovers from the floods, the Portuguese-speaking country is facing an exponential increase in the number of cases of people infected by Covid. There are two dead and almost 1,100 infected cases, according to the World Health Organization, with the number of cases increasing dramatically since the beginning of March.
Kirsty Sword Gusmão, East Timor's former first lady has always fought for the Timorese cause and established the Alola Foundation, which is raising funds to assist communities affected by the floods and the Covid-19 outbreak.
She spoke to SBS Portuguese from her home in Melbourne.
SBS Portuguese - How is the situation in Timor? How are the Timorese facing Covid while recovering from the floods?
Kirsty com um dos filhos em Melbourne em 2015 no lancamento do livro Raising a Nation, de Xanana Gusmão Source: AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy
Kirsty Sword Gusmao - There is a high level of anxiety about the sudden increase in coronavirus cases. Timor-Leste was lucky in 2020 for not experiencing the devastating effects of the virus as other parts of the world. However, earlier this year, there were cases of community transmission. So many cases have been detected that led the government to declare a state of emergency last month.
To make the situation more difficult, the floods caused the closure of the capital of Dili. They could not have come at a worse time, amid the growing number of cases of Covid.
There are currently thousands of active cases in Covid and there is great concern that this number will increase further due to floods. The number of cases may grow after the understandable easing of restrictions to allow people to move, clean and rebuild after the floods.
SBS Portuguese - The first batch of Covid's vaccine is arriving in Timor this week, part of the international initiative Covax, from the World Health Organization. There are 24 thousand doses delivered, but do you believe the floods and cleaning efforts may hinder the vaccination campaign at its most critical moment?
KSG - Frontline healthcare professionals have already received the vaccine in the past few days, including some government officials. But, certainly, making it available across the country to the most vulnerable members of ou communities is a challenge and everything has been tremendously compromised by this terrible natural calamity.
SBS Portuguese - You have established the Alola Foundation, which has a long history of supporting Timor. Tell us a about this important work.
KSG - We are completing 20 years of the Alola Foundation, established in 2001. We work with economic empowerment, child and mother health, and education. But because of the pandemic, I cannot travel to Timor to celebrate this especially important date with my sisters.
We also run awareness campaigns on how to protect yourself from the coronavirus and we are also helping those most affected by the floods, with our Flood Appeals events and fundraising activities.
SBS Portuguese - Haliku, your cancer awareness campaign for women in Timor, is an inspiration for women who are fighting or like you, who had breast cancer. How is the work of Haliku, which may also have been harmed by the pandemic since breast cancer diagnoses have declined worldwide?
KSG - Unfortunately, in Timor-Leste, most women have symptoms of breast cancer at a very advanced stage, when there is not much more to do for them in terms of saving their lives, which is a very tragic situation. We warn of the importance of early detection and instruction of women on how to do a breast self-examination.
The reluctance to go to a health facility already exists, but it is aggravated when there is anxiety about being exposed to the risk of coronavirus when going to the hospital for a routine examination, or a mammogram.
I was diagnosed in 2014, and it opened my eyes to what is happening in Timor, to the situation of women going through a similar experience. I was very aware that I was fortunate enough to have access to quality care in Australia and this is not the case for Timorese women, hence the idea of establishing Haliku.
It is wonderful to see that Alola has adopted Haliku's programs, which is an important work that we are doing to improve the health status of women, including, you know, promoting breastfeeding. So it is very easy for our volunteer groups, in addition to talking about exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life, it is a life-saving initiative, talking about breast health in general.
Kirsty Sword Gusmão se separou do ex-presidente Xanana Gusmão em 2015, após 15 anos de casamento, eles têm três filhos que moram com Kirsty na Austrália Source: Supplied
Em sua autobiografia a ex-primeira-dama de Timor Leste, descreve seu trabalho como ativista em Jacarta, seu contato com o líder preso do movimento de resistência Xanana Gusmão, o romance e casamento improváveis que se seguiram, os eventos que viram Timor Leste ser libertada da ocupação indonésia e a reconstrução lenta e dolorosa do país. Source: kirstyswordgusmao.org
