The long and narrow island of Timor is located in the Indonesian archipelago, less than 500km from Australia and a 1 hour flight from Darwin. It lies towards the eastern end of a chain of islands running from Malaya through Sumatra and Java to New Guinea. The island is divided into two distinct parts: the western part under Indonesian domain and the eastern part today proudly independent. East Timor, or Timor-Leste covers an area of 15,000 square km and has a population of approximately 1.2 million people.

Ethnographically the Timorese have great cultural and linguistic diversity. The country is beautifully picturesque with a coastal fringe, coral reefs, remote, rugged highland villages and rainforests. It remains remote through lack of infrastructure and poor communication. In May 2002, after 450 years of continuous foreign domination by both Portugal and Indonesia, Timor-Leste became the world’s newest nation. Dili, the capital, is still rebuilding from the ashes of the destruction of 1999 when 90% of the country’s infrastructure was destroyed by Indonesian military and militia.



It is a land of young people with a desire to use their skills to create a prosperous and peaceful nation… It is the poorest country in the Asia region.

In Ossu, situated in the rugged mountainous interior, south of Baucau, the people live a subsistence agricultural life, where the food sources are often insufficient. There is a saying... "In Ossu, there are 3 seasons, the wet season, the dry season and the hungry season." Much of the land is degraded and subject to landslides and erosion. Electricity is limited, transport is a problem and communication systems are not yet in place.