SHARE

The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste

On August 30, 1999, people of Timor-Leste overwhelmingly chose "independence". Their joy was short-lived, however, as the militia opposing the country's independence destroyed most of public facilities including schools and clinics. Because most of the doctors left the country, a large number of tuberculosis and malaria patients were left unattended without treatment. In 2000, SHARE launched its activities in Timor-Leste by training health volunteers and deploying health education.

School Health Project in Ermera District: Family Health Promoter Training Project in Aileu District

Our Objective; Spreading Health Education for All

The idea of having a "minimum" healthcare requirement is yet burgeoning in Timor-Leste, as it is only a few years after the country's independence. In agro-forestry regions such as Ermera and Aileu Districts where SHARE is carrying out its programs, people have little access to medical care service and there is a shortage of medical care staff. Thus, it is very important for people themselves to learn how to prevent illnesses. People, however, have only a vague understanding of "prevention", and tend to rely on treatments after the onset of illnesses. Consequently, 1 out of 8 children under the age of 5 die from preventable diseases such as diarrhea, malaria and mal-nutrition. We believe that if people have the knowledge of safe-guarding their own health, as well as their children's health，and behave accordingly at home and within the community, they will be able to change such a situation. Thus, we aim at practical preventive activities in communities and at homes by "training persons who can implement health education" by propagating knowledge about health in communities and schools.

Country data

Area	14,000 km2
Population	Approx. 110,000 (estimate in 2000)
Languages	Official languages: Tetun and Portguese Practical languages：Indonesian and English Local dialects: more than 30
Religion	Christians (mostly Catholic):99% Islams (less than 1%)
Average life expectancy at birth	61
Infant mortality rate	75/1,000 births (2008)
Infant mortality rate of children under the age of 5	93/1,000 births
Maternal mortality rate	Approx. 380/100,000 births (2005)

Sources:
UNICEF (2009): The State of the World's Children 2009
Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: web page

Projects now 　
Health Education in Primary Schools (Ermera District)

• Training for Health Care Education
• Monitoring and Follow-up of Participants in Training
• Support of Local Staffs in Developing Their Capacities

Training Project for Family Health Promoters (Aileu District)

• Training of Trainers
• Training of Family Health Promoters, and Structuring the Post-training Support System
• Monitoring of Health Education Activities by Family Health Promoters

Projects past