East Timor

Context at a glance

Two volunteers work on a Habitat house in Liquicia, East Timor

Timor Leste (formerly East Timor) gained independence in 2002. It is an extremely poor country with unemployment topping 50 per cent and nearly four out of every ten people living in poverty. More than 67,000 families were left homeless during the violence prior to independence.

While Timor Leste has many undeveloped areas, land availability is a major concern because of the loss of land ownership records when government buildings were destroyed in 1999.

Habitat for Humanity programme

Habitat for Humanity first set up operations in 2000, and formally began work with a renovation project in 2002. HFH Timor Leste concentrates on repairing and rehabilitating homes using "Save and Repair", a micro-finance scheme that encourages groups of families to save together. Savings groups are known locally as "arisan". A typical housing renovation costs about £270, one-third of which comes from the savings group while the rest is provided by matching funds from other Habitat for Humanity organisations around the world. Renovations are staggered to give people time to save the necessary money.

A new incremental "Save and Repair" programme for the very poorest families involves starting with a £11 loan cycle – with each family saving just £4 – in order to provide much-needed anti-mosquito screens for doors and windows. The Timor Leste programme also builds new houses. Core house designs are of two sizes, 36 or 42 m², and use cement blocks combined with traditional materials such as palm stock for walls.

Homeowners' monthly repayments begin from just £3. Repayments, even for renovations, are spread over as long as five years.

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