I do not claim expertise. Devastation Driving from Dili airport to the centre of the town reveals massive physical destruction. The fact that I did not find this shocking is a good example of the process of desensitisation from mass exposure to television images. However, what I was not prepared for was the devastation to the natural environment. Despite its tropical climate, everywhere the hills are bare and brown, except for beautiful sparse whitetrunked eucalyptus.
Dwellings clinging to the hillsides look very susceptible to landslides.
This deforestation, through logging, the use of chemical defoliants and fire, is reported to have been intentional, reducing cover for guerrilla activities. However, the eye is more taken by the people than by the physical environment. Others were carting back the family's allocation of rice on all sorts of improvised carts, and meeting the latest arrivals of returning refugees in the hopes of finding loved ones amongst them. This evidence of resilience and determination was both astonishing and encouraging. The argument is that for children to recover and flourish physically, mentally and emotionally, they need healthy, functional families, and for families to flourish they need well-functioning supportive communities.