Young, Restless–But Not Failed Yet

January 08, 2010

By Anthony Anderton

The Young and the Restless

In a tidy compound off a dusty street in the Dili suburb of Bairo Pite, a group of young men and women sit attentively listening to their teacher. Each one is immaculately turned out in the school uniform of brilliant lime green shirts. From Monday to Friday, between 9 and 4, these students attend classes here. They also have breakfast and lunch every day on campus–an added incentive to attend as many come from households struggling to put food on the table.

Beyond the school fence, the neighbourhood is typical of Dili’s mean backstreets. Here, the scars of the 2006 riots are still visible. Burnt-out and vandalised houses stand unoccupied, as they are in many other parts the city. Urban unemployment is high in Dili, especially for young people. But these students are luckier than most–their classes could be the stepping stone to their first job and a way out of the poverty and troubles of Dili’s backstreets.

The vocational school was set up by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in November 2008. NRC Education Manager Therese Curran says this site (and four others) was selected because they suffered the worst violence and the largest numbers of houses destroyed during the 2006 riots. The original plan was to only accept 15-25 year olds, but unexpected demand for places forced the NRC to accept students up to the age of 30 (although hundreds of applicants still missed out on a place).

All the students come from troubled backgrounds and have had little or no formal education. Among them are single parents and young people responsible for raising younger siblings because they’ve lost both parents. The school aims to improve basic literacy and numeracy, and develop practical job skills, including office management, hospitality, trades, IT and also basic English language skills.

The ultimate goal is to find work for graduating students. The NRC arranges work placements and on-the-job training for the students. But like most urban young people in Timor-Leste, few students have any experience or understanding of employment. ‘They actually need to see what work looks like,’ says Therese Curran. ‘In Timor, only 25 percent of mums and dads would have ever had jobs.’

Some graduates have found jobs in Dili, mostly in hospitality and tourism. But Curran admits employment opportunities are few and far between.

The NRC courses also focus on building self esteem, confidence and offering some direction for young people. ‘These Timorese kids need long term support, to create pathways and to create futures,’ says Curran. ‘It’s amazing to see the kids blossom beautifully–it’s because they get so much attention.’

But meeting the long list of needs among Timor-Leste’s young people will be no easy feat.

The biggest problems are in the suburbs of Dili, where unemployment, poverty and the threat of communal violence remain most acute. The 2006 riots were fuelled by discontent, poverty and a lack of positive engagement with the urban young–and commentators worry it could happen again.

Another major issue for young people is the ongoing impact of Timor-Leste’s cycle of violence, says Sierra James of Ba Futura, a Dili based not-for-profit organisation. Ba Futura is located in Comora, another troubled suburb of Dili, and not far from the NRC vocational school. Ba Futura helps young Timorese deal with issues of conflict, violence and poverty. Although conflict and poverty affect the whole population, young Timorese are disproportionately affected. ‘Timorese society is heavily laden with a cycle of violence that needs to be transformed in order for the country to build a peaceful future,’ says James.

Rural areas, where the majority of people live, are somewhat insulated as agriculture and traditional networks soak up the young population–at least for now. But as Timor-Leste’s rural population grows, it will place new strains on marginal land and impoverished households, forcing more young people to drift to Dili and urban areas in search of jobs and a better life. ‘There are very few jobs in most rural areas, adding to the numbers of young people that are moving to Dili,’ James says.

Kingsbury agrees that rising urban youth unemployment in Dili is potentially destabilising.

But looking forward he says there is a much more pressing problem confronting Timor-Leste–its dramatically rising population. Under-15s make up more than half the population, while the total population of 1.1 million is growing by 3.1 percent a year (on average, Timorese women have 7.7 children.)

Kingsbury says Timor-Leste’s resource base suggests a carrying capacity of approximately 700,000 people and that the current increase is therefore not sustainable. ‘This is the single biggest issue facing the country,’ he says. ‘A population growing out of control.’