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Greetings,

Raeme is a tiny village near Liquica, about an hour's drive from Timor Leste's capital Dili.

Four consecutive years of low rainfalls and poor harvests have taken their toll, with families struggling to have enough food to last between harvests.

We are working with local partner Loke Dalan and the community on solutions - growing healthy and diverse crops, installing a water supply system and improving goat-handling practices, with the aim of bettering harvests, incomes and food availability.

On my arrival, community organiser Tomas Nunes leads me to a field of papaya trees, planted a year ago. Hand-watering, careful tending and training in the use of organic fertilisers, insecticides and compost has paid off. Each tree has five or six large papayas which will be ready to harvest in about a month.

The women show me their new goat pen, built by veterinary students from Dili. It is designed with a sleeping platform which allows manure to fall through to the ground, reducing illness and deaths among the goats. I'm told no goats have died, but rather, have produced five offspring.

"When the goats grow we will sell them and divide the money among the women," community organiser Ana Berta Dos Santos explains. "It costs 50 cents a month to send our children to school, so the money we earn will help pay for school fees."

Regards,
Maureen Bathgate