Devastating Floods in East Timor

This is a message from Simon Fenby, one of Spend it Well’s Directors who lives in Dili.

East Timor has been devastated by the worst floods people can remember.  I spent yesterday morning on my roof in Dili as the water rushed through my house.  Today, I’ve been in the villages where streets have become rivers and people’s houses have had over a metre of water through them.  The villages have no water and no electricity.  They can’t even try to clean their homes of the mud which covers everything.  23 people are confirmed as having died so far and that number is expected to rise.  These are people whose economy was destroyed by the Covid pandemic and have been in lockdown for the last month because of a surging number of cases.  I’ve seen men and women just crying, unable to know how to move forward. I walked through a village to deliver some supplies just before writing this email and had people pleading for help.  I have no idea how people will recover, but for now the priority is to help them immediately by giving them bottled water, food and clothes.   The Timorese are proud and resilient people and they will get through this but now they need support.  If you can help, please donate here.  Spend it Well will use 100% of your money on the ground to immediately buy food, water and clothes for people who need it desperately.