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SEATTLE - Aid officials expect as many as 200,000 people will flock to Dili once order is established in the East Timor capital.

"People fled Dili with nothing at all," said Al Dwyer, World Vision relief officer who left East Timor on September 7 with Nobel Prize Laureate Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo. "Their homes have been burned, their crops destroyed. They'll all be starting from scratch."

World Vision is mobilizing staff and emergency supplies in Darwin, Australia for dispatch to East Timor on 24-hour notice to begin a $3.5 million relief effort.

World Vision plans to return with or shortly behind the first United Nations peacekeeping troops. In addition to bringing blankets and other emergency goods for the displaced East Timorese, World Vision will have to provide vehicles and supplies for its own employees. "Much of the city had been burned and destroyed before I left," said Dwyer. "We're expecting to find minimal facilities for our staff when we return." The agency will bring in tents, sleeping gear, lanterns, cooking equipment and backpacks for its relief workers.

As soon as they are able to return to Dili, Dwyer and the initial six-person relief team will assist the displaced in Dili and the surrounding countryside. Over the next six months, 5,000 families will each receive:
o monthly food rations of 120 pounds of rice, oil and protein;
o a family kit containing a water bucket, cooking pot, eating utensils, two sarongs, soap and detergent;
o clothing and plastic sheeting; and
o agricultural tools as well as corn and vegetable seeds for the November planting season.

In addition, World Vision will provide high-protein food for malnourished children. Construction materials - such as cement, galvanized roofing and tools - will be distributed to help many returning families rebuild their homes.

Meanwhile, World Vision staff in West Timor is assisting some 35,000 people who fled violence on the eastern side of that island. The agency now is helping some 5,000 families in the town of Atambura and surrounding Belu District, as well as 2,000 families in West Timor's primary city, Kupang. Some 140,000 of East Timor's 800,000 people are believed to have fled to West Timor.

World Vision is distributing monthly rations to the refugees, as well as family kits, plastic sheeting and other emergency supplies. Water is a critical need. World Vision has installed 12 water tanks and is digging 10 wells in Atambura.

The U.S. government already has pledged funds to support World Vision's effort. The agency is seeking at least $600,000 from private donors in the United States to support its worldwide effort fundraising efforts for East Timor. Donations to World Vision's East Timor relief efforts can be made by calling toll-free 1-888-56CHILD (1-888-562-4453).