After the 1999 referendum most of the schools in the country were burned down by pro-Indonesian militias. Many progressive teachers were also targeted for attacks. Although UNICEF, the World Bank, and many NGOs have since put considerable effort into rebuilding the school infrastructure, there are still many schools which have no desks or chairs for their pupils. The lack of human resources is also a serious concern. For example, in a school in Leuro, Lospalos, there are only two teachers, responsible for six classes. In order to manage the children are taught in two shifts.
During the Indonesian occupation, all the doctors were Indonesian and were renowned for treating Timorese patients badly. There remains a lot of distrust and suspicion towards doctors amongst many people. Although these days most doctors in the district hospitals are foreigners, mostly Portuguese and Brazilian, the persisting lack of trust often causes people to delay bringing patients in for treatment. But when they do arrive at a hospital the resources are so limited that they often cannot obtain the medication that they need. In the national hospital in East Timor’s capital Dili, there is no drinking water - neither for patients nor staff. Everyone must buy drinking water from street vendors, which many patients cannot afford.