Deo’s Story
Deo was born in the village of Gildapil (pronounced Jildapil) on 5th April 1981 in the mountainous high country of East Timor, near the border of West Timor.
Deo excelled at the local primary school where his father, Benjamin da Costa, was the teacher.
1992 was time for Deo to attend high school, yet the nearest school was in Maliana and he had no relatives that he could stay with there. So Deo’s father bought a small hut, about 4×4 meters and, at age eleven, Deo lived alone except for school holidays when he would return home to his parents.
Every morning after a wash from the water bowl, Deo would cook his three meals for the day on the open fire near his hut and head off to school. His father had arranged that 10 kg of rice be made available to Deo each month and he supplemented his meal with vegetables from the local market.
In 1993, Florencio, Deo’s younger brother came to live with him so he could also go to high school.
Hut in Village Maliana
Eventually Deo’s father, his mother, Rosentina, and his two younger sisters, Mery and Lota moved to Maliana where his dad became principal of a primary school.
Deo graduated from senior school in 1998 and moved to the capital city of Dili to commence a university degree in Public Administration. Initially he lived with his aunt but later moved to a small rented room where he could study better.
When violence erupted in 1999, following the independence elections, the university was closed. Deo and his father moved into the jungle. Deo’s mother and sisters were forced by the militia to move to West Timor.
When the political situation stabilized, the university reopened. Deo returned to his studies. He supported himself with any work he could get, in a shop and as a builder’s labourer constructing the Comoro markets and other things.
In 2004, Deo accepted a full time position with the Australian charity, Opportunity International [OI] as a supervisor. He continued his degree course part-time.
In April 2005, violence broke out again and OI, along with most Western charities moved from East Timor. Deo returned to Malian, which remained at peace.
Since then, Deo has worked as an advisor to a number of charities including CHF, World Vision and Belun.