Many Timorese schools, particularly those in remote areas, don’t have enough desks and chairs for their students. This means the children sit on the floor – or are unable to attend school at all. Australian primary schools upgrade their school furniture from time to time, with the original quality furniture, which is still in good condition, going to landfill. Spend it Well and Rotary Donations in Kind in Melbourne are working to collect this furniture from Australian schools, ship it to Timor-Leste and deliver it to the schools which need it.
To date we have put a desk and chair for more than 2,200 children into classrooms in Timor-Leste.
It costs $10,000 to send a shipping container holding tables and chairs for 400 children from Australia to Timor-Leste. So for $25, a Timorese child can be provided with the furniture they so desperately need – instead of that furniture ending up in landfill in Australia.
The need for furniture in Timor-Leste is massive and Rotary Donations in Kind can provide us with a constant flow of used Australian school furniture. We can only send furniture when we have the money for shipping though, so your donation for this purpose, large or small, would make it possible for us to send more furniture.
