Spend it Well has established and runs 8 school gardens in Bobonaro District – 2 hours west of the capital Dili.
Hunger and malnutrition are massive problems in Timor-Leste.
Timor-Leste sits at 108 out of 116 on the Global Hunger Index, with only a handful of countries such as Chad and Yemen in a worse situation. The World Food Program’s 2023 report found over 300,000 East Timorese are seriously malnourished and at imminent risk of permanent harm.
47% of children under five have stunting (severe malnutrition). This has consequences for their future health, education, productivity and capacity.
Maddog Adventures has partnered with us on this project, generously contributing to the salary of Sebastian our gardener. We also received a donation for 2025 from the Rotary Club of Bateman’s Bay. Because of this support we have been able to keep the cost of establishing a garden and running it for the first year to A$3,000. After that the cost is A$2000 per year.
Sebastian, a horticulturally trained local, works with the children at the schools to plant, grow and harvest a wide range of nutritious fruit and vegetables. The gardens have quick growing crops such as spinach, mustard, beans, eggplants and watermelon, medium term crops such as cassava and sweet potato and also trees such as bananas, coconuts, mangos, papaya and the superfood maringi which will mature over time.
The garden produce is used to supplement the childrens’ school lunches (often their only nutritious meal of the day) providing much needed vitamins and nutrition. The lunches are cooked over open fires in very basic kitchens – often outdoors. The schoolchildren and teachers are involved in the gardening, giving them valuable skills and knowledge as well as a sense of responsibility and connection to the environment.The lunches are cooked over open fires in very basic kitchens – often outdoors
To allow Sebastian to reach the schools, we needed both a three wheel “tuk-tuk” with a tray at the back for plants and supplies and also a motorbike. The tuk-tuk was donated by a Melbourne lady who decided it was in lieu of the holiday she couldn’t take because of Covid. The motorbike was donated by the Rotary Club of Bateman’s Bay in 2023 when the roads to the schools became impassable for the tuk-tuk in wet weather. The motorbike was also handy for Nandy to take a tour of the gardens recently.
Ai-Asa School Garden
Ai-Asa School has 120 children. Its’ school garden was established in 2020 with funding from the Rotary Club of Port Phillip which also provided the funds for its first 4 years of operation.
Funding for this school garden for 2025 to 2029 is being provided by the Inner Wheel Club of Williamstown and friends.
Belola School Garden
Belola School Garden was established in 2020 with funding by the Rotary Club of Port Phillip which also funded the first three years’ of the school’s operation. The Rotary Club of Hall in Canberra, which fully funded the construction of Coitapa School in 2022 has supported the running costs of the garden for 2025 and 2026. In a fabulous synergy the club’s funds are raised from the iconic Capital Region Farmers Market. Amongst the other fruit and vegetables being grown in the garden, the moringa plant leaves (which are so full of nutrients that they are often used as a malnutrition supplement) are now able to be harvested and included in the children’s lunches.
Coitapa School Garden
The Rotary Club of Hall funded the construction of 4 classrooms and a teachers’ room and toilets for Coitapa’s 120 students in 2022. We established a garden at the school at the end of 2024 and it has been supplying fruit and vegetables for the children ever since.
The costs of establishing the garden and running it for 2025 are being funded by an Australian woman who visited Timor-Leste, saw some of our other gardens and wanted to support the creation of another one.
Palaka Junior High School Garden
Palaka Junior High School has 750 students taught in 2 shifts a day. The Tasman Peninsula and East Coast Rotary Clubs have provided the funding to set up a large garden at the school to provide fruit and vegetables for the children’s lunches.
Batugarde School Garden
Batugarde School has 329 children. The Rotary Club Box Hill Central provided funding for a school garden at Batugarde School which was established in 2024. The garden has been so successful and well received by the community that we are planning to expand it.
Suliliaran School Garden
Sulilaran School has 132 children. Spend it Well built a new 4 classroom building, teachers’ room and 5 toilets in 2024. An Australian man called us out of the blue wanting to fund a new garden – Sulilaran Garden is the result of that. We loved that the donor was able to come to officially open his garden and to help plant 50 more fruit and frangipani trees (for shade) at the school.
Builecon School Garden
Builecon School (near Balibo) has 140 students and was built in 2025 with funding raised by Leo Norman and Cezary Carmicheal, two young men who left Melbourne aged 18 on Jan 1 2024, determined to ride push bikes around Australia. 9 months later they returned, having ridden 15,000 km totally unsupported, living off $25 of their savings a day and having raised $140,000 in the process. That money has (amongst other things) built a new school and kitchen at Builecon and Leo and Cezary inspired an Australian couple who happened to be visiting Balibo at the same time, to donate money to establish and run a garden at the school. The school was opened in July and the garden is already producing fruit and vegetables for the children’s lunches – (cooked in the new kitchen)
Maleha'a School Garden
This is the first garden that we’ve been able to establish before the school was even finished thanks to funding provided by Salamanca Rotary Club. Sam Maddock from Mad Dog Adventures and his team of students from QSI International School (and some helpers from Maleha’a school) built the garden fence and also planted 10 trees which will grow up to provide shade.
Only months after being established the garden is bursting with vegetables.
