09 October 2019
New School for Faluwai Village
Some private donors from the Rotary Club of Port Melbourne decided they wanted to celebrate the recent 20th anniversary of East Timor’s independence referendum in a significant way. So they promised Xanana Gusmao (former Prime Minister and President of Timor) that they would build a new school. True to their word, the school is underway at Faluwai – a village a 30 minute hard drive outside Balibo. The current dark, depressing and dangerous school is being replaced by a 3 classroom building, teacher’s room and toilets.
     
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09 October 2019
Redlands United FC Helps Soccer Loving Timor Kids
Who said that nothing good ever came from school reunions? At a recent get-together one of my old Wynnum High school friends Richard Burke realised his club the Redlands United FC could help the soccer mad kids in Timor. The club held a drive for boots and collected 70 pairs of great condition soccer boots of all sizes, 90 soccer balls and donated new jerseys and shorts for 3 whole teams. These have now been used to set up a new soccer club in Timor – something that was impossible without this fantastic donation. Thank you to everyone involved!
   
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09 September 2019
540 Desks and Chairs for Timorese Kids
540 Timorese kids have just received a school desk and chair from Australian schools which have upgraded their furniture. Instead of being landfilled – Rotary has collected this furniture which is still in great condition and, with help from Spend it Well, shipped it to East Timor which has a massive shortage of school furniture. With the cost of shipping only $20 per child we are hoping to make this a long term program. Rotarians Helping Timor and the Australian Ambassador to Timor officially handed the desks and chairs over to East Timor’s Minister for Education.
  
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01 August 2019
Railuli School is Open
Railuli School is officially open after a day of singing, dancing and a feast of buffalo! The 3 classroom building, plus teachers’ room and block of 3 toilets replaces the dirt floored, tin roofed shack the children used before. School openings are always happy days, but Railuli is so remote that this one was extra special. Instead of feeling like the world had forgotten Railuli, it felt like the world had remembered them and was helping their children. It was fantastic to have some of our donors with us who had travelled from Australia and then on the long 5 hour drive from Dili to see what their money had achieved. When all the formalities were over we pulled out the big skipping ropes we’d brought with us which was heaps of fun.
         
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30 May 2019
School Garden for Belola and 6 Surrounding Schools
Belola’s school garden has started, with the local community helping by building the fence. Timorese NGO Permatil is working with Belola and 6 surrounding schools over the next 12 months to teach children and adults how to grow nutritious food sustainably. Our goal is to tackle the huge issues of malnutrition and food security and improve education outcomes for the school children.
 
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