The Pittwater Community’s interest in and commitment to assisting Timor Leste began a couple of years ago at Maria Regina Primary School. With the support of the Parish and that of Pittwater Council it has since grown to encompass the wider community.
The Pittwater community has established a friendship relationship with the community of Soibada located within the Manatuto District in central East Timor. The Friends of Soibada, a community based group within Pittwater, has been formed to assist this East Timorese community.
Soibada is an isolated village with few resources. The community, like all East Timorese communities has been devastated by past occupation by Indonesian and militia groups and subsequent turmoil following Independence.
Soibada is very beautiful, high in the mountains in central Timor, it was originally built by the Portugese. It takes about five hours to get there from Dili, the capital city, by 4 wheel drive on unsurfaced extremely winding roads. There are no bridges to Soibada, so during the rainy season the town is completely cut off.
The people of Soibada have been rebuilding their small community since independence. However, they need further support to increase the health, well-being and capacity of the community.
The purpose of establishing a strong relationship with the Soibada community is to provide that support for local projects and build skills that will contribute to the long term independence and sustainability of the community.
Any projects to be implemented in Soibada will be determined by the Soibada community in communication with the Friends of Soibada project. Currently, they have indicated a number of priorities including constructing a floor and toilets at the local school, improving sanitation and longer term projects such as repair of their bridge.
To implement initiatives, Friends of Soibada will also consider the skills and resources available within Pittwater which may be able to meet the Soibada community’s needs.
To ensure a coordinated approach and accountability to both the Soibada and Pittwater communities the project will establish a committee to oversee the administration and development of projects as well as fundraising efforts.
A friendship agreement will also be established between Pittwater Council and the Soibada District administrator in accordance with the Statement of Principles for Local Governments Working in Timor-Leste.
There are many ways you can become involved.
Nominate to become involved on the Committee
Join up and become a supporter of the Friends of Soibada
Identify a fundraising project that you can undertake in your community
Identify resources that may be contributed to projects in Soibada
Donate to the fundraising efforts
Attend and support fundraising events
Sunday July 18th 2010, Father George, Kathy Gee, Mark Ferguson, the General Manager of Pittwater Council, Jane Mulroney and Tamara Harding will travel to Soibada. We will meet with the Local District Administrator, Father Abel Guterres, the parish priest of Soibada who visited us here earlier this year, and the village elders to make this Friendship Agreement official.
The inaugural meeting of The Friends of Soibada will be held on 21 September at Avalon Recreation Centre. We will be looking for nominees to fill positions on the committee. All members of the community are welcome to attend.
Our first major fundraising event is another one of Simon Hyland's fabulous concerts. It will be held at Mater Maria on 4 September. We are also looking for volunteers to assist with the organisation of this event.
The obligation of social justice does fall upon each of us as individuals. We must come together as a community;
It is important when we help people to do more than merely give handouts - food, clothing etc. Whilst this is good and solves the problem in the short term, the problem is intrinsically deeper than that. To really assist people in need, in crisis, we need to give them the means to help themselves. Thus restoring their dignity. This is our aim in Soibada.
East Timor’s independence has given the newly emerged state a rare opportunity to rebuild civil society according to clearly defined values, integrating development goals into the nation-building process. By establishing partnerships with the Timorese community, key institutions and central and local government authorities, we as the Pittwater community, can assist to ensure sustainable reconstruction and development in a potentially fragile post-conflict environment for the Asia-Pacific region’s newest and poorest nation.
To achieve this we need a vision of different possibilities, of what could be. Work for justice in light of this might be as big or small as we are able to fit into our busy lives. Regardless of material wealth, we all have gifts and talents that will assist in the betterment of the lives of others. You know, it really takes very little to make a big difference in our lives and in the world. We need to be humble, believing that the community of Soibada has as much to offer us as we can offer them. This is a partnership, a friendship, a two way relationship. It is a long term and sustainable project. We will get to know the families of Soibada and see their children grow in friendship with our children.
Here in Pittwater we have much to gain from being involved in the Friends of Soibada Project. Research shows that volunteering and contributing your time and talents can have a significant impact on your physical and mental health. For, your support and involvement is truly needed so that we can make a difference to the lives of these people and in the future of their children and ours.
There is a morning tea today after Mass. There will also be Jewellery and Timorese crafts for sale to raise funds for Soibada. If you would like to hear more about the project I would love to catch up with you downstairs.
On September 26th Pittwater Parish and Mater Maria high school staged a fund raising concert for house building in Cambodia. (see Social justice page for full details)
In order to raise the necessary money to pay for building materials the SHOW YOU CARE concert was put on. Thanks to the fantastic support of both Parish and school the concert raised almost $13,000! Well done to all the performers and thank you to all who came along.
The concert was a huge success and featured many talented performers both professional and non-professional. The SOUL band opened the show and really got the audience going. When special guest star, Samson Hyland – 5 years, joined them onstage the crowd really came alive!
Danielle Everett, star of ‘Phantom of the opera’ took the concert to another level with soaring notes and incredible passion. The Mater Maria choir sang wonderfully and school jazz ensemble got us swinging along.
Solo performances by Chloe Papandrea, Caroline Mulvenna and Elke Lanzon were a real highlight. Dance troop Plie’ ,groove and shuffle was fantastic.
The main feature act of the night was ‘ The Rat Pack’s Back’ – a action packed 30 min show featuring the music of Frank, Dean and Sammy.
The crowd was on their feet as Dale Burridge, David Malek and Simon Hyland finished with the iconic ‘My Way’ When the encore ‘Viva Las Vegas’ was sung, complete with show girls, everyone was clapping along.
Thank you to everyone who contributed so generously to this wonderful concert.
Most people believe themselves to be in favour of Social Justice but there is often confusion as to what Social Justice really is. It is a very fashionable phrase at the moment and it has grown to mean almost anything that the user wants it to mean.
Soul builds houses in Cambodia
However:
Social justice is about preventing human rights abuses and ensuring adherence to international law.
Social Justice is about what is and is not fair and right. To work for social justice is also to take exception to injustice. Those who suffer need committed defenders of our shared humanity.
Social justice is a situation where individuals and entire societies have substantial and roughly equivalent opportunities for the sensation of human dignity, along with general wellbeing and human development.
Social Justice could also be called social action because very often when you are performing social service, you also become involved in solving the problem which created the need in the first place, and the two are closely related and often blend together.
Solomons Village destroyed by Tsunami &
materially assisted by Pittwater Parish
To have any chance of implementation, social justice needs a critical mass of supporters who truly understand what they are supporting, especially if they are to bring others along with them. That, my friends, is where we come in!
Social Justice has many aspects, including the following four.
SOLIDARITY This means living as though other people and living things matter. An example of this would be: standing with the marginalised, in practical ways.
EDUCATION We are obligated to educate ourselves and others about social justice.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING Get involved in the community!
ADVOCACY This is giving a voice to those who have no voice, that is, the poor, the sick, the shut in, the unborn, the dying, the disadvantaged, the immigrants, those imprisoned, the homeless, racial minorities etc. We are called to speak out whenever dignity is endangered;
The obligation of social justice does fall upon each of us as individuals. However, one person can't do this alone and needs to work with others. We are very fortunate in our parish to be in the early stages of developing our social justice focus. For some time members of our Parish Community have been involved in very successful projects in the Solomons and Cambodia. In addition to these endeavours we are now reaching out to our nearest neighbour. Timor Leste - or, as it was previously known. East Timor.
This is where we must come together as a focussed community;
It is important when we help people to do more than merely give them handouts - food, clothing etc. Whilst this is good and solves the problem in the short term, the problem is intrinsically deeper than that. To really assist people in need, in crisis, we need to give them the means to help themselves. Thus restoring their dignity.
Timor Leste orphan
To achieve this we need a vision of different possibilities, of what could be. Work for justice in light of this might be as big or small as we are able to fit into our busy lives. In the parable of the Good Samaritan Christ challenges us to help others. Regardless of material wealth, we all have gifts and talents that will assist in the betterment of the lives of less fortunate people. You know, it really takes very little to make a big difference in our lives and in the world. We need to be humble, believing that the community of Soibada has as much to offer us as we can offer them. This is a partnership, a friendship, a two way relationship.
Overseas Outreach (Cambodia, Timor, Solomons) 
