Timor-Leste, or as it used to be called, East Timor, is our closest neighbour, the world’s newest nation and the poorest country in the region. The Pittwater Community’s interest in and commitment to assisting Timor Leste began a couple of years ago at Maria Regina Catholic Primary School. The support of the Parish and of Pittwater Council it has enabled the project to grow to encompass the wider Pittwater community.
Last Friday night Father George, Kathy Gee, Mark Ferguson, the General Manager of Pittwater Council and Jane Mulroney and I returned from a brief eye opening visit to Timor Leste. The Pittwater community has established a friendship relationship with the community of Soibada located within the Manatuto District in central East Timor. We met with the Local District Administrators, 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. It has been established in accordance with the Statement of Principles for Local Governments Working in Timor-Leste.
The Friends of Soibada, a community based group within Pittwater, has been formed to assist this East Timorese community. 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. The first meeting will be held at Avalon Recreation Centre on 22 September. All are welcome to attend.
Soibada is an isolated village with few resources. It is very beautiful, high in the mountains in central Timor, it was originally built by the Portuguese. The community, like all East Timorese communities has been devastated by past occupation by Indonesian and militia groups and subsequent turmoil following Independence.
On a good day it takes about four and a half hours to get there from Dili, the capital city, by 4 wheel drive on unsurfaced extremely winding roads. However, our adventure lasted over 8 hours and saw us visiting many villages on the way (okay – yes we were lost). We were bogged a few times which proved a wonderful excuse to meet many locals as they assisted Father George and Mark Ferguson in pulling us out of the mud! In fact, in the village of Natabora an entire school of children came out of class to help. Their teachers must have really loved us!
There are no bridges to Soibada, so during the rainy season the town is completely cut off. This has been an exceptionally long wet season. We eventually arrived hours later than expected to discover the village children had been praying for our safety for some hours. The welcome we received was extremely warm.
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. There is also a need for a building for 3-6 year olds. At the moment these younger children sit outside their siblings’ classrooms. The older children care for them during their breaks from class.
There are many ways you can become involved in Friends of Soibada.
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
We learnt much from the people of Soibada during our short time there. The community has as much to offer us as we can offer them. The people have a very strong faith and trust in God’s providence. Even after all they have suffered they have an inner strength and positive outlook that is enviable. Although often unsure where the next meal will come from the three nuns in the convent provide a stable and loving home for the 78 children that live there. The children show care and concern for each other and for their environment. The entire community has a sense of spirit and love that binds them together like a family.
Father Abel was able to show us the purchases he made with the money we raised during his visit earlier this year and the financial records that the community has kept. The difference we as a community can make in Soibada was very evident. The children happily showed us their new desks and chairs – received just in time for their exams!
This is a partnership, a friendship, a two way relationship. It is a long term and sustainable project. Your help is needed to ensure the success of the Friends of Soibada project. Please watch this space for weekly updates.
The Concert held on Saturday 4th September 2010 was a resounding success. The Mater Maria Hall was full and there was a star studded cast from Les Miserables, Phantom, Boy from Oz and others plus local performers.
It was a night to remember! The Pittwater Parish Soul Band performed, the La Mont dancers danced, the performers sang (and tap-danced and played), Tamara witnessed, the raffle was drawn, we listened to an inspirational speech from Mr Abel Gutteres (Timor Leste Ambassador to Australia), we saw the DVD about the village of Soibada and Timor Leste more generally.
It was a unique night that would have been worth attending even if it cost four times as much and was not for a very deserving cause. But the fact that we were supporting the poor village of Soibada made it even better. Performers, organisers, the AV company and many more volunteers worked tirelessly to make this a brilliant event. You can see photos from the event by clicking this link. Then "View Slideshow fullscreen" for best display.
Here are some of the highlights. Note that if you click your mouse on an image, it will expand then you can move it around or close it. Or you can just open one image then press the right or left icon on the image to scroll through all photos.
The essence of last week’s Australia Timor-Leste Friendship Movement conference in Maubisse, Timor Leste was friendship. The conference brought together more than 100 people from Friendship groups, like Pittwater and Soibada’s, for what was Timor-Leste’s largest international conference outside Dili. The Friendship Movement is warmly supported by the Timor Leste Government. Snr Archangelo Leite, the Timor-Leste Minister for State Administration, said that he wanted to see it continue to develop and to progress. He said that governments come and go, but that friendship continued. According to the Australian Ambassador to Timor-Leste, HE Peter Heyward, The Friendship Movement is a true symbol of the closeness of Australia and Timor-Leste. He said that the people to people relationships provided an underlying substance to more formal bilateral relations.
The Friendship Movement has committed itself to continuing for the next ten years. A website will be established to share information between Friends in Timor-Leste and Friends in Australia.
A number of issues considered to be challenges were discussed and processes to overcome them were devised. Several issues that are very relevant to our relationship with Soibada are:
Communication: language, telephone, internet.
Road access
The conference addressed a number of themes. The greatest strength was identified as the long-term commitment of both Australian and Timor-Leste friends to the movement. There have also been many successful local projects. In his closing remarks, the Director of State Administration, Snr Abilio Caetano, referred to brothers and sisters coming together in love, peace and solidarity.
Addressing the conference, the President of Timor-Leste, HE Jose Ramos-Horta, highlighted the role played by the Friendship movement in underpinning relations between Timor-Leste and Australia.
President Ramos-Horta said: ‘No country in the world has committed more than Australia to Timor-Leste.’ ‘My hope,’ he continued, ‘is for each suco in Timor-Leste to be adopted by a council in Australia. I want each school in Australia to adopt a school in Timor-Leste.’
Pittwater’s relationship with Soibada is a significant part of establishing such lasting friendships. The primary purpose of this relationship with the people of Soibada is to provide support for local projects and build skills within the Soibada community that will contribute to the long term independence and sustainability of the community. However, the development of lasting friendships is integral to the success of any projects undertaken.
Please don’t forget the Inaugural meeting of the Pittwater Friends of Soibada at 7pm on 22 September at the Avalon Recreation Centre. All are welcome to attend.
Timor Facts
Access to safe water and hygienic sanitation is a significant problem.
There are no significant dams and only two perennial rivers.
The rivers are steep and none are suitable for transport.
The most people rely on underground water from wells for drinking.
Any water available for irrigating crops is reserved for rice fields.
There is high rainfall in the wet season (our summer), and abundant natural springs all over the island.
Despite all this rain and the springs the people there have only a fraction of the water that we have to use each day.
One flush of our toilets is what the average person living in Timor Leste uses all day.
Nearly two thirds of the population live in rural areas where there is either no or very limited access to safe drinking water.
Before 1999, less than half of the population of East Timor had access to safe water, and according to the UN, most of the water systems were focused on urban areas.
Water-born diseases are rife.
Independence and the contamination of water supplies
When an overwhelming majority of East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia in 1999, it led to violent opposition. 1999 Militia opposing East Timor independence killed pro-independence supporters and threw bodies in the water wells. Thus, they contaminated the country’s supply of clean drinking water.
Much of East Timor’s infrastructure was destroyed following the independence ballot of 1999. This included water supply infrastructure. Exacerbating this situation was the already degraded state of rural water supply systems due to inadequate design, poor construction and low quality materials.
The heartland of Timor Leste has historically been its mountainous interior. However, its rough, jagged, terrain has made it almost impossible for the development of large continuous settlements. Thus, the mountain inhabitants have traditionally lived scattered in small groups. The village of Soibada is a good example of this type of arrangement. Although radiating around the central church, convent and school buildings the village stretches far across the neighbouring ridges and valleys down towards the river. Compact fields cling to the slopes and homes with impossibly beautiful viewsperch precariously atop steep and slippery rock faces.
The majority of the population in Soibada are subsistence farmers. They produce maize, vanilla, corn, beans, citrus, cassava, potatoes, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, taro, tapioca, carrots, cabbages and avocados.Coffee, candlenuts, and cocoa are also extensive in the highlands, and especially in Soibada ‘s sub-districts.
Some villagers also raise livestock, including cattle, water buffalo, goats, sheep, rabbits, chickens and pigs. Farm animals have excellent potential to become a cornerstone of East Timor’s economic development. Cattle ownership largely determines social status and cattle are valuable financial assets for farmers. They are more valuable than goats, sheep and pigs from a social point of view but they are not as easy to trade. The latter can be sold easily whenever farmers face economic difficulties. They provide funds for emergency needs such as children’s schooling, deficits of staple foods in poor seasons, or funerals.
Farmers are reluctant to slaughter animals for their own consumption, except during funerals, festivals or wedding celebrations. Livestock range freely with little restriction. They are periodically penned or tethered after one or two days grazing. Pens are often set some distance from houses. Farmers have freely grazed their animals on common pastures for hundreds of years, and these pastures, whether native or introduced, provide a cheap source of feed. However underfeeding is common.
Erosion in this wet steep location is exacerbated by heavy grazing. Pigs are generally reared traditionally without pens. Underfed horses are common and provide transport for people and produce, especially in the mountains where there are no roads suitable for public or private vehicles.
Please come to the concert “Songs of Soibada” on Saturday the 4th of September. (Details elsewhere in the Bulletin and on this web page.) Not only does it promise to be a fantastic night of top class entertainment, there will be great raffle prizes and jewellery and Timorese products for sale. All funds raised will go direct to the village.
Timor Leste Facts
·The majority of people in the mountains are subsistence farmers.
·Crops in the highlands include maize, vanilla, corn, beans, citrus, cassava, potatoes, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, taro, tapioca, carrots, cabbages, avocados, coffee, candlenuts and cocoa.
·Rice is grown in the lowlands and is a staple food.
·Livestock raised include cattle, water buffalo, goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits and pigs.
Towards the end of September 2009, Fr George, Kathy Gee (Principal, Maria Regina School) and Tamara Harding paid a quick visit to Timor Leste to formalise our Parish partnership agreement with the village of Soibada. It was a most confronting and moving experience. Especially meeting the local children. After witnessing the plight of the people first hand you become compelled to do something to rectify it.
You can see photos in our gallery showing Timor Leste, Soibada, the people, the buildings, the roads, the countryside by clicking here.
Over time there will be detailed presentations in both churches and the schools and lots of information on our web site to explain the nature of this project and how you can all become involved. For, your support and involvement is truly needed so that we can make a substantial difference to the lives of these people and in the future of their children.
Timor-Leste, or as it used to be called, East Timor, is our closest neighbour, the worlds newest nation and the poorest country in the region. It is only one hours flight from Darwin. Ten years on from independence, the rural areas of East Timor are still among the most disadvantaged places on the face of the earth. Almost two-thirds of its adult population is illiterate. Over 50% of the population is under 15 years of age. Its children face extraordinary challenges. One in ten babies die before reaching their first birthday. Timorese women are ten times more likely to die during child birth than Australian women.
Sacred Heart Church (Soibada)
The violence of September 1999 went a long way to destroying up to 90 per cent of East Timor's school buildings and related infrastructure. A lack of simple resources, such as pens and pencils, has translated into a community disaster. Education is very important for the East Timorese. With education they can grow as a nation. To obtain this good education, they need the support of the international community, especially Australians. They speak several languages at school - Tetum, Portugese, Indonesian and English. The country is struggling to find its own curriculum using both the national language, Portuguese, and Tetum.
Furthermore ... part of the colonial apparatus of the Indonesians was that schools had to teach in the Bahasa language of Indonesia. Most teachers - 80 per cent of secondary schools staff - were Indonesian. All of these were removed when independence came. As a result only one in 100 teachers now in East Timor schools has had any training.
Needless to say, our parish's initial focus will be on education. For that will lead to improvement in so many other areas of their lives. Out of necessity, we will also do something quite quickly about sanitation in the village.
A very successful evening organised by Maria Regina Primary school staff, parents and students was held on the 14th of May.
The wife of the Prime Minister of East Timor and former First Lady of Timor Leste, Australian born
Kirsty Sword Gusmão introduced the powerful film "Where the sun rises" also known as "A hero's journey".
It portrays the struggle for independence in East Timor but is primarily about reconciliation and forgiveness and featured the Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão with many of those affected by the years of crisis. Those attending learned a lot about the lifestyle in Timor Leste and also the needs of the country. Some of the scenes evoked strong feelings of sadness but also joy. There were remarkable stories of forgiveness, the memories of which will stay for a long time with those who attended.
There was a lively question time with broad participation. The audience included Her Excellency Estela Ferreira the UN appointed Goodwill Ambassador to Timor Leste and the Consul General of Timor Leste Mr Abel Guterres. Also present were the local Mayor Mr. David James, Dr Susan Bliss, the Director of Global Education for Ausaid, local area command Superintendent of Police, Fr George, Bishop Bernard and others.
All money raised is being donated to the Alola Foundation which was established in 2002 by Former First Lady, Kirsty Sword Gusmão to provide help in advocacy, education, employment and maternal and child health to the women of East Timor.
Kirsty with Tamara, one of the organisers
Click here or on the photo gallery link for more photos
“If we can forgive, we liberate ourselves.” Xanana Gusmão
Overseas Outreach (Cambodia, Timor, Solomons) 
The children show care and concern for each other and for their environment. The entire community has a sense of spirit and love that binds them together like a family.
