District Rotarians Head to Timor

Happy New Year to all our supporters! It has been exactly 3 years since I have been able to return to our Centre, overseeing management via weekly phone calls and Manager's reports during that period.

 

Although it is not the norm for me to take groups to our Centre, I was delighted to have assistance from Rob Uhl from the Rotary E-Club of Brindabella and Mary Brell from the Rotary Club of Orange Daybreak. Both Clubs have been sponsors of our Timor Learning Centre over the years. Mary has an extensive background in Education and Training, and Rob in Nursing and Psychology.

 

A huge thank you to both of them for their commitment, hard work and passion; without them, I would not have been able to achieve all that needed to be done after a 3-year break.

 

 

Interestingly people are dying in Timor-Leste but there is no mention of Covid and many people believe it is not in the country! Everything appears to be back to “normal” with day-to-day life, although I have noticed many changes throughout Dili. It appears quieter with fewer foreigners or tourists, perhaps it is just because it's January and people are away. Chinese influence is even more evident with new infrastructure and new businesses, you even have to pay 50 cents per hour for parking in Timor Plaza!

 

 

It was with an extremely heavy heart that just prior to travelling to Timor, we heard one of our original students had passed away from a head injury, incurred from a motorcycle crash. Lydia enrolled at our Centre for the first intake of English students in 2016. This was the year I had taken long service from the Australian Federal Police to live in Timor and oversee the building of the Centre.

 

Lydia spent most days with me, following me around and helping me with any daily chore, often having breakfast or lunch with me and soaking up as much as she could possibly learn. I would awake and open the Centre and there was Lydia waiting for me at the front gate. She continually asked to sleep at the Centre and come back to Australia with me so she could get an education, of course, this never happened.

 

Many of you would have heard me talk of Lydia when I gave presentations, she was the 12-year-old child that took our whiteboard to teach English to the young children in the village and she was our prize student. She had conned me for dictionaries, lessons and even a watch, she was the most inspirational child I had ever met. Not once a day did she participate in class but attended every single class that she could!

 

In 2019 she moved across the river to care for her Grandma and therefore she couldn’t attend the Centre. We recently heard that she would sell her mother’s bread early each morning before school so she could save for a motor bike. She gave her money to her father and a couple of years later he brought her a bike so she could continue travelling to her school.

 

Lydia sustained a head injury after crashing her bike in 2021 but didn’t tell her parents until a few days later when she was rushed to the hospital with head pain and swelling. Lydia passed away upon arrival; she was 16 years of age.

 

I attended her family home during this visit and presented her mother with framed A4-size photos of Lydia and another 60 small duplicates for the family. We sat together on the front veranda of her home and I relayed the amazing stories of Lydia and how important she was to all of us. I told her that Lydia’s photo was placed in the classroom and that she shall continue to watch over the Centre. Many tears were shed, and everyone in the neighbourhood stood by and listened. Her whiteboard still stands in the hut at the back of their home, and some of her siblings have also enrolled at our Centre.

You did us proud our beautiful Lydia, may you rest in peace darling girl.

 

 

 

As per in the past our Days for Girls Co-ordinators Joan and Charles Applin from Bathurst organised pallets to be transported through Vic and Liz O’Callaghan and their connections with Managers of TOLL. Peter and Beverly De’Meur organised further products with many being made at Gabbie’s Angels.

 

RMS Engineering kindly cleared the pallets through customs and delivered them to our Centre. They have all been integral in getting our supplies to Timor-Leste and we are forever grateful. With their extreme commitment and generosity, 3 pallets were delivered a few days prior to Christmas containing - Days for Girls kits, children’s clothing, toiletries, blankets, materials, 400 hundred bras kindly donated by Al at “Underwear for Humanity”, garden equipment, compost bins, raised garden beds, schools supplies etc.

 

Many of these products will be sent to the Districts to the villages that need them most over the next year or so.

 

 

Dede is now living with his wife and 2 children, spending the days in his office at the Centre. His architect work continues throughout the country and he has employed family members to run his café - “De Caffinator”. He continues to work as a volunteer and liaises with me via phone several times a week and overseas all aspects of the running of the Centre. He works well in partnership with his brother Atisi.

 

Atisi still resides at the Centre with his mother and has done an outstanding job of managing staff, students, gym members, caring for the gardens and doing absolutely any job that arises.

 

 

 

The gym is running well and in great order, thanks to our Centre Assistant Atisi who has done a wonderful job organising members to care for their facility. The “Plus Fitness Family”, who met on weekends to clean up villages and parts of the city of Dili, ceased due to covid restrictions. They intend to continue these activities over the next few months.

 

We now have 3 Timorese doctors and some nurses that train at our gym. Doctor Simplescio has been involved in our gym for several years and he is the head of Ambulance Services at Guido Valedares National Hospital in Dili.ospita

 

Simplescio has also been working with our Managers Dede and Atisi with emergency management in the Districts, when we have implemented our outreach programs over the years. He has been conducting minor medical procedures for some of our members on the gym veranda and those that can’t afford medical treatment. After we had a meeting with him this trip, Manager Dede has organised a space in our office that he can sterilise and use when needed.

 

Simplescio has also stated that if there was any emergency at the Centre he would deploy his ambulances and staff immediately. We gave him an old 2015 hard covered diary and you would have thought he had won the lottery. He uses it as his sign on book for staff and for meeting notes etc.

 

Our networking and fostering of relationships have been incredibly beneficial for our Centre and its members.

 

 

 

Climate change is evident in the country. Seasons are not the same as in previous years and crops are more limited. One of our new curriculums is now on Planet Health. Although I had produced a curriculum prior to visiting our Centre I realise it is still too complex for our teacher to deliver. We spent time doing simple lessons on composting and starting up more vegetable gardens. I shall continue to work on my curriculum to be able to slowly introduce different topics over the next year or so.

 

Atisi and his mother continue to grow some corn and green vegetables for their own use. I took over thousands of vegetable and flower seeds from Bunnings, to be planted over the year to share with members. He absolutely loves his new compost bins and tools.

 

Atisis in his garden

 

Teacher Guido has continued “Jolly Phonics” as best he can over the past 3 years. Mary and Rob worked with him and revamped the whole classroom, re-doing stores and creating a library. Mary mentored Guido for the week creating a new format for him to report weekly as well as making resources for him and teaching him new techniques for delivering lessons. It was fabulous.

We held a beginning of the year party with the students even though many have still not returned from the Districts after Christmas. Each student received a backpack or bag made by our sewing staff -containing stationery and items we had shipped over from Australia.

 

 

Since Covid we have only had 2 women employed to sew. Silvia is now working for her sister’s sewing business and both Constantina and Domingas now have 8 children each and are caring for their families.

 

The funds that we had received from the Rotary E-Club of Brindabella had also purchased an industrial sewing machine and industrial over locker (both with their own tables); that had been placed in storage for the past 3 years. Manager Dede and a new volunteer at the Centre Brian Klau, who is a friend of Rob Uhl and a past Rotary Youth Exchange student – kindly put them together.

 

Our sewing staff have been taught to make school uniforms through Tony Castlely’s Sew Aid team several years ago – although have not been able to secure a contract with any school due to too many groups producing them.

 

Our women have been making tote bags and aprons and we brought back over 50kg to Australia to sell. I already have hundreds of them in storage so I have asked the women to stop making for now.

 

This trip Rob and I taught them how to make funeral shrouds as requested by a friend who is a Funeral Director with a company in Australia. We are currently negotiating a contract.

 

 

 

Termites have located in the main residential building, currently being dealt with by RMS Engineering (whom we lease our land from).

Lots of maintenance was required to replace lights, doors from water damage etc. This was all managed by Managers Dede and Atisi in consultation with me.

 

We are carefully utilising all the generous funds Rotary clubs, businesses and individuals have donated to our Centre during these challenging years. Your generosity has enabled us to assist the most vulnerable and poorest of people in Timor-Leste and has allowed us to continue running our Centre successfully for its 8^th year.

We have currently paid for the next 6 months' land lease that RMS Engineering has generously reduced since COVID and has continued to honour.

ATLAS (Australia Timor-Leste Advancement Society) has again just signed another MOU to fund teacher Guido for 2023.

Our small business Roasters with Altitude puts its profits into purchasing items for our Centre and assisting with wages and other costs.

Private donations and Rotary donations as well as sales from the sewing centre continue to keep us afloat each year.

A huge thank you to our amazing Managers Dede and Atisi for all their love and commitment, without them this Centre would not be as successful as it is today.

On behalf of our Centre staff, members and the people of Timor-Leste, thank you for all the donations and support.

Kind regards,

                                          

Libby Bleakley
Rotary Club of Blackheath
Sentru Formasaun Ba Juventude – Timor Learning Centre