Page 3630 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 28 October 2014
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The sanitation and health block, including the handwashing facilities and educational signs, all in Tetun, were met by the dollars for Dili project. In addition, the school was painted, the cooking area was insulated and painted, existing toilets were repaired and much-needed educational supplies were purchased for the school with support through the program.
Madam Speaker, I cannot tell you how grateful the students, teachers and parents are for these projects which have been supported by dollars for Dili in partnership with scouts and Rotary. It is very pleasing to be able to say that the dollars for Dili project has been a great success. The project will have long-felt effects and work towards the development of our neighbour and friend Timor-Leste.
Not only was I able to see the work that had been undertaken through the project, but I was able to have a look at some of the work that the NGO Alola Foundation were doing in the area, as I mentioned earlier. Alola is a not-for-profit non-government organisation operating in Timor-Leste to improve the lives of women and children. Founded in 2001 by the first lady, Ms Kirsty Sword Gusmao, the organisation seeks to nurture women leaders and advocate for the rights of women.
The work done by the Alola Foundation was wonderful to see firsthand, and we got to meet many young children benefiting from the mobile library, which is funded to deliver library books and programs to all government schools.
The ACT government has been a strong supporter of the Alola Foundation since former Chief Minister Jon Stanhope began support for their work to support the upgrade of the maternal health services at Bacau and the upgrade to the Alola Foundation’s offices in Bacau.
Since this contribution in 2008 and 2009, the ACT government has also contributed to the funding of the mother-tongue-based multilingual initiative, run by the Alola Foundation, which is aimed at providing the children of Timor-Leste with the opportunity to learn in their mother tongue, which could be any of the 16 languages and 30 dialects which make up the linguistic diversity of what is quite a small country.
The Alola Foundation continues to provide various services to women and children in Timor-Leste. The work ranges from working to improve maternal health to working to create employment, promote human rights, strengthen community development and improve the status of women.
One thing that struck me during the short visit was how, despite the many years of conflict and hardship which have been experienced by the people of Timor-Leste, they show such solid resilience. This is a country which has seen much conflict in its fight for independence since the 1970s. During these times of conflict, much of the infrastructure in Timor-Leste was damaged or destroyed. Territorial disputes have seen Timor-Leste unable to benefit from some of the natural resources which surround it. This has hampered the redevelopment of the country along with the improvement of the standard of living of its people.
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