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Projects
The friends of suai (FoS) program is evolving as the needs and priorities change in Suai itself. However, the underlying principles guiding the program have not changed:
- To support democracy and self-determination of the East Timorese community
- To assist community development in non-government sectors
- To assist the development of local government in Suai
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Suai
Community Centre
Friends of suai sponsored the refurbishment of the Suai Community Centre which was completed in late 2001. This building continues to provide a location for many activities aimed at improving opportunities for the people of Suai. The Suai Community Collective (SCC) is based within the community centre and has targeted several areas for future development. Many of these goals are aimed at improving vocational training for community members as well as providing a recreational and academic library. The  Suai Community Collective Strategic Plan outlines the purpose, values, rights and relationship of the Suai Community Collective and was created over 3 days of workshops.
Youth Centre
The Suai Youth Centre has been operational since early 2000. During this time they have established close relationships with many non government organisations (NGOs). These relationships have allowed them to facilitate a variety of projects that contribute to youth culture in Suai. Activities provided by the Youth Centre range from HIV Aids awareness in Suai and in the sub districts of coval Lima, peace camps, training and counselling for youth who have experienced torture and trauma to sporting events. friends of suai have been involved with the Youth Centre since early 2002.
For further information please read the February Report 2004 and the  Youth Report Sep-Nov 2004.
Also read the Youth Congress Suai Report May 2005 (Youth Congress Suai Report May 2005) and Nutrition Report Sep 05
New Community Education Media Project for 2006
A community education media initiative at the Suai Youth Centre began in February 2006 supported by FoS providing audio visual and digital editing equipment. Local filmmaker, Jen Hughes conducted a 5 day workshop with five young woman and 2 young men undertaking basic computer, camera, sound, editing, and conceptual training.
Suai is a remote and isolated coastal town on the W Timor border and one of the poorer districts of East Timor. Community media is a simple and strategic way to provide education programs to illiterate communities, especially programs using local language and image, bringing together visuals and voice enabling people who cannot read to hear and see the picture directly on social issues like health, education and agriculture. It also provides an excellent opportunity for youth self-expression.
This program will develop in 2006 with further media training in partnership with SAHE media institute and OXFAM East Timor. In the City of Port Phillip, the St Kilda Youth Centre are keen to share their ideas and media expertise with the youth of Suai.
Powering up East Timor
New Growth in Timor Leste - Re-afforestation Project
A plant nursery with 10,000 seedlings will be established in May 2006 in Suai with funds from friends of suai. Dangerous landslides prompted villages to request support for restoring their agriculture lands in the sub district of Maucater 2 hours from Suai. De-afforestation has resulted from both commercial and cultivation practices with trees being burned and cut down. The burning of land is intensely problematic due to dry season fires which regularly spread outside designated areas. The problem of erosion is further exacerbated by two rainy seasons, which can clear away all topsoil.
Native trees including fruit bearing varieties will be transplanted to protect topsoil and control erosion and resulting landslides. Villagers will also take part in an environmental education program looking at sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture.
This project will employ 10 people in the nursery to raise trees and a further 10 labourers in the plantation phase. The project is supported by the local District Administration and will be monitored by the Suai Community Centre.
This is a pilot project which if successful can be replicated in other parts of the district experiencing similar environmental problems.
Community Centre
Friends of suai sponsored the refurbishment of the Suai Community Centre which was completed in late 2001. This building continues to provide a location for many activities aimed at improving opportunities for the people of Suai. The Suai Community Collective (SCC) is based within the community centre and has targeted several areas for future development. Many of these goals are aimed at improving vocational training for community members as well as providing a recreational and academic library. The Suai Community Collective Strategic Plan outlines the purpose, values, rights and relationship of the Suai Community Collective and was created over 3 days of workshops.
Classes at the Community Centre
The community centre already runs classes aimed at increasing computer literacy. Community members pay a fee to enrol in these classes which in turn pays the salaries of the teachers and covers the cost of fuel for the generator that provides electricity to the centre. They also run English classes.
Womens Sewing Project
In February 2006 the Suai Community Centre, Commission endorsed the extension of the womens sewing project. A new design will establish the original women as trainers with an extended 3 month course. The SCC will assist the women to form a group from their own succo/village area which would enable the women to work cooperatively and develop business skills especially to make school uniforms in the future. The commission is also considering a womens literacy program to enhance the training for the women.
Mechanics Training
Friends of suai is providing funds to a local business mechanic to train10 trainees. The recent changes to project will see the next 6 people trained for 4 months in car and motor bike maintenance, welding and spray painting. Trainees are provided with an opportunity to enhance their mechanical and life skills with the aim of securing employment in the future.
In cooperation with the Coval Lima District Health Service, Suai Regional Hospital, SCC, Rotary Club of Balwyn and Friends of Suai this project is focused specifically on providing food supplements to patients suffering from malnutrition over a 12 month period. The Nutrition Program caters for patients who are moderately or severely malnourished according to their weight (or weight for height with children). The hospital provides meals for all the patients in the hospital, but this program is run as a separate activity. The foods provided include eggs, milk, and sardines, high nutrition foods, which are not provided in the hospital meals. The kitchen preparation and handling of supplies is run by Agata dos Santos, who started work in June 05. Agata attended a nutrition course and was trained in Dili.
The recently built kitchen funded by FoS, provides a separate space in the hospital grounds. Patients are provided with four meals a day. Breakfast includes milk and eggs, lunch is rice, meal and vegetables, in the afternoon milk and eggs are given and dinner is again rice, meat and vegetables. Patients receive this for the duration of their stay in hospital. When patients leave they are given a package of high nutritious foods to take home, including rice, oil, milk sugar and noodles. The project is meeting its aims and the capacity of staff has been strengthened at the hospital to independently manage and facilitate the project. The February Report Nutrition Report Feb 2005 (Nutrition Report February 2005) is now available.
Support for young Ornorio
In the recent report it was brought to our attention that a young man Ornorio who was a survivor of a venomous snake bite was in need of a prosthetic limb. Friends of suai contacted a new organisation ASSERT which grew out of Cambodia Trust Cambodia trust now established in Timor Leste. ASSERT agreed to provide Onorio with a new limb and provide ongoing services for his condition. Jewish Aid Australia have agreed to provide ongoing education support for Onorio to ensure that his disability will not preclude him from receiving a good education.
Engineers Without Borders
In 2003 there was intense flooding in Camenasa in the Suai District of Covalima, which devastated crops, housing, bridges and health. The FoS coordinator was alerted to the problem on her field visit, the local people asked for assistance in designing a retaining wall to mitigate the problem and funding to assist with erection of the wall. Local filmmaker Jen Hughes, captured the discussions and situation on film. Jen provided the video to community group Engineers Without Borders (EWB).
Neil Doherty, Engineers Without Borders, RMIT Student Chapter contacted FoS to offer his assistance. Neil is a local City of Port Phillip resident and fellow student Emily McKie visited Suai in February 2005 as EWB volunteers. They conducted a design study of the problem. They met with the government administration and leaders in the community to discuss the ongoing flood problems and assist with a design.
Neil and Emily are preparing their final report to discuss with the RMIT team who are exploring some ways to assist with the problem. In February 2006 Stewart Davies, EWB and Pat Jessen Coordinator FoS returned to Camenasa to provide the key recommendations from the report based on the need for community planning and disaster management as possible methods to reduce the impact of flooding. The key recommendations as follows:
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Retention basin, combined with a high flow channel beside the village only active during high river flows.
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Protection of area of land from high eroding flow rates to ensure crop destruction does not result in inadequate food supplies and to protect livestock during flooding.
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Storage of previous years crops in silo to guard against crop losses.
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Raising of houses to 24m to protect personal property etc.
Friends of Suai and EWB will continue to work together with the national government and district administration focusing on ways to lessen the impact of flooding which has devastating effect on local communities.
Intrepid Travel
Since 2003 Intrepid Travel have been conducting tourism to East Timor and when visiting Suai stay at the community centre. Other independent travellers from Australia have also stayed at the centre. Income generated from this enterprise will contribute to the running of the centre.
Kobalima Students and Youth Association
Kobalima Students and Youth Association is made up of about 400 students from the Covalima district who are based at the various universities in Dili. friends of suai began forming a relationship with this organisation in May 2002 by supplying funding for a conference that was held in Suai. Since then the relationship has expanded to donations of computers and books and funding for a room in which to hold computer lessons and a library.
Pre School Project
Friends of suai has been working in conjunction with several international and local non government organisations (NGOs) in an attempt to gain funding for building materials for pre schools in the Suai district. Currently a combination of funding from friends of suai, Rotary South Melbourne and the Christian Children's Fund are working in combination to create two new pre schools in the Covalima District. Currently the specified pre schools are operating from private homes which greatly restricts the learning programs in these communities. Many successful examples of similar projects are available and encouraging. The buildings are expected to be completed in April 2004 and we are awaiting a further proposal outlines what educational equipment will be needed.
Food Relief for Suai
friends of suai in 2003 provided funding to the Ministry of Health for a three month food relief program targeting children under five years of age and pregnant women.
Tatoli Lia Murac
This local non government organisation (NGO) proposed a project to build walls for a local Suai primary school. There were no walls separating classrooms and students were easily distracted by other classes. This project funded the building of walls so that the quality of education can be improved. The project was completed in January 2004.
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Future Projects
Community Radio
The local Suai radio station was operating out of the community centre until World Bank funding ceased in January 2003. Radio Taroman is looking at ways to get up and running again. The radio station has had difficulty operating, electricity provision is unreliable and the cost of fuel is high. Friends of suai recognises in the importance of local media in rebuilding communities and are very interested in supporting this initiative. Both the community steering groups and the council have supported this project in principle. In 2006 a new proposal is being developed to ensure Radio Taroman once again provides community information across Coval Lima especially to remote and isolated communities. If you are interested to help Radio Taroman contact FoS Coordinator Pat Jessen 9209 6598
Agriculture
A coalition of non government organisations (NGO) in Suai is developing a proposal for an agricultural training and information centre facilitated by various NGO trainers across the sector. Government is currently not providing training, so NGOs want to develop own training centre with information. The current thinking is farmers need assistance to improve their cultivation. The vision of the training and information centre in Coval Lima is to provide an example of the garden for farmers to see results of current and new techniques.
This proposal is expected by Friends of Suai/City of Port Phillip and other potential donors in early 2006. The centre will be located in Salele 45 minutes from Suai and central to farmers. There will be linkages across the subdistricts and training across the district. Oxfam as one of the NGOs has small groups in six sub-districts and partner with the local agricultural NGO.Rice, maize, cassava (highlands) and soy beans are the main crops. Cultivation is by hand as farmer's tools and machinery is sparse, usually one hectare per family is cultivated. Buffalo are used to trample the ground for first cultivation and spread the seed in the field.
Agriculture development is key to subsistence livelihoods and economic development. Tools, seeds and training are urgently required to provide support to local farmers. FoS are keen to work with partners in Australia and E Timor to support local capacity building and agricultural initiatives.
Community Centre
Friends of suai sponsored the refurbishment of the Suai Community Centre which was completed in late 2001. This building continues to provide a location for many activities aimed at improving opportunities for the people of Suai. The Suai Community Collective (SCC) is based within the community centre and has targeted several areas for future development. Many of these goals are aimed at improving vocational training for community members as well as providing a recreational and academic library. The Suai Community Collective Strategic Plan outlines the purpose, values, rights and relationship of the Suai Community Collective and was created over 3 days of workshops.
Constitutional Convention
On 30 July 2003, secondary students from a range of educational institutions gathered at a convention organised by Elwood College, Melbourne Girls Grammar and friends of suai. Students participated in a day of discussions and workshops aimed at raising awareness of the situation in East Timor, Australia's participation there and encouraging the youth of today to feel empowered to have a say in the matter. Experts in the field who took great joy in imparting their knowledge to the next generation facilitated the event. As a result of this project, several schools have become active participants in friends of suai and have a particular interest in the primary school project.
Friendship schools
Friends of suai are encouraging the interest of schools in the City of Port Phillip and East Timor to create relationships. They are working on linking schools in the City of Port Phillip with the friendship schools project being run by the Alola foundation in Dili.
City of Port Phillip
The participation of the City of Port Phillip community is imperative to the running of friends of suai. As such we have many fundraising and awareness raising events that are aimed at strengthening the friendship relationship with the Suai community. There are also regular meetings of the Community Steering Group at which your attendance is welcome. The meetings are conducted the 2nd Wednesday of the month at St Kilda Town Hall, Carlisle St St Kilda.
For more information on friends of suai, use eServices to ask us a question, request information or give us feedback online. If you prefer call ASSIST on (03) 9209 6777 or TTy (03) 9209 6713 and ask for friends of suai.
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