Friends of Suai Covalima

For over 20 years we have had a formal commitment to support our friendship with Suai, Covalima East Timor.

Since 2000, we have had a formal commitment to support our friendship between communities in Port Phillip and Suai, Covalima in East Timor.

Through the Friends of Suai/Covalima, we are doing all we can to assist the people of Suai in their efforts to claim a new future. In the spirit of friendship, people from both communities are working together to create opportunities for development throughout the district of Covalima.

Support and funding are provided to the Covalima Community Centre in Suai to implement community development programs, with a strong focus on education, health, gender equality, livelihoods and sustainability.

To keep up to date with the latest Friends of Suai/Covalima news, follow the Friends of Suai on Facebook or subscribe to the e-newsletter via Get involved, donate or contact us links below.

Friends of Suai news

To keep up to date with Friends of Suai activities and events, sign up online.

Invitation Suai Church Massacre Commemoration

Friends of Suai invite you to join us in honouring the memory of those who lost their lives in the Suai Church Massacre on 6 September 1999. This year marks the 25th anniversary of this profound event, and we gather to remember, reflect and reaffirm our commitment to peace and justice.

Please join us on Friday 6 September from 5.30-7 pm at St Kilda South Port Uniting Church. Your presence will be a powerful gesture of solidarity and remembrance.

Guest speakers include Dr Lia Kent, ANU Research Fellow and author of 'The Unruly Dead: Spirits, Memory and State Formation in Timor-Leste' and Balthasar Kehi, Academic and Timorese community leader.

All are welcome.

RSVP for this event and learn more

June 2024 Scholarships Newsletter

The June 2024 edition of our newsletter contains updates on the Friends of Suai scholarship program. The stories demonstrate how community support for the friendship continues to provide educational opportunities for young people, which benefit the whole community. Scholarships are funded through community donations and fundraising events.

The link to view the newsletter can be accessed from the bottom of this page, or for a hard copy, contact Friends of Suai/Covalima via the Get Involved, Donate or Contact Us links below.

Successful trivia night fundraiser

On 18 April 2024 Friends of Suai held a very successful trivia night at Middle Park Bowls Club, with more than 100 residents and friends attending. Many donations were provided by local businesses, artists and individuals for a raffle and silent auction.

The event raised over $11,000 and proceeds will help to ensure that the Covalima Community Centre in Suai can continue to implement sustainable community development programs, with a strong focus on education, health, gender equality, livelihoods and the environment.

Scholarship appeal

Donations are needed for education programs and to fund new and ongoing scholarships for the 2024 and 2025 school years. The scholarship program encourages gender equity and focuses on students from disadvantaged families from many villages and sub-districts within Covalima district.

Donations by credit card can be made on our Give Now appeal page.

For information on other ways to donate, or for more information about the program, please contact the Friends of Suai Covalima Coordinator via the Get involved, donate or contact us links below.

Contact us, get involved or donate

Friends of Suai Covalima is a relationship that goes beyond the usual concept of financial aid. It connects the community in the City of Port Phillip with the community of Suai in order to enrich and enhance the lives of all involved. The participation of the community is key to the success of the friendship.

Get involved by volunteering your time, making a donation, attending our events and joining our mailing list.

The Friends of Suai Covalima Coordinator is here to help.

Send us a message on My Port Phillip.

Phone: 03 9209 6598

Further information

Our longstanding relationship with the coastal town of Suai in Covalima district, Timor-Leste was formed in response to the community’s concern around the mass destruction and killings that occurred after the vote for independence in 1999. In response to this concern, a friendship was developed between the Port Phillip and Covalima communities.
This friendship builds upon close links forged between our two nations from the time of the Second World War. This enduring relationship is reflected in the many important exchanges between people in our two communities, with people from Suai visiting our city, and our local community members visiting Timor-Leste to share experience and learn from one another.
The concept for the relationship emerged in 1999 when members of the Port Phillip community and Council expressed a desire to:
- Establish a friendship relationship with a small coastal town or village for a period of ten years
- Develop community links between the City of Port Phillip and the identified community in Timor-Leste
- Coordinate fundraising activities to support that community
- Share the skills of Council staff
On 31 January 2000 the establishment of a partnership with the town of Suai was approved. Timor-Leste's leader, Xanana Gusmao, visited the City of Port Phillip on 4 May 2020 and along with the City of Port Phillip Councillors, signed the following Statement of Friendship:
"In a spirit of friendship and cooperation between the citizens of Suai and the Citizens of Port Phillip, this Statement of Friendship sets out our understanding and intent. We, the signatories of this statement, affirm the development of a ten-year relationship between the elected representatives of Suai and Port Phillip, based on friendship and mutual respect.
The fundamental principle of this agreement is to recognise and promote the right of East Timorese people and the residents of Suai to manage their own destiny. We agree to work together to achieve this end, whilst respecting each other’s cultural heritage and customs."
The Friendship was formally extended for a further ten years in 2010 and then again in 2020.

Strategic Plan

Strategic Plan 2020-25 revised 2022 (3.3 MB)

Friends of Suai Covalima

Friends of Suai news

Invitation Suai Church Massacre Commemoration

June 2024 Scholarships Newsletter

Successful trivia night fundraiser

Scholarship appeal

Contact us, get involved or donate

Further information

History of friendship

How the friendship was formed

Strategic Plan

Newsletters

Annual reports

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