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ANNUAL REPORT

2015-16Bendigo Maubisse Friendship Committee

Bendigo Maubisse Friendship Committee Annual Report 2015-16 | P a g e 1

Bendigo Maubisse Friendship Committee – Annual Report 2015-16

SUMMARY - PURPOSE

This is the Annual Report for the Bendigo Maubisse Friendship Committee (BMFC) for the period 1st July 2015 to 30th June 2016. This report provides Council and the community with an overview of the work of this committee to support the Maubisse Community in Timor Leste. The report demonstrates many achievements along with a strong commitment, passion and capacity to develop strong partnerships, locally and with a community abroad.

In presenting the Annual Report the BMFC acknowledges with appreciation many community members, service clubs and individual volunteers who worked with the committee during the year, to strengthen the relationship and to achieve commendable and significant outcomes.

The BMFC is an appointed Section 86 Committee by the City of Greater Bendigo and operates in accordance with delegated authority. The Committee understands the responsibilities associated with this status and carries out its duties with the knowledge that it is representing the City of Greater Bendigo. The City provides an annual contribution of $50,000. Without these funds the Committee would be unable to deliver the full extent of projects that make a difference to the people of Maubisse.

The BMFC and the many community volunteers express sincere appreciation to the Council for their valued support.

POLICY CONTEXT

The Bendigo Maubisse Friendship Committee is committed to developing a strong ongoing friendship with the community of Maubisse, built on mutual respect, empowerment and collaboration. Programs are delivered to build relationships and promote understanding. The BMFC is committed to contributing to improved standards of living, access to basic and necessary services, training, capacity building and social programs. The Committee respects local systems, cultures and laws and will provide assistance to the community of Maubisse in accordance with their stated needs and priorities.


2015 -16 Committee MembersCr. Peter Cox (Chair) City of Greater Bendigo.

Heather McNeill (Secretary) Mark Feiss ( Treasurer )

Heather Ridge Barry Secombe Jenny Feiss

Naidene Parry Deborah Blake Ian Blake

Ken Hubbard Rod Flavell John Jones

Liz Durr Mark McLouglan

2015-16 Maubisse Sub District Administration

L to R. Aguida Mendonca [Administrative assistant]

Xisto Lemos [Community coordinator]

Senor Luis Lopes [Sub District Administrator]


Strategic Direction

The BMFC has worked alongside the Maubisse community since 2007. The BMFC is committed to ensuring projects continue to be guided by Maubisse community needs and aspirations, with future directions mutually agreed. Strategic directions of the BMFC have been guided by a number of community consultations and workshops held in Maubisse. In February 2015 the Chair of the Committee and then Mayor of the City of Greater Bendigo, Cr. Peter Cox, led a delegation to Maubisse. This resulted in an important gathering of community members together with government and local administration officials. The timing and relevance of this delegation was mindful of the ‘Protocol of Cooperation’ recently signed by the Victorian State Government and the Government of Timor Leste. This Protocol requires projects to be driven by local communities and aligns various districts in Timor Leste with many Local Governments in Victoria.

Arising from this important process was a commitment from BMFC to conduct a comprehensive community consultation every two years with a yearly review with local officials to monitor and review a list of agreed programs and projects. Subsequently another delegation visited Maubisse in February 2016 to review completed projects and priorities identified a year earlier. The Delegation (Team 44) comprised Heather Ridge, Liz Durr, and Mark McLoughlan and was led by John Jones .

As result of continuing consultation and agreed priorities, BMFC strategic direction remains as follows:

EDUCATION: Maintaining the focus on the very important scholarship initiative along with teacher training for Maubisse teachers in partnership with the Fundasaun Alola Education Consultancy team.

HEALTH:

Continuing support for Maubisse Referral Hospital with Medical and Dentistry training and equipment. The Committee will also provide assistance and support for programs related to hygiene [Days for Girls], nutrition and malnutrition, in particular a program for young girls.


EXISTING PUBLIC FACILITIES: Continue to support the Maubisse Radio Station with equipment.

ARTS AND CULTURE:Continue to support programs developing and nurturing local skills and talent.

PUBLIC INFRASTUCTURE/SCHOOLSContinue to provide much needed school furniture and materials to schools throughout the sub-district. Refurbishment of the roof at the Maulau School and the water supply infrastructure project will assist both the Agricultural school in Horai-Kiik and the community who occupy that village. Provision of gardening tools for the Agricultural school will assist their academic programs. Future consideration will be given to provision of outdoor eating facilities at schools

LOCAL COMMUNITY AND LIFESTYLE Continue to provide clothing, [particularly for infants] together with sporting and computer equipment.


Key achievements and activities 2015/16

During the course of this year 5 work and professional teams (43 to 47) visited Maubisse to support BMFC projects and directions. In addition, three Containers were sent, providing building materials, essential items of equipment, clothing and furniture for schools for the Maubisse community. A Maubisse distribution committee oversees unpacking and equitable distribution of goods. Since 2007 a total of 40 containers have been dispatched.

Container 40. Local volunteers distribute container furniture in Maubisse Using a whipper snipper for the first time.

Community Kitchen Project

The 2014/15 Annual Report provided information on a project to construct a catering kitchen in Maubisse to enable food to be prepared and distributed to the elderly and infirm. Rotary members in Bendigo have worked closely with the Carmelite Sisters, and the Sub-District administration, together with community leaders. All have strongly supported this project.


Maubisse Meals on Legs [Wheels) kitchen.

The Rotary Club of Bendigo Sandhurst and the wider Rotary movement in Bendigo have made significant financial and volunteer contributions towards this project. Team 43 [a team of Rotarians] finalized the project in August of last year. In addition, they undertook infrastructure works to connect water to the pre-birth mothers accommodation at the Carmelite Sisters Health clinic.

English Teaching & Future Capacity Training.

It is pleasing to report that in partnership with local providers (SOLS and MASEU) English programs commenced late in 2014. BMFC has provided optional course resources.

Scholarship Program

The scholarship program continues to be an outstanding success. Both The Maubisse and Bendigo Communities continue to recognize the importance of maintaining a scholarship program that enables selected students to complete secondary education in Maubisse, followed by a University education in Dili. The Alola Foundation is a partner in this project, facilitating the management of BMFC funding in country, and monitoring the progress of recipients. At the February meeting with community and education representatives, it was reported that the process of selection is working very well and that progress is being made by all students.

There are 17 participants this year in the program, five of those students are at University undertaking courses in Medicine (midwifery), Education (mathematics and science teaching), and Nutrition. At St Inacio de Loyola High School in Maubisse


there are 4 year 10, 4 year 11 and 4 year 12 sponsored students, increased from 6 students in total in 2015.

MASEU is being supported with scholarships to provide English language programs for students who attend English language classes after school. We are waiting for SOLS to provide reports and budget information for 2015 in respect to scholarships and English tuition. Local Maubisse officials have recently advised that this information will be forthcoming soon.

The scholarship program has had an unexpected impact on student study habits, creating competition and confidence that a scholarship gives motivation for students to aspire to a future which includes university study. This resulted in a huge increase in the number of students who entered university from Maubisse in 2016

The cost of university education is $1200 per student, which includes accommodation, fees, travel and books. The Education Committee in Maubisse, in partnership with the Alola Foundation Scholarship fund, closely monitor each student’s academic progress. Interviews and progress reports on academic development continue to be reviewed twice per year by the Education team from the Alola Foundation in Dili. Reports have been provided to the BMFC and are available on request.

Through the efforts of the Bendigo Community the BMFC raised the sum of $10.080 for this program. The committee thanks all individual and Club donors who have contributed, many of whom have committed to ongoing sponsorship of individual students.

Maubisse High School Scholarship receipients Janario [University student] receiving his laptop


Maulau School Refurbishment

The Catholic school at Maulau has been an ongoing project and requires extensive roof refurbishment to provide a weatherproof teaching environment. The project was developed in consultation with the Sub-District Administration, Community Leaders and the Maulau school community. The project has been ongoing since September 2014.The Rotary Club of Bendigo Sandhurst has plans to complete the project in October 2016. In May and July 2016 representatives from this club visited the School as part of a scoping team. It has been agreed that the project will entail a complete roof replacement together with insulation, weatherproof material and lighting and will cost in excess of $20,000.

Mau-lau School.

Water connection to the Agricultural school .

This team also undertook a comprehensive investigation of the water infrastructure at Horai-Kiik village and the need for a much-improved connection to the Agricultural College. The team comprised personnel with engineering expertise who reported back to Committee. It has been agreed to undertake this project in 2016/17. A significant upgrade is planned which will provide the opportunity for local students to gain the benefit of training and development during the construction phase.

As always, community involvement is important and the local Administrator confirmed it is his responsibility to broker discussions and agreement with the local community about ownership and location of water pipes. He held a community meeting in the week of July 13 to communicate to the community that this is not a government project, but one being provided through generous volunteers and the community is expected to contribute their time and cooperation in the interests of the education of their children.


Students at the Agricultural School performing a welcome dance.

Support for Fundasaun Alola Education Team

The Alola Foundation is an invaluable partner for the work of BMFC in Maubisse, and has assisted to develop a range of community capacity building programs. An ongoing partnership between the Victorian Department of Education and Training, Fundasaun Alola in Timor Leste and BMFC has developed since 2008. The Alola Foundation Education team in Timor Leste has been strongly supported by North West Victoria Region [NWVR] undertaking several professional learning exchanges. A valuable partnership has developed, endorsed by the Director General of Education in Timor Leste and supported by the Department of Education and Training in Victoria. The Alola Foundation Education Consultancy team works in conjunction with the Timor Leste Ministry of Education, and currently delivers basic teacher training for pre-primary and primary school teachers, and is responsible for providing professional learning for teachers throughout Timor Leste.

New understandings from these exchanges have enabled establishment of 3 mobile libraries in Timor Leste, new approaches in early literacy, acquisition of language and subsequent languages, development of learning resources, and opportunity to further develop and professionalize existing teacher training with greater depth and effectiveness.

The Fundasaun Alola Education team visited Bendigo in August 2015, building on previous study visits and enabling new consultants to the team to receive mentoring, coaching and professional support from Bendigo educators in a range of educational settings. Placements included Secondary and Primary schools and Early Childhood


Education settings. The following is an extract of a letter forwarded by a member of the participating Alola team and is worthy of note.

‘Times have been running very fast and we got all the dreams which become true through the great experience that we got in Bendigo during two weeks. On behalf of the team I would like to offer a sincere thanks for the generous offer you’ve all made to support the Alola Foundation Education Team on this Educational Exchange. You have opened your doors, your mind and your hearts just to support the team for the successful and quality of education in Timor Leste. I would honestly say that through experience that Alola Education team gained have made a big change in personally and project activity implementations. A sincere thanks to the schools in Bendigo specially school principal and teachers that had offered their time to attend and allowed us to enter into the classrooms. Again thank you very much for teachers who have shared us your great experiences on how working with children in the classroom. It was really touching our heart when we entered in to each classroom and work with the lovely children in Bendigo and at the same time we thought about children in Timor Leste. It was lovely to work with children in the classroom in Bendigo.’

Teacher training in Maubisse

Team 47 provided teacher training for approximately 100 teachers from all Maubisse Sub-District primary schools. The team of 6 experienced Educators from Bendigo undertook joint planning of workshops in partnership with the Fundasaun Alola Education Team and adopted a partnership approach to facilitation. 5 Consultants from the Education Team at Fundasaun Alola, led by Ema de Sousa Freitas, participated.

This teacher training was negotiated with the Ministry of Education Timor Leste and their endorsement was conditional on content aligning with the new Timor Leste Ministry of Education Curriculum. Literacy, Numeracy and PE were focus workshops, to support resources recently distributed to all Primary Schools.

Fundasaun Alola collaborated with the Timor Leste Ministry of Education and with the District Inspector of Schools in the Maubisse Sub-District. Teacher training was made available at three sites to overcome the long distances some teachers were required to travel. Workshop facilitators changed site daily to accommodate this.


Sites selected in consultation with the District Inspector were Maubisse Education Centre, Flescha Education Centre and Beremoli Education centre. Despite this, some teachers still faced a 2-3hour daily walk to their homes.

Local weather did not act as a deterrent for the team Practicing ‘Read Aloud’.

Training in literacy assessment practices was also provided for the Fundasaun Alola Education team in Dili prior to departure to Maubisse. This was attended by the Education Consultancy team, and included a wider group of consultants from the Alola team.

Workshops

A total of three Literacy Workshops were provided over the period of the visit and included ‘Read Aloud’, Shared Reading’ and ‘Guided Reading’.

Book making Teachers listening to ‘Three Little Pigs’.


In addition, workshops were also held in Mobile Library, Physical Education and Numeracy.

Mobile Library

Days For Girls

The ‘Days for Girls’ project was a focus for this team resulting from a request received by Team 44 in March 2016. Liz Durr conducted information sessions for girls at the St. Inacio de Loyola High School in Maubisse and the Agricultural school in Horaquic. Delivery of personal kits was made possible once the container arrived from Bendigo on Wednesday June 29. Approximately 170 kits were given out. Sr. Henrietta coordinated this program and her support was invaluable.

Donated Items

The BMFC has facilitated the delivery of school furniture, knitted infant clothing and donated items via shipped containers. There have been ongoing donations of school furniture as items become available, due to schools in Central Victoria being refurbished. Additional items are donated to the BMFC from the Bendigo community. A regular contributor to the Maubisse Hospital and Carmelite Pre-birth Mothers Clinic is a group of knitters residing in many locations throughout Victoria. This work, and collection of these items, is co-ordinated by Patti Cotton. The committee expresses appreciation for this valuable contribution.


Kangaroo Flat knitters demonstrating their craft.

Art Program

The Arts program continues to be an outstanding success. Building on the excellent work carried out in previous delegations, Team 45 visited Maubisse in April 2016. This is an extremely important program. Through teaching and facilitating art sessions for both adults and children, it has been demonstrated that this is an avenue for not only enhancing skills, but also for important social connection within that environment .

A total of 40 sessions were conducted, and attended by 109 students. In addition 5 women and 4 girls attended a stitching class.

Students were able to use a variety of materials provided by the team and were highly engaged in developing skills in drawing, painting, printing, stenciling, collage, beading and conceptualizing. The team was well supported by SOLS students who acted as interpreters and assisted with the learning. The team was also supported by the Sub-District Administration staff to assist with interpreting.

At the conclusion of the sessions an exhibition was held, displaying the enormous amount of work produced by the participants. This was attended by students, parents and community leaders and was an outstanding success.

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Young art students Classroom activities

The local Maubisse Community art committee took responsibility for organizing an evaluation meeting to conclude the program, and presented the Bendigo team leader with a written evaluation to take back to the BMFC.

The team felt at all times the work they were doing was met with great enthusiasm and they were given excellent local support. The team were assisted by Shigi, Erlijn, Sister Henrietta, Ms Aquida Mendonca with the encouragement of Senor Luis, school principals and vice- principals at both schools, the SOLS interpreters, and of course the students.

It was noted in the report from the Furak Art Group, that the art program has been one of the non-traditional, non-religious activities that brings together various components of the Maubisse Community to work together. They noted that the success of the program is because it is not an event-based, but rather a process-oriented program. It involves many facets of their community, such as the Sub-District Administration, the church, schools, parents and their children. They can all see the benefits of the program and work together to enable it to run. Schools provide rooms, SOLS provides interpreters, the sub-district released staff, and parents released students from holiday duties and encouraged students to attend. The church provided venues for meetings and the exhibition. There is wonderful community co-operation.


BMFC Partnerships

The BMFC relies heavily on partnerships formed both locally and in Timor Leste.

The Committee acknowledges the value of the following relationships:

Timor Leste

Ainaro District and Sub District Administration together with local Sucos and sub villages

The Carmelite and Franciscan Sisters in Maubisse provide valuable links to the Maubisse community. The Sisters greatly assist the BMFC with communication, accommodation and contacts. The Carmelite Fatuhada Convent in Dili provides accommodation for work and professional teams en-route to Maubisse and prior to leaving East Timor.

Local Maubisse Community Committees oversee a range of projects including container unpacking, Scholarships, English tuition programs and Arts program support group.

Rotary Australia World Community Service [RAWCS] Dili - based Rotarian Daryl Mills, offers advice and valuable assistance with containers, logistical arrangements in Timor Leste, transport and general support for work teams. Assistance is also provided by the team at the RAWCS office in Dili.

Fundasaun Alola assists building capacity in education and health in Maubisse and other parts of Timor Leste and provides oversight of the Scholarship Program in Maubisse. The Foundation has a strong relationship with the Timor Leste Ministry of Education and is an accredited agency providing teacher training throughout Timor Leste.

Australia

Department of Education and Training [North West Victoria Region] supports continued salvage of surplus furniture, building materials and equipment from de-commissioned Bendigo schools

North West Victoria Regional schools provide on-site study tour training opportunities for the Alola Foundation Education Consultancy team [Camp Hill Primary School, Axedale Primary School, Kennington Primary School, Eaglehawk Primary School, Huntly Primary School, Golden Square Kindergarten and Bendigo Senior Secondary College].


Latrobe University Bendigo Campus, North Central Goldfields Regional Library, Kip McGrath, Bendigo Football Netball League, Laurel Street Primary School and Strathfieldsaye Primary School for donation of uniforms, sports equipment, school resources and school furniture.

Rotary Clubs of Eaglehawk, Bendigo South, Bendigo Sandhurst, Bendigo Strathdale and Chadstone East Malvern, whose members continue to support committee programs and projects, volunteering at working bees, and participating in work teams in Timor Leste.

Fasso Transport Bendigo, Bendigo District Trotting Club and Grays Bendigo, whose practical and financial support with the cost and logistics of dispatching containers is highly valued.

Rotary International – Rotarians from many clubs volunteer and provide significant financial contribution by self-funding work teams and making donations.

Strong working links with local service clubs including Zonta International, Bendigo and support from Lions Club of Bendigo.

AFS Partners in Success Chartered Accountants [Andrew Frewin & Paul Byrne]

Donors – groups, service clubs, businesses and individuals supporting with fundraisers, financial donations, and community based projects (knitting) and donations of goods.

Financial Statements

Refer to Appendix A for the Audited Financial Report for the period ended 30 th June 2015

City of Greater Bendigo Financial support and Section 86 status

It is pleasing to report that the City of Greater Bendigo have reaffirmed the Committee’s status as a special committee pursuant to Section 86 of the Local Government Act 1989. In addition Council has once again given a commitment for a three-year funding arrangement with the provision of $50,000 per annum.

This relied upon funding from Council allows the BMFC to continue the many programs and projects that make a difference to the people of Maubisse.


Emerging Issues

The introduction of Timor Leste government protocols has reinforced the need for friendship relationships to have strong regard for local needs and aspirations. The City of Greater Bendigo and the City of Ballarat have well established friendship groups, both supporting communities situated in the Ainaro District. For this reason, under the auspice of the respective Councils, dialogue has commenced with the Ballarat Friendship Committee to establish a formal relationship to pursue partnerships and collaboration. In the near future it is anticipated both groups will embark on joint programs and projects to support and assist these endeavours.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. City of Greater Bendigo receives the 2015/16 BMFC Annual Report.

2. BMFC and Council acknowledge and express appreciation to the many organizations and individual volunteers identified in this report, who have willingly given time and energy in support of the Maubisse community development, through the Bendigo Maubisse Friendship Committee.

3. The Bendigo Maubisse Friendship Committee, through regular consultation with the Ainaro District and Maubisse Sub District Administration, continue to develop agreed project support for the community of Maubisse.


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