St Vincent de Paul’s Berwick region secretary Bill Murphy with one of the many beds the organisation has made for East Timorese orphans.A BERWICK organisation is working hard to give a group of East Timorese orphans a brighter future.
St Vincent de Paul volunteers have recently built 60 bunk beds for the orphanage, which is home to about 150 young children.
The beds will soon be stacked into containers and shipped over to Baguia, seven hours from the country’s capital Dili.
St Vincent de Paul’s Berwick branch will also send over mattresses and other urgently needed items such as kitchen utilities, towels and bedding, as well as 100 desks and chairs for the school attached to the orphanage.
Former regional president of St Vincent de Paul Trevor Scott started the project and said the organisation was keen to enhance the life opportunities of the young children who lived in the orphanage and those living in neighbouring villages.
Mr Scott said volunteers were also working to help upgrade facilities at the orphanage school and to develop a food service for the local villagers, particularly for the women and children who were very undernourished and only ate once a day.
Last year St Vincent de Paul and associated church parishes organised a charity concert, which raised $9500 for the orphanage.
Mr Scott said this year’s project had also been well supported by parishes from Berwick, Narre Warren, Langwarrin, Pakenham, Kooweerup and Hampton Park.
He said members of the Young Vinnies, the youth branch of St Vincent de Paul, would get the chance to travel to East Timor and see first-hand how their work was helping the young orphans.
“I hope they do get to go over and see another culture first-hand and how their work is helping. It would be a very rewarding experience,” Mr Scott said.
Anyone wanting to donate items to the Berwick branch of St Vincent de Paul for the orphanage project can contact Mr Scott on 0418 364 270.
