By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
THE former First Lady of East Timor made a special visit to the City of Casey last month to speak to the Friends of Ermera and the local community.
Melbourne-born Kirsty Sword Gusmao, who was married to the former President and Prime Minister of East Timor Xanana Gusmao for 15 years, was the guest of honour at the special presentation held on 14 August at the Narre Warren council chambers and hosted by Casey Mayoress Kay Morland.
Ms Gusmao, who was recently awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in acknowledgement of her many years fighting for East Timor’s independence, told guests she had been “struck” by how the focus of the Friends of Ermera aligned “almost perfectly” with the work of the Alola Foundation.
Ms Gusmao set up the foundation in 2001 to raise awareness of the widespread sexual violence against women and girls in Timor-Leste during militia attacks in 1999.
“Education underpins every single development challenge that Timor-Leste faces today,” Ms Gusmao said.
“And girls’ education is, I believe, of fundamental importance to the future prosperity and well-being of the East Timorese people.
“As the saying goes, “when you educate a man, you educate a man, but when you educate a woman, you educate an entire community.
“Some may dispute this, but the fact is that there is a very direct and positive correlation between levels of education of girls and women in a society and the health and well-being of families.”
Ms Gusmao also made special mention of the Friends of Ermera’s contribution to early childhood development in East Timor.
“Given the dearth of learning materials in schools, Friends of Ermera’s work in the field of resource development is very welcome indeed,” Ms Gusmao said.
“I myself have had the privilege of working over the past 12 months with the team within the Ministry of Education charged with developing a new primary curriculum and related resources.”
Friends of Ermera member Jan Tresize congratulated Ms Gusmao for being “an inspiration to the people of Timor Leste and to many in the international community who are supporting the Timorese to build their new nation.”
