By Matthew Sims
The Rotary Club of Berwick has joined with its Pakenham and Cranbourne sister clubs to learn about how its fundraising efforts have directly contributed to efforts to build new schools and support the Balibo community in Timor-Leste or East Timor.
During a joint meeting on Tuesday 5 December at Cardinia Club, the clubs welcomed Balibo 5 Community Learning Centre (CLC) international liaison Rino Fernandes, Balibo House Trust foundation chair Rob Hudson and Spend It Well director Nandy Gurr.
Rotary Club of Pakenham member and Donations In Kind District 9820 chair Roger Thornton travelled to Timor-Leste three times over a period from 2016 to 2019 to be involved in projects to support the Balibo people.
Rotary Donations In Kind is a major recycling operation, run by volunteers, that gives suitable goods to people in need, for free.
In 1975, the Portuguese colonial rule collapsed followed by a brief declaration of independence in East Timor.
The Indonesian Army then backed a pro-integrationist militia to conduct hit and run attacks against the new government, with their sole goal being to destabilise the country as a pretext for invasion.
Channel 7 sent over a crew consisting of reporter Greg Shackleton, sound recordist Tony Stewart and cameraman Gary Cunningham to cover the political unrest and expected attack on Balibo, while Channel 9 sent over a separate crew consisting of cameraman Brian Peters and reporter Malcolm Rennie.
Early in the morning on 16 October, the Indonesians attacked Balibo, with all five journalists reported missing afterwards and later reported as dead.
Another Australian journalist Roger East was in East Timor several months later, following the story of the men, when he was captured and executed.
Since 2003, the Balibo House Trust has worked to honour the memories of the Balibo 5 by enriching the lives and livelihoods of the Balibo people.
Generally, the trust has delivered strategic capital works and infrastructure which help to establish the foundations of a resilient local economy in Balibó, focusing on education, training, employment and heritage-based tourism.
Mr Hudson said delivering education opportunities to children in Balibo was an essential part of their work.
“This is just incredibly important,” he said.
“It’s all part of developing people’s skills so that they can earn an income.
“The small things that get done are really critical.”
Mr Hudson got emotional during his presenation when he was thanking Rotary for their efforts and donations over the years in supporting the trust.
“Rotary has done so much,” he said.
Mr Fernandes spoke about the initiatives, programs and services which the centre offers, including dental services, English programs, kids movie nights, a women’s centre, water filtration units.
“We are a central distribution point for Rotary donations in the district,” he said.
Mr Fernandes said the CLC team were looking towards refurbishing the Balibo 5 memorial room ahead of the 50th anniversary of their deaths in 2025 and a rebuild of their cafeteria.
He also presented Rotary Club of Pakenham president Ian Wake with a tais – a traditional handwoven cloth.
Spend It Well has been helping deliver education opportunities for children in Timor-Leste since 2009, completing 19 projects, including building desperately needed buildings in existing government schools, often in very remote areas.
For more information about the Balibo House Trust, visit balibohouse.com
