SoroptiVoiceBLOG

This week’s SoroptiVoice blog comes from Florence Brennan, SI South West Pacific ‘zone d’ coordinator (not sure what that means? Click here to read SISWP Federation Programme Director Robyn’s blog to find out!). Here, Florence talks about a project supported by Western Australian Soroptimists in East Timor.

The idea for this project got off the ground in 2009 when WA President Berenice Ritchie became aware of the “Alternative to Schoolies Week” which is run by the Youth Action Kalamunda (YAK) Committee. Berenice also took Kim Kennedy from SI Helena with her to the meeting, and there they met David Roach from Catalpa International.  David, an Australian national, is working in Timor out of the Bakita Centre in Emera province in East Timor.

There are many issues facing the local Timorese people including high maternal and infant mortality rates, poverty, low education, poor nutrition and also environmental issues, to name but a few.  David wanted to help the locals with all sorts of things from health care to education and training and decided to start by establishing a small but significant poultry farm (phase 1), aquaculture pond (phase 2) and small scale kitchen garden (phase 3) to promote income generatation, increase access to nutritional food, encourage new skills amongst the local women, and to help develop a model to inspire other women’s groups around the district. David was invited to speak to the members of SI Helena and the club agreed to help and he put together a proposal for the sustainable farm.

Feto Hemerik Rasik (meaning “women helping each other” in the local language) needed quite a large sum of money to get the project going, so SI Helena invited other WA clubs to join in the project. Now, SI Geraldton, SI Riverside and SI Karratha and Districts have come together to work alongside SI Helena to contribute funds for this project. Many other Western Australia clubs have also contributed much needed items for the Eraulo Ermera community which have been transported to Timor Leste via a container funded by Rotary and the School Teachers Union.

To provide funding for the project Soroptimst clubs held a number of events, including an annual fashion parade and quiz nights. The project was started in July 2010. Stage one has been completed - the chicken farm has been built, chickens purchased and egg production is under way. Stage two is the construction of the fish pond which is also under way. Stage three of the project will be the kitchen garden. The establishment of the poultry farm now enables the ladies to use chicken manure in the garden, provide manure to other local agricultural farmers, and to sell poultry to the local community.

There is no completion date of the project as yet but David is sending photos and updates as the project goes along. So far we have raised over $6400 AUD . This has been a very worthwhile project for the Western Australian clubs that have been involved from its inception.

For more information, visit the Western Australia postings:

http://www.soroptimist-wa.org.au/si-joondalup-east-timor-chicken-project/?show=slide

http://www.soroptimist-wa.org.au/container-to-east-timor/

Florence Brennan

Federation Programme Coordinator Zone D

2010 - 2012