Friends of Aileu Strategy Planning Workshop

When: 12 pm - 4 pm, Saturday 23 November 

Where: Bagung-bulok Room (Concert Hall), Merri-bek Civic Centre, Coburg (Urquhart St entry)

Please register for this free event

An opportunity for you to provide your input to help set directions for the Friends of Aileu for the coming 5 years.

Facilitator: Michael Henry, Managing Director at The Strategy Shop.

Light lunch provided from 12 pm.

The workshop will commence promptly at 12:30pm with a short address by Jose Pires.

Afternoon break refreshments provided.

For details, please email the Project Officer

Timorese Community Celebration and Fundraiser:  In The Spirit of Togetherness

When: 6:30 pm - 12 am Saturday 16 November

Where:  Coburg Town Hall, 90 Bell St, Coburg (parking at the rear off Urquhart St)

Tickets:  $25, concessions available, children under 10 free

Book Now

Celebrate the journey of Melbourne's Timorese community in Australia, from the first refugees arriving in Darwin in 1975 to the present.

Join the Timorese Association in Victoria (TAV), the Melbourne East Timorese Activity Centre (METAC) and friends of Timor-Leste to support the re-activation of the TAV and preparations for next year's celebration of the Timorese community's 50 years in Australia.

Supper provided, you may BYO food to share

Alcohol at bar prices (No BYOG)

Tea, coffee and soft drinks provided

An open invitation from METAC and TAV to:

• Connect with Melbourne's Timorese Community and friends
• Enjoy Timorese music, song, dance and drumming
• Hear about plans for celebrating the 50-year journey of Timorese who've made Australia their home.

Fawkner Festa

When: 11 am - 3 pm, Sunday 17 November 

Where: CB Smith Reserve, Jukes Rd, Fawkner

Join the Friends of Aileu at Merri-bek's Fawkner Festa, featuring free stage entertainment, community stalls, a youth zone at the skate park, delicious food, and interactive workshops.

Let's come together to celebrate the heart of our Fawkner community.

Keep up to date on the Fawkner Festa

Coburg Night Market

When: Friday 13, Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 December, with Friends of Aileu being present:

• 5 pm - 10:30 pm, Friday 13 Dec.
• 12 pm - 10:30 pm, Saturday 14 Dec.

Where: Bridges Reserve, Bell St, Coburg

Join the Friends of Aileu at Merri-bek's Coburg Night Market, a highlight of summer in Melbourne’s north.

It’s a celebration of community where families, young and old, come to enjoy food, music, family activities, and unique local products in the iconic Bridges Reserve.

Keep up to date on the Coburg Night Market

A recent visit to Aileu

In August, Aoife Carli Hannan, our Project Administration Support Officer at Friends of Aileu, visited Dili and Aileu following a personal trip to Timor-Leste. During her time there, she reconnected with key friends and project partners to discuss ongoing initiatives and strengthen relationships.

One of the highlights of her trip was meeting with the President of Aileu Municipality and several directors and managers from the Aileu Municipal Authority. Aoife also engaged with the Aileu Friendship Commission and had the opportunity to speak with both former and current scholarship recipients supported by Friends of Aileu. She visited the Aileu Municipal Youth Centre, the Aileu Resource and Training Centre, and other civil society organisations, gaining insights into their work and the challenges they face.

In Dili, Aoife met with Ego Lemos from PERMATIL, Victoria from the Alola Foundation, and Upe and Nori from HAK, a leading human rights NGO. A notable meeting was with Bella Galhos, who currently serves as an advisor to the President of Timor-Leste.

While in Dili, Aoife observed several city-wide preparations for the arrival of the Pope, including large-scale cleanups and the creation of new public gardens. She also noted that residents living on government-owned land along the beachfront in Tasi Tolu and near the river were being evicted, with homes being cleared in preparation for demolition.

Planting Water to improve living conditions in Aileu's rural villages

 Over 200 young men and women from 29 sub-villages, representing most of Aileu's 33 villages, attended a successful PermaYouth Camp in Remexio, Aileu, in June 2023.

Over the last 12 to 18 months, these young people have been applying what they learnt about water and soil conservation and conservation agriculture, with support from Friends of Aileu through the Aileu Anan Association, the Aileu University Students Association, Permatil and the PermaYouth Association of Timor-Leste.

They have been working with elected and traditional leaders and community members in their home villages revegetating areas near the springs and small streams which they rely on for their only source of water and constructing water retention ponds to recharge the groundwater that feeds these springs and streams.

Initial monitoring of the springs and streams has indicated a rapid improvement in water availability, especially during the dry season.

We will be sponsoring more young people from other sub-village in Aileu to participate in the next PermaYouth Camp, planned for October 2024, after which they too will join the Permatil / PermaYouth Association nation-wide movement of Planting Water for their communities. 

The Aileu Resource and Training Centre needs your help

Friends of Aileu has partnered with the Aileu Resource and Training Centre (ARTC) since its establishment in 2005, supporting its community development work in education and training, traditional culture, agriculture, and land and water conservation.

Until June this year, ARTC had the use of Aileu's historic Biblioteka (formerly an Administration building during the Portuguese and Indonesian periods and later a library) as a secure and convenient base for its operations.

The Biblioteka is now being re-purposed for use by the Aileu Municipal Authority. 

The ARTC has recently had to relocate at short notice to alternative premises, which require extensive repairs to make them secure and suitable for office and program spaces.

Despite the interruption caused by the relocation, Natalia, Joaninho and the ARTC team continue their excellent work. In late August they were invited to participate in the Ministry of Agriculture sponsored fair in Dili marking the 25th anniversary of the 1999 Popular Consultation, where the ARTC's Kadalak Dame project won first prize in the local produce category.

Please consider making a donation to help the ARTC repair and renovate its new premises and to support its ongoing programs.

Any donation will be most appreciated and will be well used by our friends at the ARTC.

You can donate via the Give Now button in the section below.

Merri-bek City Council - Friends of Aileu is registered as a fundraiser with Consumer Affairs Victoria.

You can read more about the Wild Timor Coffee story here and, if you're in the vicinity, drop by the Wild Timor Coffee Cafe at 282 Sydney Road, Coburg.

Make an on-line donation

You may now donate on-line to Friends of Aileu, and support the community development work of our partners in Aileu, via the Give Now platform managed by the not-for-profit social enterprise ourcommunity.com.au

Purchase Wild Timor Coffee

When you purchase Wild Timor Coffee from Friends of Aileu, 100% of the profits ($6.50 from each pack) goes towards supporting our community development projects in Aileu.

Caffeinate for a good cause with delicious, ethical, iconic single-origin Wild Timor Coffee.

From crop to cup, these coffee beans are grown organically under ancient shade trees in the rural village of Belumhato, Aileu, ethically purchased direct from the growers and freshly roasted in Melbourne.

You can purchase freshly roasted whole beans or ground coffee from the Customer Service Counter at the Merri-bek Civic Centre in Coburg, or from the Project Team, which is part of Merri-bek's Community Wellbeing Department.

You may contact us by email to order your coffee in advance.

About the Friends of Aileu Community Committee and how you can be involved

In the video to the left, Anne Jungwirth and Chico Dos Santos, volunteer members of the Friends of Aileu Community Committee, share some thoughts on what our friendship relationship with Aileu means to them.

To find out more about the friendship relationship, and how you can be involved, you may contact the Project Officer.