Photograph: Nic Cleary

Graham Romanes 2023 Exhibition and Sale of Beads and African Treasures

When: Saturday 2 December, 10am-5pm Where:  9/27 Hodgson St, Brunswick (enter from 22 Grey St, door code 927)

Enjoy a 30% discount or donate your discount to: WellWishers village water program in Ethiopia or Friends of Aileu projects in Aileu, Timor Leste.

Click here for more details

Timor-Leste Community Mass with Melbourne Timorese Community Choir 

When: Sunday 3 December, 3pm     Where: St Patricks Cathedral, Cathedral Place, Melbourne

Please bring a plate and stay for refreshments afterwards.

Friendship Forum

When: Monday 4 December, 7pm (AEDST) Where: On-line over Zoom

All Friendship Group members and other people connected to Timor-Leste tare invited to join us on the evening of Monday 4th December at 7pm (Melb/Syd time) for a ZOOM Forum to share news from Timor-Leste.

Zoom Link and details of speakers to be published soon.

Merri-bek Carols by Candlelight

When: Saturday 9 December, 5pm-9pm
Where: Coburg Lake Reserve, Murray Rd

Friends of Aileu is excited to return to the Coburg Carols night.

Please contact us if you would like to volunteer to join our stall for part of the evening. 

Let's celebrate another year of friendship!

When: Tuesday 12 December, 6:00pm Where: Bunjil Room (Council Chambers), Merri-bek Civic Centre

Please join the Friends of Aileu Community Committee for a supper and informal meeting to celebrate another year of friendship, and to have a chat about our priorities for 2024 and beyond.

Merri-bek Coburg Night Market

When: Friday 15 December, 5pm-10:30pm
Where: Bridges Reserve, Bell St, Coburg

The Coburg Night Market is a fantastic opportunity to talk to members of the community about the great work we do at Friends of Aileu. 

Please contact us if you would like to volunteer to join our stall for part of the evening. 

Timor Cup 2023-24 in Hume

Dates: 27 December 2023 - 13 January 2024

Matches are scheduled to take place in Hume, at Barrymore Reserve, Greenvale, and John Ilhan Memorial Reserve, Meadow Heights, with a Community Day on Saturday 6 January.

The tournament will bring together East-Timorese from across the globe, with teams from Timor-Leste, Australia, United Kingdom-Ireland and New Zealand.

The organising committee anticipates the presence of several distinguished guests from Timor-Leste.

More details to come!

Photographs: Lisan Ferguson 

Ceres Gathering for Aileu 2024

When: Sunday 25 February 2024
Where: CERES Environment Park, Brunswick East

A great way to start off the year with music, dance, art, food, drinks and much more.

Have an enjoyable afternoon while helping raise funds to support Friends of Aileu partner organisations provide learning and development opportunities for children and young men and women, including in art and culture, and permaculture and conservation agriculture.

More details to come!

The delegation and its objectives

A delegation comprising Hume Councillors Joseph Haweil and Naim Kurt and Merri-bek Councillor Mark Riley visited Timor-Leste between 15 and 21 October (first two photos). 

The councillors were accompanied by Project Officer Christopher Adams, who arrived in Dili (second two photos) a few days earlier on 12 October.

The objectives of the delegation included to:

• Strengthen personal and organisational relationships with our friendship partner organisations
• Experience first-hand the changing situation in Timor-Leste and Aileu
• Better understand the developing roles, responsibilities and capabilities of our partners
• Assess the outcomes from our support for Aileu and appreciate current and emerging priorities for the friendship relationship.

The delegation was given a formal welcome by the Municipal Administration with a traditional dance and drumming performance (second last photo), and a send-off dinner at the Youth Centre's Uma Dame (Peace House) with a choir and traditional dance group (last photo).

Petr Svoboda, of Merri-bek's Community Development and Social Policy team, and his son Hugo joined the delegation for part of the time in Dili and Aileu.

We were once again well served by driver, guide and general fixer Alto Pinto of Green Mountain Tours and Driver.

Delegation activities in Dili 

While in Dili, the delegation members visited the National Parliament in session, and met with:

• Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao (first photo)

• Mr Abilio Caetano, advisor to the Minister for State Administration, and the National Director for Capacity and Cooperation (second photo)

• Ms Suzy Wilson-Uilelea, Deputy Head of Mission Australian Embassy (third photo)

• Jose de Sousa, Australian Volunteers International Country Manager.

These meetings reinforced the high value placed on active friendship relationships such as that between Merri-bek, Hume and Aileu.

The Project Officer also met with:

• PERMATIL founder Ego Lemos
• Aileu Friendship Commission Secretary Jose Valente and University Scholarship Program recipients (second last photo)
• Aileu Anan Association President Abilio de Araujo and others, including several young leaders from Aileu.

The delegation members rounded off the trip with:

• Walks around town and to the Cristo Rei statue
• Visits to the Santa Cruz cemetery (last photo), Dili Cathedral, Dili Mosque, Old Palacio Governo, Centro Nasional Chega and the Resistance Museum and Archive.

Delegation activities in Aileu 

On the way to Aileu the delegation stopped by at the:

• Dare WWII memorial and cafe
• Laulara Administrative Post and the Laulara Birthing Centre (first photo)
• New Aileu PermaYouth Training Centre, managed by Remexio Youth Group KJLO, with support from the Aileu Anan Association and PERMATIL (second photo)
• Seloi Craik lake and agriculture area.

In Aileu the delegation met with the:

• Aileu Municipal Administrator Mr Abel de Conceicao, and Municipal Directors, Managers and staff (third photo)
• Aileu Friendship Commission (fourth photo)
• Municipal Departments of Agriculture and Health, including a visit to the Aileu Municipal Hospital and Health Centre
• Aileu Resource and Training Centre staff (fifth photo) and visited the Kadalak Dame garden project (sixth photo)
• Uma Ita Nian Clinic, St Francis Assisi disability workshop (second last photo)
• Maryknoll Sisters' Grupu Suku iha Aileu sewing group and Hakbiit Inan nia Moris agriculture group
• Aileu Municipal Youth Centre, who provided a pre-departure meal with delightful performances by a choir and traditional dance group.

These meetings again reinforced the high value placed on the friendship relationship.

Key areas of focus for friendship assistance over the coming period were confirmed as:

• Human Resource development, including tertiary scholarships for study areas of priority for Aileu
• Community Health and Agriculture, with cross-cutting objectives of improving access to clean water and addressing malnutrition.

The delegation members also visited the:

• Aileu Market
• Aileu Municipal Waste dump site and the newly constructed transfer station in Suco Lausi
• Ai-Kleuk historic and traditional site (last photo) in Suku Liurai.

In Aileu the delegation members stayed at Dili Vanilli farm and homestay and Projectu Montanha.

Community Democracy: Suku (Village) Elections 2023

Timor-Leste municipalities such as Aileu are gradually taking on responsibility for more service delivery functions.

Since 2002 the 13 municipalities have been functioning as administrative branches of the national government's Ministry of State Administration.  The municipalities have not yet been constituted as responsible elected local government councils, however, Community Consultative Committees are in place to provide advice the the municipal administrations.

Community democracy is, however, alive and well in Timor-Leste, with elections at the Village and Sub-Village level having been held in 2002, 2009, 2016 and now in 2023 - first and second photos show STAE electoral officers managing voting at the suku elections.

Elections were held on Saturday 28 October, for for the Village and Sub-village Heads (Chefe) and the Community Councils of the 498 Sukus (Villages) and the more than 2,300 Aldeias (Sub-villages or Hamlets) across Timor-Leste.

In Aileu there are 33 Sukus and 139 Aldeais and five women have nominated the candidature for Chefe - second last photo.

There are and these elections will decide the community leadership for the period of 2023 - 2030. 

Each Suku and Aldeia Councils will then select a traditional elder (Lia Nian) - last photo, and a youth representative from the community.

In several cases, where a candidate for Chefe didn't receive over 50% of the vote on 28 October, a second-round run-off election was held on 13 November.

National Youth Day and the Commemoration of the Santa Cruz Massacre 

Sunday 12 November was a very important day in Timor-Leste with the commemoration of the 1991 Santa Cruz Massacre. In recognising the important role of young people in the struggle for Timor-Leste's independence, 12 November is designated as National Youth Day.

During the tumultuous years leading up to Timor-Leste's independence, young people played important roles in various aspects of the resistance movement. They were instrumental in disseminating information, organising protests, and mobilising communities. Many joined clandestine networks, risking their lives to challenge oppressive forces and advocate for justice and self-determination.

In Aileu, the 32nd National Youth Day was observed with various events, including youth seminars held in each Sub-district (Postu) and also in some villages.

The events aimed to both honour the resilience of the resistance fighters and pay tribute to the lives lost during the resistance movement, and to focus on the future of young people in Aileu.

These images show young people in Aileu participating in remembrance activities. 

Pre-School Graduation in Aileu

The Directorate of Education Services of the municipality of Aileu held a graduation ceremony for graduates from Pre-School Fuan Domin-Aileu.

Pictured are a number of students graduating from pre-school ready to commence primary school next year. 

Photo is of Chico and Xavi Dos Santos performing commemoration songs. Chico also shared his story from the day of the Santa Cruz Massacre.

METAC November Welcome Dinner

Friends of Aileu sponsored a METAC Dinner at Glenroy Community Hub on Friday 3 November. 

We had a delicious East-Timorese dinner prepared by Virginia, Eugenia and other talented individuals.

We were joined by Alfred Pires who shared a presentation on the Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund.

We were also very fortunate to have the Melbourne Timorese Choir share wonderful songs in Tetum. 

Thank you to everyone who came and contributed to the event - it was a big success. 

Honouring The Struggle: The Santa Cruz Massacre 30 years on

On Thursday 16 November, friends of Timor-Leste gathered at Trade Hall at an AETA organised event to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the Santa Cruz Massacre. 

The event was also the launch of Professor Michael Leach's latest work 'Santa Cruz Massacre ,1991: 30 Years On'.

Messages of friendship

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.

Did you know we sell Wild Timor coffee? 

When you purchase Wild Timor coffee from Friends of Aileu 100% of the profits go towards supporting our community development projects.

From crop to cup - these coffee beans are grown organically under ancient shade trees in Belumhato, Aileu.

Purchase now from the Customer Service Desk at Coburg Town Hall or contact us directly at friendsofaileu@merri-bek.vic.gov.au or email Chris or Aoife. 

Caffeinate for a good cause every morning with these delicious, organic and ethically grown coffee beans from our friends in Aileu.