Celebrating 25 years of friendship with Aileu, Baucau and Suai

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us at Coburg Town Hall on 6 May to celebrate 25 years of friendship and solidarity between our communities in Australia and the Timor-Leste municipalities and communities of Aileu, Baucau and Suai. 

The evening began with a powerful and moving Welcome to Country by Uncle Bill Nicholson.

We were honoured to be joined by Kirsty Sword-Gusmão AO as special guest and José Pires as MC and extend our sincere thanks to them and panel members Glenda Lasslett, Glenyys Romanes, and Megs Alston for sharing their insights and stories of friendship.  

A special thank you to Merri-bek, Hume, Darebin, Yarra, and Port Phillip Councils - whose support over the 25 years has been indispensable.  

Friends of Aileu Annual Report 2024

Friends of Aileu Annual Report 2024 was received by Merri-bek and Hume City Councils at meetings in April.

The report provides illustrates the continued success of the friendship relationship with Aileu, and the achievements of our organisational and community partners in Aileu.

A copy of the Annual Report is available from the Project Team or on the Friends of Aileu page of Merri-bek's website.

Friends of Aileu Strategy Plan and Friendship Agreement 2025-2030

At their April meetings, Merri-bek and Hume City Councils also endorsed:

• Friends of Aileu Strategy Plan 2025-2030
• The renewal of the friendship relationship with a new Friendship Agreement (Merri-bek - Hume - Aileu) 2025-2030

Copies of the documents are available from the Project Team or on the Friends of Aileu page of Merri-bek's website.

The Friendship Agreement will be signed by the Timor-Leste Minister for State Administration, and by the Aileu Municipal President and the Aileu Friendship Commission Secretary (shown together in photo to left) during the Friends of Aileu delegation's visit in July this year.

Visit to Aileu July 2025

The Project Officer has been assisting the Australia Timor-Leste Friendship Network in its work with Timor-Leste Ministry of State Administration to develop the program for a 2-day Friendship Conference on 10 & 11 July.

Hume Mayor Cr Jarrod Bell, Community Committee member Richard Brown, Kose Nehan working group member Dr John Rogers and the Project Officer Chris Adams will visit Aileu before the conference to catch up with friends, partners and projects, including holding discussions on the next stage of the Kose Nehan oral health education project.

Grassroots Gathering 2025:    A powerful celebration of culture & solidarity

This year’s Grassroots Gathering was another huge success, with more than 400 attendees and $3,500 raised in support of youth-led sustainability and arts initiatives in Timor-Leste.

With an all-Indigenous line-up spanning the Pacific and beyond, the event was a vibrant celebration of resistance, resilience, and connection through culture.

Our heartfelt thanks to the artists who brought their stories, rhythms, and strength to the stage:

• Yirrmal and Braj, and Ben –
  First Nations

• Dili Allstars and Chico & Xavi – Timor-Leste

• The Black Sistaz and Koteka Wenda – West Papua

• YARA – Palestine

• Waiata Takatāpui – Aotearoa

• Waka Viti and Miki – Fiji

It was a day of powerful performances, cross-cultural solidarity, deep community spirit, and fun, including dancing in the rain!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to such a successful day!

International PermaYouth Convergence 2025, Timor-Leste

The Project Team and the Friends of Aileu Community Committee invite interested young people from our communities to participate with Aileu youth in the 1st International PermaYouth Convergence.

Where: Fatuquero, Ermera

When: 20 to 25 October

This 6-day event, co-hosted by Permatil Global (Australia), Permatil (Timor-Leste) and the PermaYouth Association of Timor-Leste, will focus on developing environmental and leadership skills, based around the theme of Planting Water, Growing Communities.

Attendees will camp on-site, participate in permaculture practice, learn from one another, share stories, make friendships and become part of a global youth network of future caretakers of our planet.

Please contact us by email to enquire about further details and to register your interest in participating in PermaYouth Convergence 2025.

Webinar: Timor-Leste & The Art of Peace

When:  12:00 pm - 1:30 pm (EST) Friday 6 June

Where: on-line (to register scan the QR code below left)

Don't miss this opportunity to hear from Curtin University's Dr Vannessa Hearman, guests and colleagues as they explore the power of creativity to advance human rights and well-being - featuring fieldwork, stories and insights from Timor-Leste.

The other featured speakers are:

• Professor Kit Meesham-Muir, Curtin University
• Celco da Fonseca, UNTL
• Assoc. Prof. Ophascharas Nandawan, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology and the ASEAN Universities Network

The Melbourne East Timorese Activity Centre (METAC) monthly welcome dinner: Stories of Timorese Australians

This event, sponsored in this month by Friends of Aileu, brings together Timorese community members and friends in an informal setting.

When: 7 - 10 pm, Friday 6 June

Where: The Factory, Belgium Ave, Richmond (NOT Broadmeadows Community as previously advertised)

Entry by donation to METAC

Speakers:

• Dr Vannessa Hearman, Curtin University: Researching East Timorese stories of migration and return after independence
• Jose da Costa: Marking the 30th anniversary of the daring escape from occupied Timor-Leste on the Tasi Diak
• Chico Lakadou (Chico & Xavi), Carla Chung and Aderito Santos: Sharing their own stories

First of a series of Library Talks on the remarkable story of Timor-Leste:  CAVR / Chega!

When: 6 - 8 pm, Thursday 24 July

Where: Broadmeadows Library, Tanderrum Way, off Pascoe Vale Road, Broadmeadows

Guest speaker: Pat Walsh, OTL, AM

East Timor, Reconciliation 20 years on: Years after the handover of the momentous CAVR truth commission report in 2005, Indonesia and Australia continue to ignore its findings. 

Music and stories from Chico Lakadou (Chico and Xavi)

Free event with light refreshments

Please book here

Timorese Association in Victoria: A celebration of 50 years of community life in Victoria

During 2025, Victoria's East Timorese community is celebrating 50 years of community life in Australia, which began with the arrival of the first East Timorese refugees in Darwin in August 1975.

The major activity of the Timorese Association in Victoria (TAV) and the Melbourne East Timorese Activity Centre (METAC) for these celebrations will be a photographic exhibition Lao Rai / Our Journey, to be launched at a community dinner and cultural evening on the 26th anniversary of the 1999 Popular Consultation.

When: 7 pm - 12 am, Saturday 30 August

Where: Collingwood Town Hall, 140 Hoddle St, Collingwood

More details to come

Friends of Aileu annual Trivia Quiz fundraiser for the Aileu scholarship program

When: 7 - 10 pm, Friday 3 October

Where: Coburg Town Hall, 90 Bell St, Coburg

MC: Brian Nankervis

Don't miss the fun and excitement of the annual trivia quiz.

Your support is invaluable in helping maintain the Aileu Scholarship Program from year to year.

More details to come

The Australian Chocolate Festival by Bean to Bar Makers 

Calling all chocolate lovers!  

On Sunday 21 July, as part of the Australian Chocolate Festival, a special guest chocolate maker from Timor-Leste will be joining!  

S.O.T. – Sweets of Timor, an ethical Timorese chocolate brand, will be sharing their story and showcasing their delicious bean-to-bar chocolate alongside more than 40 exhibitors from around the world. 

Come along to meet the maker, learn about sustainable cacao production, and taste some truly special chocolate.

When: Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 July, 10 am - 1 pm & 2 pm - 5 pm

Where: Seaworks Maritime Precinct, 82 Nelson Place, Williamstown 

Tickets available now: www.austchocfest.com 

Please share amongst fellow
East-Timorese and friends of Timor-Leste. 

Aileu Municipality

See the video at left for a short overview of some of the attractions of Aileu Rai Furak (Aileu the Beautiful Land).

Over recent years, the initiative and work of individuals and businesses, with the support of government, has seen an increase in the number and quality of visitor services. 

Aileu Resource and Training Centre

Natalia, Joaninho and the team at ARTC continue their work with the community, including IT training and other educational courses and the ongoing development of the Kadalak Dame garden project.

As well as producing a wide variety of fresh vegetables and fruit for local consumption, the work at Kadalak Dame is bringing-in some much-needed income for the Centre through sales at the Aileu market and in Dili.

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

Make an online 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

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, which also serves a delicious and ever evolving menu.

Purchase Wild Timor Coffee

When you purchase Wild Timor Coffee from Friends of Aileu, 100% of our profit ($8.50 from each pack) goes towards supporting the community development activities of our partners 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, Coburg
• The East Timor Project Team, in Merri-bek's Community Wellbeing Department and Hume's Community Capacity Building Team.

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, including how you can be involved, you may contact the Project Officer.