On Monday 7 April 2003, a forum was held at the University of Melbourne to discuss the Friendship Schools Project being established by the Alola Foundation. Councils with friendship relationships with East Timor were invited to attend, along with representatives from some of the primary and secondary schools in each municipality. Amongst the guests were Xanana Gusmao, Kevin Bailey, Abel Gutterres and Kirsty Sword Gusmao, who presented an overview of the project. Other speakers included Heather Ridge, principal of Eaglehawk Primary School, which has a relationship with Balibar Primary School, near Dili.
The establishment of friendship relationships between schools, initially from Victoria, is seen as a means of addressing the chronic problem of resourcing and equipping schools in East Timor, and helping to restore school buildings and infrastructure, 80-90% of which were completely or partially destroyed during the militia violence. As with the existing friendship relationships, building linkages and understanding at community level is also a very important feature.
The following extract from the handout from the Friendship Schools project indicates how the project is intended to operate.
Initially the Friendship Schools project will recruit schools from within communities in the State of Victoria which have a pre-existing relationship with a town or area in East Timor and link them with an appropriate school in that part of East Timor. Seventeen city councils and communities have established a friendship relationship with a district centre or other town in East Timor.
The Alola Foundation will assist interested Australian schools to identify an appropriate partner school in East Timor. It will then facilitate communication between the two schools and assist with the delivery of material assistance. It will also provide participating Australian schools with:
A similar resource kit will be developed for East Timorese schools. The kit for Australian schools is anticipated to cost around $45.
It is intended that the Alola Foundation will establish a Melbourne office to help facilitate communications and oversee the project.
The forum offered much promise for the establishment of meaningful and productive relationships between schools and their communities, with the opportunity to make a difference to the lives of young East Timorese while also enriching the lives of young Australians here.
Heather Ridge, principal of Eaglehawk Primary School was quite inspiring when she spoke of the flow on benefits to the children and parents in Eaglehawk, with the project contributing to community building in a difficult socio-economic area, by providing a focus for the women in particular to meet and work together. While the project is intended to facilitate the channelling of much needed resources, it has the dual purpose of promoting understanding and empathy as well as encouraging young Australians to value their lives and opportunities.
Eaglehawk PS was the school attended as a child by Kirsty Sword Gusmao; her father was principal and her mother a teacher at the school.
Friends of Same has since been contacted by a number of schools interested in participating in the Friendship Schools Project and/or Friends of Same, in addition to links already being developed by St Michael's Primary School in Ashburton (coordinated by John Nihill).
All schools received notification of the forum, and this together with the recent distribution of information relating to Friends of Same and the Coffee Project by Kevin Bain, and publicity associated the schools project and with the visit of Xanana Gusmao, has created increased awareness of activities relating to East Timor.
At this stage it is intended that Friends of Same will meet with interested schools and help oversee the development of the Friendship relationship through the Alola Foundation, in the interests of coordination and ensuring we are aware of the range of activities involving the Same sub-district.
Kate Gillespie-Jones