Initiative of the Timor Leste Committee

St Augustine’s College Kyabram and Parish have established what we hope will be a long-term partnership with organisations in Aileu, East Timor. This partnership has been discussed at a Pastoral Council Meeting and has been approved by Fr. Morley. The East Timor Committee has begun planning and fund raising to support small projects in Aileu.

The projects have been organized here in Australia and will be directed in East Timor by Australian Sister Mary-Anne Dwyer. Sister Mary-Anne has been working in Aileu District for the past seven years. Sister Mary-Anne is an Australian Sister of Mercy originally from Ballarat.

The first project our school and Parish will be supporting is the Fahira Chapel Project.  Fahira Chapel is a newly build chapel 40min walk from Aileu Village. The chapel is empty inside consisting only of one small cement altar. There are no church pews, bookstands or any other furnishings. The Parish Priest, Fr. Albino, holds regular Mass services where all parish members come to church and sit on the dirt floor.

Our school and Parish have committed to raising $2500 to furnish the chapel. The furniture will be constructed by local Aileu men who work at the disabled workshop in Aileu. St. Augustine’s College and Parish has begun fundraising for this project and plan to have the Chapel fully furnished by September this year.

Sr. Mary-Anne Dwyer, our contact person in Aileu, also operates a local ‘boarding home’ in Aileu called ISMAIK. This is a house where students are able to board during their secondary education. In small mountain villages of East Timor there are no secondary schools, therefore students must travel to larger villages to receive a secondary education. If they do not have extended family living in a larger village then that child may never go to secondary school.

Girls from ISMAIK boarding home.

ISMAIK (Insituti Secular Maun Alin Iba Kristo) has nineteen girls boarding within its walls. The accommodation is free, but sister Mary-Anne makes the girls work hard to earn their keep.  They tend to the rice fields and vegetable gardens, working hard to harvest produce to eat and sell at the local market. After finishing secondary education some students will go to university in Dili. During this time they still board at ISMAIK Aileu, two hours drive from Dili .  At university the students need modern technology such as USB drives and laptop computers. Many of these students come from very poor families or are orphans, they can not afford to purchase these expensive modern needs.

The East Timor Committee is currently seeking donations of USB drives to donate to University students in Dili.  These donations will be given to Australian Sister Mary-Anne Dwyer. Donations of USB’s are urgently needed and would be greatly appreciated by ISMAIK. St Augustine’s College has agreed to donate used laptops to two ISMAIK students studying Journalism at Dili University.


Any suggestions of possible fundraising ideas are welcome. Donations can be made to St. Augustine's Kyabram Parish Pastoral Council members Rebecca Morrisey or Lee Pethybridge or St. Mary's Rushworth Parish Pastoral Council members Ian Paterson or Chantelle Bell. 

St. Joseph the Worker - Fahira, East Timor. 

Side view of St. Joseph the Worker.

Inside St. Joseph the Worker.