Visit to Balibo in Timor Leste
I visited Balibo in June along with Geoff and Di Double, Roger Thornton, Greg Peck (RC Pakenham), Doug Hemmingway (RC Port Melbourne) and David Dippie (RC Keilor and Donations in Kind).
As you may be aware, our Club has been part of some amazing things in the Balibo area. We have been part of creating a Dental Clinic within the Balibo House building and fitting out a Convention Centre which was built through funding by the Victorian Government. Our Club has been actively involved with Donations in Kind pickups (some of which are now in Balibo) and also purchasing exercise books, pens and pencils for overseas schools. Sounds pretty cool don't you think, but are we making a difference?
Short answer is YES! Everything that we have put money towards and the help we have given has been gratefully received and most of all appreciated beyond belief. Timor Leste is a young country. There are not a lot of older people as most were killed in recent conflicts. They are working hard to rebuild their country and are very proud of it! Many countries and many charities are also helping Timor Leste rebuild. They have a mammoth task ahead from infrastructure to education and health. Rotary is only one in a sea of helpers but we have been recognised which is great to see.
Our group was made up of 4 Clubs over 2 Rotary Districts. Part of our "bonding" was to discuss the Rotary model and what Rotary meant personally to us based on each of our own experiences. I think we all agreed (generally) that Clubs worked in isolation to other clubs instead of sharing resources. Of course, we work with RC Pakenham and other clubs, but what we observed in Timor Leste was small Rotary groups working in isolation, not collaboration.Another thing we observed was the intricate need to work with other groups to get projects done. So for this area, there is the Balibo Trust, Donations in Kind, Spend it Well (Local Building contractor), Palms (a very important volunteer group that run Balibo House), the local village Chief, 20 different Rotary Clubs (Aus and NZ) mostly supplying funds, local manufactures/ small business, the Education Department, the Health Services Department and the Timorese Government, just to start.
To bring that back to the Rotary Club of Berwick on a local level, we could learn a few things about the effective use of resources and contacts.
Rotary is still one of the few organisations that give the broadest range of opportunities for members to help people in need. I'm pretty happy to be a Rotarian. I have seen what Rotary can do!
David Button
