Friends of Suai

Connections across the Timor Sea 1941-2010 was an exhibition put together by the Friends of Suai as the first of a range activities planned to celebrate ten years of friendship with Suai. The exhibition was mounted  in partnership with local filmmaker Jen Hughes, artist Liz Milsom photographer Richard Jones and the Suai Youth Centre.

Held from mid-May to mid-June the exhibition included a video installation by Jen Hughes, Watercolours, letters, artefacts by Sgt George Milsom and Photographs by Suai youth.  It was opened by Abel Guterres, Timor-Leste Ambassador to Australia.

Jen Hughes has been following the Friends of Suai friendship and documenting it since December 1999. In her video titled ‘Unforgettable Selections from a Friendship’. Jen took the opportunity to bring some of that experience to the audience and highlight some of the art of Suai youth documented in the streets of Suai, or on canvas, in workshops and on-line using new media tools in suaimediaspace.ning.com. George Milsom is the father of Port Phillip local artist Liz Milsom, who is a member of the Friends of Suai. George Milsom enlisted in the army and became a member of the 2/40th Battalion, that travelled to Kupan in Dutch Timor on the 8th December 1941. He later joined the 2/2nd battalion in East Timor. You can read more about him here. The photographs in the exhibition were taken by Suai youth in a photography workshop with Richard Jones in Suai in 2009 which is documented here.

Today we sent 10 laptops to the dock from the Council of Port Phillip. They are very much needed so it will be a good resource for IT Covalima.

InfoXchange Australia (Andrew Mahar)  have agreed to ship 100 computers and flat screens in the shipment with the Ute.

Glenda from IWDA is on her way to Dili and Suai for a monitoring visit. Jane Crouch is also heading to Suai leading the resumed Intrepid tour, the first for 2010. She will meet with Alberto about tourism whilst she is in town.

At a meeting of the Council of Port Phillip in May an extension to the Friendship Agreement with Suai was agreed to in principal.

palms on truck-desktop (download video 1.8MB)

The trusty four wheel drive ute that was the first gift of Port Phillip Council to the people of Suai has been retired. Left is a photograph of it doing its second task for the people of Suai. This photograph was taken when it was being used for the second time, when it was carrying palm fronds collected by locals to the grounds of Our Lady of Fatima School to provide shade for the First Anniversary of the Massacre in September 6, 2000. The first task was driving  a delegation of people from Dili to Suai following the Dili Congress in August 2000. And yours truly was on board with her first camera.  The photo below is next to Luna Park in March 2000 at the Launch of the Friends of Suai. The symbol of the friendship for ten years was mended and rehabilitated a couple of times over the past ten years at great cost, until last year when it became obvious it had reached its retirement age.In the meantime the Friends of Suai team have used motor bikes and have often been lent the Suai Youth Centre people carrier that was given to them by  Rotary with the help of the Friends of Suai in about 2001.

Now Port Phillip Council has rehabilitated another Ute to send to Suai and some of the members of the Friends of Suai Committee are trying to fill it with goodies.  No photo to hand yet. This is a rare opportunity to send physical items to Suai so the FOS Committee in Port Phillip have begun thinking about what to send. John Collins is filling up a few boxes for storage containers from the St Kilda Library. Bill has bought some tools for Graci who helps everybody with everything. He runs the radio station – you can see him helping install the solar panels and he was a star pupil in my video workshop too. I even saw the designs he did for extending the CC that he did in Excel!  Pat is looking for five office chairs for the Community Centre and she has written to Office Works to see if they will donate stationery . FOS are looking for exercise books, pens, writing and drawing pencils, as well as coloured pencils again. Sounds like 2000 all over again, but  the schools never have enough resources so if any Port Phillip friends can help ring Pat. FOS are also appealing for money to put together 8 kindergarten boxes.

Alberto Barros who worked as the financial administrator for the Covalima Community Centre (Suai) for four years has been appointed as Acting Coordinator while Simao Barreto  is recovering from a stroke he incurred in January. Alberto is a very experienced community development worker who recently spent 6 months in Port Phillip studying English and is an experienced in financial accountability. Whilst he was in Australia he worked closely with Friends of Suai, representing his community at events here and meeting many from the East Timor network and partners in Australia. Alberto has the full confidence of Friends of Suai Committee to take up this role in Simao’s absence and will do a great job with the help of the Board of Commissioners and Suai leadership who have also expressed the approval of the appointment.

Pat Jessen Friends of Suai Co-ordinator Port Phillip

It is with deep sadness that we have to report Simao da Silva Barreto who has been the Coordinator at Centro Communidade Covalima (Covalima Community Centre-(Suai)  since 2006 and the Commission Chairperson at the Centre in 2005 had a stroke in January. The stroke has taken Simao’s power of speech and limited his mobility. He is undergoing physiotherapy in Dili and we all wish him a full recovery.

Simao has implemented many programs and projects at CCC funded by Friends of Suai and is an important community leader who also is Chairperson of the local community radio station Radio Taroman, a secondary-school teacher and tireless worker.

When Simao came to Australia in 2006 he told Friends of Suai the story of his great uncle who was killed by the Japanese in WW2. His great uncle was killed because he was found by the Japanese to have Australian coins in his pocket. He told me that his older brother said ”you must learn English and go to Australia and tell this story.” Well indeed he did tell this us this story and ensured that the friendship that began in WW2 has continued between our communities. He has also taught many others English as well in his role as a school teacher.  I trust that he will be back home together with his family soon and his future will be bright. 

This beautiful photograph of Simao shows him at his happiest and best hamming it up as if he is meeting a stranger for Friends of Suai committee member and English teacher Desleigh, last year. Simao stayed with Desleigh in Port Phillip in 2007.

Pat Jessen Coordinator Friends of Suai Port Phillip.

Fact or Fiction? Entertainment or real threat? Make up your own mind – read this story posted by The Lost Boy yesterday speculating about the presence of so-called ninjas in Cova Lima threatening the lives of the local people or whether the leadership is in cahoots with the police to create a case for placing armed police in the area in the run up to municipal elections.

The Lost Boy: “When I first heard that there was a band of “ninjas” terrorizing folks in Timor-Leste, I have to admit I chuckled a little. But laughs aside, there is something odd going on. Obviously we’re not talking about real ninjas, but just guys with masks who have been dubbed ninjas by the media”  more …

In 2010 we are celebrating ten years of friendship between Suai and Port Phillip. See the Beginnings of the Friendship and History of Friendship that began in 2000 but is grounded in a relationship begun in WW2.

Events planned in Port Phillip in 2010 include a colourful Bookazine on the 10 year friendship to capture the dynamics and development in a decade since the Ballot and the great friendship that has ensued.

A Friends of Suai Exhibition at the Town Hall Gallery starts 26 May 2010 to reflect on Friendship. The exhibition, which will show the depth of the history of friendship between the two communities will include water colours painted in East Timor, artefacts and letters by George Milsom. Milsom who was in 2/2nd Independent Company in East Timor in WW2 is the father of local artist Liz Milsom.  An installation titled: ‘An Imagined Conversation: from Rocks to Social Networks’ is planned by Jen Hughes, local filmmaker and a selection of photographs by the youth of Suai from a 2009 workshop conducted by former St Kilda resident Richard Jones will be mounted.

In the pipeline too, is a Tour to parts of East Timor including Suai linked to International Rotary. The aim is to match skills with small projects where the visiting tourist can share with local people.

The gossip is Intrepid Tours will return to East Timor in 2010. We are also hoping that Australia’s Circus Oz will visit Suai in September 2010. Thanks to Paul Stewart of Dili Allstars fame for including Suai in the plan! We heard today that plans are on track for the Tour with a bit more fundraising to go.

Watch this Space for more news on celebrating 10 years of friendship.

Well 2010 is here, it’s the tenth anniversary of the Friends of Suai (FoS) friendship. We are planning a number of special events this year to celebrate friendship.

The first municipal elections will be held in 2 stages across the country in 2010. There are high expectations that decentralization will assist development in the rural areas. City of Port Phillip is keen to encourage development of local government to Cova Lima district.

Bill Armstrong, Chairperson of the Friends of Suai Community Steering Committee and I will travel to Suai in February to meet with counterparts and community leaders. We will be seeking feedback on both the good and challenging aspects of the friendship. We will be engaging in preliminary planning with local leadership for strategic directions into the future to be brought back to be considered by Port Phillip Council.

Pat Jessen Co-ordinator

Dear Friends

Lots of activity in 2009 culminated in great new partnerships with InfoXchange Australia Technology for Social Justice who is delivering a Green PC Enterprise in Suai in partnership with the Suai Community Centre & FoS.  International Womens’ Development Agency (IWDA) is funding a Women’s program at the Suai Community Centre with a focus on rural livelihoods.

Two library technicians are being trained for the new library at the Suai Secondary School & funded by FoS donors and Rotary Club of Balwyn.

There is still no day power in Suai town ship and little elsewhere in the district apart where there is solar power. It’s hard to live and do business without electricity. The roads are still bad and even worse in the two wet seasons with communications still patchy, but there is hope for new infrastructure in the coming year.

The dawn of oil and gas development in Suai holds a promise of work for local people and many are up-skilling to be in line for expected new jobs in the future.

Pat Jessen