After the destruction and killing which devastated East Timor in September 1999, a small group of KV residents felt a need to help. A partnership was discussed with an East Timorese village, Remexio (a small village in the hills about one hour's drive south of Dili) and the Kangaroo Valley - Remexio Partnership was born. Eight years on (2008), we continue to have a mix of KV locals and associates working with East Timorese in Australia and in East Timor.

The KVRP is a "bottom up" or "grass roots" approach to helping the East Timorese help themselves. We strive to assist the East Timorese achieve dignified living through health, education, justice, employment and ecologically sustainable industry. We selectively try to help in ways that may be of a low priority to the UN and other NGOs.

Rather than large single projects, we pursue small, personal and usually integrated activities. Being substantially self-funded, our material contributions are small. Instead, we rely on sharing our existing skills in projects or in day-to-day situations.

We try to foster long-term personal relationships with East Timorese people and actively encourage this approach in others. That part which is conducted in Australia is the provision of education and training to those who have appropriate interests and aptitudes for leadership and mentoring roles back in East Timor.

Much of our involvement is now outside of Remexio, in other parts of East Timor, as well as in active networking within Australia. We now enjoy ongoing relationships with numerous individuals and activities. Along the way we have tried to identify the best and worst of our respective Australian and East Timorese lifestyles, to better influence both our paths into the future.

The violent "situation" in Dili, that drastically worsened in May 2006, provided us all with significant and new challenges in safety and communication. Yet clearly, the needs of the East Timorese people became even more acute, highlighting the importance and urgency of continuing and extending our Timorese relationships.

Paul Turnock (02 4465 1357)

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donations

While we cover all our own expenses such as air fares, accommodation etc as well as all administration overheads, we welcome donations from others. If you can spare a few dollars - or a lot - please make your cheque payable to KV East Timor Assistance If you send your donation to John George 1255 Moss Vale Road Kangaroo Valley NSW 2577 and include your address then we'll make sure you get a receipt from AFAP (The Australian Foundation for the Peoples of Asia and the Pacific), allowing you to claim a tax deduction. You may also donate by making a payment directly into our bank account - for details, see here.

100% of funds raised from the public go directly towards helping the East Timorese and are fully accounted for. Donors may request that their funds be directed towards particular areas of their own special interest, such as health, education etc.

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projects

scholarships One of our current projects is the provision of scholarships for students from Remexio to the Teachers College in Baucau, East Timor. Agostinha, Eduarda, and Virginia (left) are among the first recipients of these. Their costs from October to December 2007, for example, included, for the three of them combined, college registration: US$75; fees: $180; photocopying: $45; note paper: $5; lodging ($10/person/month): $90; food: $40; gas, phone card: $15; and bus fares (for one trip home each month): $54. That's about AUD200 per student per tri-semester, or $600 per year (which is 20 concert tickets @ $30). It's more now, of course. Two generous donors are helping us with these expenses, but we need more support ... We believe that education is one of the key areas to be developed if East Timor is to make the transition from a war-ravaged divided country to one that's peaceful and prosperous. Helping Timorese learn to teach others is one of the most useful contributions we can make.