Two decades of friendship marked

THE formal friendship between the community of Ainaro in Timor-Leste, and Ballarat, has reached the twenty-year milestone.

Since 2003, The Ballarat-Ainaro Friendship Agreement has aimed to foster mutual respect between residents of the two communities and to support Ainaro’s people in need, and the town’s social, cultural, and environmental sustainability.

There are various sub-organisations that complement the friendship program, including teachers that run an English language program, a City of Ballarat community advisory committee, and the Ballarat Friends of Ainaro Health Group.

With a PhD in midwifery which explored women’s access to maternity services in Timor Leste, health group chair Rosey King said there are two main aims of the initiative.

“These are to provide professional development opportunities for healthcare staff in Timor Leste, and that’s largely been translated as scholarship support for students studying health sciences such as nursing, midwifery, and pharmacy,” Ms King said.

“For those going to colleges at Dili, we provide a monthly amount of money per student to support them with the costs involved with undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, and relocation.

“We also provide resources, translated largely as ongoing support we have for a Carmelites Sisters Clinic in Maubisse, which has a tuberculosis clinic.

“We provide extra money there for petrol, and to pay the volunteers to walk up to the hills, to check on the villagers, see if they have symptoms, and to take them tests, medicine, and therapeutic care.

“We also buy food as people who are malnourished are much more vulnerable to getting TB.”

Ballarat Friends of Ainaro Health Group has bought medical technology including 10 sonic aids which can be used on pregnant women to listen to foetal hearts.

Ms King said the opportunity for women to hear their growing baby’s heartbeat has attracted them to the clinic, and to be connected to ongoing antenatal care.

“Over time, we’ve also worked with St John of God here in Ballarat and Ballarat Health Services to provide equipment and things that would be of help over there, including basic stuff like linen,” she said.

For more than 20 years, Ms King said many proactive Ballarat residents have developed a “strong affection” for the people in the township and district of Ainaro, and they want to continue to help them for decades to come.

“It’s enriching for us to be involved in these projects, and the relationships developed with people,” she said.

“We’re very aware of wanting to support them as there’s a lot of adversity and difficulty for them over there.

“There’s a lot of arms to the friendship, and collaboration with different groups here in Victoria, such as Bendigo Maubisse Friendship.”