Archived News

Max Stahl was a true friend of the Timorese people and their fight for justice. Max witnessed and filmed the Santa Cruz massacre where more than 250 East Timorese people were killed by Indonesian soldiers who opened fire on a group of peaceful protestors. They had marched from the Motael church Dili after attending a…

Recently, news reports warned that the health system in Timor-Leste was “in danger of collapsing” following increases in COVID-19 cases. The delta variant of the virus has caused a large upsurge in the number of new cases. The capital Fili and the regional city of Ermera had recorded the most cases. The national hospital in…

Carmel Budiardjo died recently at the age of 96. She was one of the world’s greatest fighters for human rights in those countries whose human rights have been trampled on by the Indonesian military (TNI) with support and acquiescence of the US and its allies, including Australia. She inspired many others to champion the human…

There’s a tree that grows all over Timor-Leste called Marungi or Morgina (Moringa oleifera). It also grows across Asia, Africa and South America, although it is native to India. It’s called the miracle tree or the tree of life. Why? Because every part of this tree is packed with vitamins. The bark, seeds, flowers and leaves…

November 12th 2021 Marks the 30th anniversary of the massacre at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili, Timor-Leste. This was the event which finally roused the world to what had been going in East Timor since 1975. The Indonesian occupation had accounted for tens of thousands of Timorese lives, but the rest of the world…

The health system in Catholic-majority Timor-Leste is “in danger of collapsing” following a recent spike in Covid-19 cases, while many health workers have also been infected, the government says.

There’s a tree that grows all over Timor-Leste called Marungi or Moringa (Moringa oleifera).  It also grows across Asia, Africa and South America, although it is native to India. It’s called the miracle tree  or the tree of life. Why? Because every part of this tree is packed with vitamins. The bark, seeds, flowers and…

Tribute to a Woman Read a moving tribute to a patriotic Timorese woman by Ana Maria Ferreira

Dear Valued Supporter, You have no doubt seen the devastation wreaked by the recent flooding in Timor-Leste. Lives have been lost and there has been a large amount of property damage. The impact has been exacerbated by a lengthy COVID-19 lockdown in the country. In addition, the Timor-Leste’s government response to these crises has been somewhat hampered…

Up until very recently, the COVID-19 news from Timor-Leste was rather encouraging, as few cases were reported and people responded to social distancing and mask-wearing well. Churches had been closed, but parishes were ensuring that people had enough food. The parish of Motael is assisting 500 families. In the past few weeks the situation has…

One of the main aims of repaying the debt of honour owed to the Timorese is to assist them in education and job creation. Lisa Wahab, the principal of Mary Immaculate Catholic School Bossley Park, is an educator with a passion to walk the road of educating young children. She sees the need to help…

Brother Francis of the Missionaries of the Poor in Maliana reports that the Children’s Protein Supplement Project is going well. They now have 90 children attending. In the beginning the children were shy, but now come running when the Brothers turn up. They use the time to do a little teaching as well – English…

Jon Lewis was a great photographer. He died recently after a long illness. East Timor supporters are indebted to him for many of his works, not the least of which is his iconic portrait of Paddy Kenneally (father of ATLAS chairman Gerald) and the intrepid Timorese veteran, Rufino Alves Correia. The photograph draws us towards…

Australian troops entered a territory administered by Portugal, a neutral power World War II, against the express wishes of the administrators. The Australian invasion breached Portuguese neutrality. The Japanese were moving south in the early 1940’s and fully intended to take over the western half of the island of Timor which was under the control…

On the weekend of December 12/13, ATLAS’s indefatigable Rayella Haines conducted another successful stall. All proceeds will go to ATLAS works in Timor-Leste. Thanks to generous donors and the cooperation of the Parish Priest of Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Fr Brendan Murphy, around a thousand dollars was made to support Timorese projects, especially…

Forty-five years ago, on 7 December 1975, East Timor was invaded by the Indonesian army– the fourth largest in the world. Troops, ships and planes swept onto the half-island, killing scores of people. The Timorese were at the mercy of other larger powers as well. The United States President Gerald Ford was visiting Indonesia with…

North Queensland benefitted from the presence of 100 Timorese workers in 2020. Despite all the bad news that COVID brought, crops were harvested and the community was strengthened through this partnership. Once again, the Timorese people came to the aid of Australia, this time by supporting local industries. During World War II, the Timorese befriended…

ATLAS helps support the Dominican School at Hera in Timor-Leste. This school transport will not be missed on the winding Timorese roads.

In Saburai near Maliana in Timor-Leste, the Missionaries of the Poor (MOP) Brothers feed over 50 children each Saturday. They provide a protein rich meal to help the children’s development. Br David (in the white habit) is responsible for this work. While there he also provides some teaching to the children. He walks to the…

ATLAS received this wonderful account of Patrick Knight and his family who have generously supported St Therese’s Orphanage at Maubara for many years. ATLAS and the Maubara Orphanage thank the Knight Family sincerely for their wonderful support. “In 2008 at the age of 76 our beloved father Patrick Knight nicknamed Fard by his loving 18…

World War II On 17 December 1941 t
he first of 400 men of the 2/2nd Independent Company began to arrive in Dili, violating Portuguese neutrality. Later, another 300 of the 2/4th Independent Company landed There were never more than 700 Australians on Timor at any one time. Japan, which had respected the neutrality of other…

The St Mary’s Parish Craft Group and Computer class has once again excelled itself in its fund raising efforts for St Therese’ Orphanage, Maubara, Timor-Leste. The craft group raised $850 through sales of its products and from the proceeds from the Big Morning Tea event. The Computer group raised $400 from weekly classes conducted throughout…

In 2019, ATLAS is proud to continue to assist with education in Timor-Leste. We are supporting twelve students from Maubara orphanage attending Senior Secondary Schools or Technical High Schools in Dili. This is only possible through the generosity of donors who support this very worthwhile program. To each of you we express our sincere gratitude….

The fourth Timor Time was held at Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club on Saturday 25 August 2018, and what a great day it was!  Over 190 people packed the beautiful venue, gathering together for a great meal, a social catch-up, and some terrific entertainment. As usual, Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club assisted wholeheartedly and it was a…

For a number of years, Graduate Nurses from Calvary Health Care Adelaide have raised funds to support Health projects in Timor-Leste previously conducted by Sister Joan Westblade RIP. The 2017 Graduates were no exception. Despite a very challenging year of transition from the role of student to qualified nurse, they ran a series of fund-raising…

Liz and Gordon Biok recently went to the Carmelite Convent in Fatuhada to meet Sister Santina and Sister Inacia and talk about the sewing project. Four sisters were there and they freely discussed the progress of the first stage of the sewing project. In the first stage of the project four sisters and two girls…

You may have noticed a new image on our homepage. That’s is because we are excited to announce that we have organised our Timor Time event for 2018! The event will be held at Dooley’s Lidcombe Catholic Club on Saturday 25th August, 2018. For more information on the event, or on how you can attend,…

Jenny Shepherd and Kylie Knellwolf, nurses, and Nicole Frazer, clinical support officer, visited some ATLAS projects in Timor-Leste in May 2018. The main purpose was to undertake a vision screening program. The program facilitates diagnosis, intervention and treatment to optimise good vision, especially prior to starting school. In the days before screening began, Jenny visited…

A wonderful afternoon was enjoyed by over 200 people at Dooleys Lidcome Catholic Club. Special guest from Timor-Leste was Alipio Simoes, a student who has just completed his IT Diploma in South Australia. The entertainment was superb and the food excellent, as usual. On sale were Timorese tais, woodwork by Vitál de Jesus, and “The…

Rayella Haines held a garage sale recently, bringing in much-needed funds for the young women being educated in Timor-Leste by ATLAS. As usual, she spent a great deal of time sourcing goods, pricing them, advertising the event and being on deck for the day. She was ably assisted by Marion, who always comes to the…

During August 2017, Vitál’s wife Francisca attended ETDA (East Timor Development Agency), an independent not-for-profit NGO providing vocational training in Dili. She completed a 4 week course in word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. The computer training is already benefiting ATLAS with Francisca submitting a Woodwork Project August Report information in an Excel Spreadsheet. The next phase is for…

The members of the Craft Group at St Marys have been long time supporters of the orphanage at Maubara, Timor Leste. They generate funds through the sale of their lovely craft products and through coin collections made at each meeting. Recently, $800 was raised at the big morning tea and craft sale held in the…

Mother’s Day presented a great opportunity for Rayella Haines, an ATLAS member and parishioner of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, St Marys, to run a stall to raise funds for the children at Maubara orphanage. The stall was very well stocked with mostly new gifts suitable to give to Mother on her special day….

In this last visit we enrolled Vitál’s wife in a computer course which she started on July 3. This will be followed by an administration and finance course to improve her business skills so she can look after the paperwork part of “Vitál Woodwork” while Vitál focuses on making and selling products. In Timor you…

In the last twelve months ATLAS has invested in improving communications in the Woodwork Project by funding language training. Last August 2016 while in Dili Chris Scharf completed a two week Basic Tetun course at the Dili Institute of Technology Language Centre. In February 2017 ATLAS was able to fund a Pre-Intermediate English Course for…

Keep this date free for Timor Time….   Sunday August 20 at Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club from 11:30 a.m. sharp to 2:00 p.m. sharp   A great time for a great cause!

ATLAS Support After receiving a proposal from the Carmelite Sisters early in 2016 and studying the feasibility of the project, ATLAS decided to provide financial support. An agreement between the two parties was then made which covered areas such as management, reporting and funding arrangements. Further details are available if required. Girls’ Education: Final three…

The Situation   Women and girls in developing countries are often denied opportunities for education.    Yet it is one of the most critical areas of development and the single most effective way to improve the lives of individuals and families as well as to contribute to social and economic development.   Timor-Leste is one…

In the month of October 2016 Vitál de Jesus from the ATLAS Woodwork Project, visited Australia for ATLAS Timor Time 2016 Luncheon, some woodwork training and promotional work for ATLAS. On arrival Vitál was pleased to catch up with old friends Sr Josephine Mitchell and Sr Susan Connelly who gave him his first opportunities to…

Sister Inacia Mafalda, a Carmelite Sister, arrived in Sydney in October 2016 as a guest of ATLAS. The primary purpose of her visit was to attend and speak at the Timor Time 2016 Luncheon as well as to make contact with friends and supporters. While in Sydney, Sister stayed with the Josephite Community at Lakemba…

Timor Time was held again at Dooleys Catholic Club in Lidcombe. It was a great day!   There were over 230 guests, and Dooleys’ lovely room could not have held any more.   Special guests included Sister Inacia Mafalda, a Carmelite Sister from Timor-Leste who has responsibility for the orphanage at Maubara which ATLAS supports….

A business support agency known as IADE came to Vitál’s house to meet Vitál & Francisca and to look at the woodwork business. When Vitál showed him the crosses and educational equipment the man said “Oh, this is a very unique business.” He has said to Vital to work toward having an EXPO of his…

Chris wrote of his experiences in the countryside: “At Aileu we visited the local school which has facilities to enable children with disabilities to learn there. The staff were incredibly enthusiastic to show us the school, and as with most things in Timor-Leste there is so much more that can be done. On the trip…

ATLAS member Chris Scharf made a site visit on 11th August 2016, and confirmed that water is now delivered to the water tanks at the women’s accommodation on the top of the hill (as in the scope of the original project). Fr Kasmir Nema informed him that the water had been obtained from a spring…