Australia East Timor Friendship School Project

In response to the concept note I sent out a few weeks ago, I received an email from Jan Hayes of the Australia East Timor Friendship School Project (FSP) saying that we should apply for funds.

A little more information on FSP follows:

Dear Supporter,

The Australia East Timor Friendship School Project (FSP) was established in Australia in 2003 to create mutual learning opportunities for primary and secondary school communities in Australia and schools in Timor-Leste. Through these activities the project aimed to build generations of international friendship by creating lasting connections and understanding between the students from both countries. Close to 100 Australian schools have taken part in the project, many partnered to a school in Timor-Leste.

For reasons that have been advised previously, we have regrettably come to the conclusion that, due to ongoing difficulties with program delivery in Timor, it is appropriate to wind up AETFSP Ltd activities in Australia. This means that the co-ordination role played by staff in our office at AEU has been discontinued. We know that some schools will continue their relationships with partner schools in Timor-Leste via their local Friendship Group. We are confident that relationships between schools, communities, teachers and students in Australia and Timor-Leste will continue, but in a different form.

Australia East Timor Friendship School Project Ltd currently holds approximately A$40,000, which we intend to distribute as part of the process of winding up the organisation. This document invites groups and organisations working in Timor-Leste to apply for access to this pool for one-off funding for education-related projects.
Details of criteria and the application process are contained in the attached document. Feel free to distribute it to others you feel may be interested in applying.

As you may be aware, the project also generated and distributed a range of curriculum materials and resources. Most of this material is available on line either from the Alola Foundation (see http://www.alolafoundation.org/fsi.php) or the Asia Education Foundation (see http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/public_html/online_resources.htm). There are a few hard-copy resources (books, DVDs etc) in the office. We will be going through those in the next few weeks so if you are interested in taking these types of resources for your future school activities, please let me know.

Thanks for your interest and involvement in the project.

Yours sincerely,

Jan Hayes
Chair
Australia East Timor Friendship School Project Ltd

I'm still looking for an organisation to take over the project for when we leave Timor-Leste in December, but I would happily assist any such organisation in applying for funds through FSP.