Support Maddie & Mal and help Timor-Leste

In June 2022, Maddie & Mal set off to Timor Leste to volunteer in English teaching and animal husbandry. Before the trip ends, they would like to give back to the community with your help.

Maddie and Mal are Towoomba music teachers. Maddie (Ms Minns) has been teaching music at St Joseph's College Toowoomba for over 20 years. Mal is a brass tutor and talented musician. Together, with courage, they undertook this volunteering journey through Palms Australia. They packed up their house, put their belongings in storage and set off on a volunteer trip of a lifetime.

Maddie & Mal are staying in Atabae which is about a 2-hour drive from Dili. The community has opened them with welcome arms and smiling faces. However, the trip has not always been easy with plenty of hot days, power outages, scary scooter rides and health issues making the trip an adventure to remember. Maddie & Mal are doing something that a lot of Australians couldn't do - giving up creature comforts to genuinely help another community in need.

Through Maddie & Mal's trip, it has become clear that Atabae, would benefit from some monetary support to fund improvements to infrastructure in the areas of health and education. Maddie says:

" I cannot begin to describe to you the lack of resources available. Issues include inadequate furniture, damaged walls and windows, leaking roofs, unhygienic toilets, insufficient textbooks and extremely limited technology. The maternity block of the hospital has no running water, and the birthing beds have no privacy or space. At school, the girls cannot use the toilet blocks when they have their period. Instead, they stay at home and don't go to school. " - Maddie

Areas of support needed

Two areas are currently seeking grants to fund improvements:

1. Atabae Health Clinic - Refurbishment of the Maternity block = $17,000 USD still needed. Thank you to the Rotary Club of Bright (Melbourne) for their donation of $5000.

2. The Junior High School - Stage 1 of major repairs is to refurbish 6 classrooms and renovate the girl's toilet block = $40,000 USD.

While these are big fundraising goals, we know the power our community can have when we come together to support others.

If you can spare $20, $50 or even $100 today, Maddie & Mal will ensure your donation goes directly towards the grant for the Maternity Ward - Health Clinic. If they achieve this grant goal, any extra funds raised will then go towards the Junior High School grant.

Let's help Maddie & Mal leave a lasting legacy in Timor-Leste.

About Timor Leste

Timor Leste (also known as East Timor), in Southeast Asia, gained its independence as a country in 2001. Australia is the country's southern neighbour, separated by the Timor Sea. The country is only 14,874 square kilometres, a quarter of the size of Tasmania. Dili is its capital and largest city, a fun but busy city where one can shop, eat and play.

Most of the population, though, live in rural areas and are limited by mountainous topography, climate vulnerability, poor infrastructure, challenges in agricultural production and access to basic services and employment opportunities. Most of the country is very poor, with just more than 40% living under the national poverty line. This poverty is especially prevalent in rural areas, where many are subsistence farmers or fishermen, and unemployment is very high.

Working and living in the rural area of Atabae, has given Madeleine and Mal an enormous insight and appreciation of the people; their strong family bonds and care of the elderly, their faith in God, their resourcefulness and gratitude and their genrosity and hospitality.