Timor Rotary Consortium

Posted by Vijay Susarla and John Walmsley

Water Sanitation and Hygiene Project: 

Construction and Installation of 32 Water Tanks and 4 Toilet buildings and WASH Training in Baguia Sub-district, Timor Leste 

This Final Report has been sent to Rotary Club Presidents and other Participants in this project, which began in 2017 

 

 

Final Report Conclusion 
The need for clean water and sanitation in this mountainous area of Timor Leste is very great and it is with pride and pleasure that we advise of the completion of this programme and the full expenditure of its AUD $139,150 Budget, which comprised donations of totalling $72,000 from the six Rotary Clubs in this Consortium, a 9800 District Grant of a Global Grant from The Rotary Foundation of personal donations of  $5,736 from private individuals.

Four  Team Visits were made to the region by Rotarians and other volunteers during the course of the project and copies of their four  individual reports are enclosed at the end of this Final Report. 
 
It is very pleasing to note that construction of the last 3 Toilet Buildings was carried out completely by locals, using materials and local skilled/semi-skilled labour paid for by the Consortium. This work involved digging stone and concrete lined effluent Pits, laying concrete Toilet floors with inset squat toilets and building concrete block walls and Colorbond roofs. 
 
The Water Tanks were installed on stone and concrete tank stands and fed with clean water from either nearby springs or from Gutter and Downpipe systems installed on nearby school roofs with the majority of this work at the end of the project being carried out entirely by locals. 
 
"WASH" Training was originally provided by the Dili based Timor Foundation but they were not able to provide on-site training in the more remote hill villages and this work ended up being provided by a local doctor from the Baguia community Health Centre which worked well. 
 
The East Timor Roofing Company (ETR), based in Baucau half way along the north east coast of Timor Leste, provided all the Colorbond and other galvanised iron materials required for the project which they fabricated themselves from high quality imported Australian steel. This company was originally set up by the Rotary Clubs of Melbourne, Doncaster & Lilydale shortly after East Timor's independence and has provided great assistance to many other Rotary Clubs working in Timor Leste. 
 
In mid 2018 ownership of ETR was transferred to the Don Bosco organisation and it continued to provide us with prompt service and support throughout the period of our project and we thank them for this as well as their competitive pricing and special discounts. 
 
A separate online Final Report and Account is being filed with The Rotary Foundation as required under the terms of their Global Grant. 
 
It has been a privilege and a pleasure to manage this project and we thank you and your respective Clubs and the other individuals involved for your financial and physical support without which this great project would not have been possible. The gratitude of the people of this remote region around Baguia and the smiles on their children's faces make it all worthwhile.
 
Vijay Susarla
Project Manger
 
John Walmsley
Assistant Project Manager 

 

Team 4 Report 

Katrina Flinn and Pamm Robilliard of Hawthorn Rotary were part of Team 4 in September 2019. Their report includes this:

It was a busy trip with many varied activities from spending time with the school children running some fun activities, implementing the WASH training program in a remote school and community. .... It was an interesting and rewarding day teaching the locals how to wash their hands. 

An exciting and fulfilling part of our trip was developing a new program to assist young girls with understanding and managing menstrual hygiene. The local community leader in Baguia has identified more than 700 young girls who can benefit from this initiative, and as a club/Rotary consortium we are planning to supply "Days for Girls" kits and provide hygiene training to improve health and wellbeing and provide sustainable solutions for needy girls.

We presented four laptops to the dynamic community leader, Mana Leopoldina, to be donated to the school of Larasula (photo) and a guitar, which was accepted with much delight and put to good use straight away. We also conducted some activities in the local primary and secondary schools, it was an absolute joy to interact with the students. Whilst not directly related to our mission, developing local relationships as well as building and trust are of the utmost of importance.

We also inspected recently installed water tanks and toilets, conducted water testing, assessed the effectiveness of WASH training .

 

There is so much to achieve in this poor country, the locals are very appreciative of the efforts of all the volunteers and are slowly adapting to change. 

Katrina’s original report is at  https://www.hawthornrotary.org.au/stories/timor-wash-consortium

 

 

A Brief History

This project, from its conception in 2017 to its recent completion in 2020,  was developed by a group of Melbourne based Rotary Clubs comprising:- 

RC Camberwell, RC Chadstone, RC Glenferrie, RC Hawthorn, RC Malvern  RC Prahran 

The name "Timor Rotary Consortium" was adopted and it was planned to construct four Three Cubicle Toilets and install twenty-nine  Water Tanks together with appropriate WASH (Water and Sanitation and Hygiene) Training in the region around Baguia in eastern Timor Leste and to impart to the local villagers the necessary skills to carry out these works and to maintain them in the future.

Various financial amounts were pledged by the above-named Rotary Clubs and applications were made for grants.

To ensure the long-term sustainability of such projects The Rotary Foundation has made it a requirement of their Global Grants scheme that any "WASH" Training be provided by approved in- country Providers. This increased the cost of the project but the inclusion of WASH Training has proved very fortuitous as the Handwashing component of this training has been put to good use by the schools and local communities to reduce the spread of the COVID 19 Virus.

At this point we would like to acknowledge the enormous contribution made by Ms Leopoldina Guterres, our in-country Coordinator, without whose tireless support this programme could never have been carried out. She has ensured the local support and participation so essential for a project of this nature through her position as a Director and Principal of St Joseph's High School in the township of Baguia, and her Directorships of 8 local Primary Schools in surrounding villages as well as her liaison ship with Community Leaders and the Sub-District Administrator. 
 
As if this wasn't enough, Leo is also heavily involved in a tree growing/carbon capture/carbon credit program to provide income to subsistence farmers throughout Timor Leste. In addition to this she has provided support to other Rotary Clubs with their water reticulation projects around Baguia as well as assisting non-Rotary organisations with school scholarship programmes and other numerous local community needs and activities. 
 
We are very pleased to advise that Leo recently joined the Rotary family in her own right through her membership of the Rotary Passport Club of Melbourne. Congratulations Leo!!