The Community Health Centre we have established at Atabae is proving to be much more than just a health centre, despite the importance of that primary purpose.

The Vatican officially established a third diocese in East Timor in late January and announced that Fr. Norberto Do Amaral would be the new bishop of the newly created Diocese of Maliana. However it was not until late April that the new bishop was actually installed and arrived in Maliana. He travelled from Dili to Maliana on Saturday 24 April and was cheered by well-wishers at the many villages along the way. The following day brought a large crowd to celebrate in formal ceromony and feasting in Maliana.

After completing his seminary studies in Indonesia, 53–year old Fr. Do Amaral was ordained a priest in 1988. Since then, he has worked in parish ministry and served as the rector of the minor seminary of the Diocese of Dili. After he completed studies in dogmatic theology at Rome's Urbaniana University, he was a professor and prefect of the major seminary of Dili. In 2008, he was named Chancellor of the Diocese of Dili and Director of the diocesan magazine "A Seara." See more about the Catholic Church and the Maliana Diocese on our East Timor page.

Last month we briefly noted the arrival of Jose Asaca and Servacio Do Nascimento in Queensland for study funded by Sahariv scholarships.

Last year FPET was contacted by a Gold Coast solicitor managing a $1,000,000 Sahariv bequest which was established for the training of people from third world countries in agriculture. The solicitor sought assistance from FPET with selection of candidates from East Timor and helping with organising their travel to Queensland.

Jose has worked with FPET as a trainee Project Officer in Atabae and proved to be extremely capable and well suited to taking up one of these scholarships. There are a number of references to him on this website. Jose was one of our guests for World Youth Day in 2008.

Serv is only shown in a couple of previous photos on our website but has been a good volunteer with the team in Atabae and also well suited for such a scholarship.

These two young men are now doing preliminary studies in English at the Gold Coast prior to commencing their undergraduate agricultural studies at the Gatton Campus of the University of Queensland. FPET members wish them well in their studies and look forward to getting to know them better during their years of study in Queensland.

This month has plenty of good news but also a dissappoitment. The good news has included the obvious benefits students are gaining from the Science of Life Systems 24/7 (SOLS) courses, which they are now doing in Emera since the closure of the SOLS centre at Maliana. When they returned to Atabae for the Easter celebrations Margaret Hall noted “What a happy confident group they are,” with much more self–assurance than previously.

The dissappointment is that the rains have failed to come at the times needed to produce good crops this year. This is expected to result in much hardship and limited food supply later in the year.

Some of the ladies have identified sewing as a means of helping themselves to gain some personal income and independence which is more good news for the community.. One very competent local lady is now taking a sewing class for some of these ladies, including a couple who would like to improve their basic skills to the level where they can also teach others.We expect the sharing of sewing skills will improve local incomes as well as encouraging more women to make clothing for themselves and their families.

Margaret and David Hall returned to Atabae in late January after nearly two months away in the UK. They were delighted to find that the local Health Team had continued operating the Health Centre as normal in their absence.

One of the encouraging things for President Jim Johnson on his recent visit to Atabae was to observe the Team at work – local girls trained by Margaret going about the business of the Health Centre with quiet efficiency, with Lepa and Carlita the standouts for leadership and management.

Felicidade Pires (nickname Lepa) met many FPET supporters when she came to Australia for World Youth Day. She has blossomed into a confident and skilled leader in the Team. Her English has improved greatly, to the extent that Jim was amazed when she acted as interpreter for his meeting with the Community Committee. The next step for Lepa is gaining a formal qualification, as well as obtaining recognition for her training with Margaret. She also surprised us all by announcing her recent marriage.