Our History

In 1999, after the destruction and killing that accompanied Timor Leste’s vote for independence from Indonesia, a small group of Valley residents had a strong desire to do something to help the East Timorese people.

In October that year, Timorese resistance fighter (and later President) Xanana Gusmão declared that the best way to help his nation recover could be to set up village to village partnerships between communities in his nation and Australia. In March 2000 Australians who had been involved with the struggles in Timor over the 25 years of Indonesian occupation introduced us to a visiting Timorese resistance fighter, Eduardo Belo Soares. He liked the idea and proposed that the sub-district of Remexio (pronounce REM-e-shoe) would be a worthy partner, as people there had been stalwart supporters of the resistance. Remexio is located in the mountains about 25 kms south of Dili, is about the same size as Kangaroo Valley (about 250 square kms), but with twelve times the population (11,000 compared with 900).

Two months later two KV representatives travelled to Remexio to consult with the people there. They were shocked by the extensive destruction they witnessed, especially in the main village of Asumau. But they were warmly welcomed and ideas for a village-to-village partnership exchanged. In August 2000 another group from the Valley returned to Remexio for a more formal recognition of the arrangement. Cordial agreements were reached then toasted in bananas! PHOTO 1

A flurry of activity followed. The Australian Navy offered to transport goods from Australia to Timor free of charge for a few months, so many heavy items arrived in Remexio at that time. A Toyota Landcruiser, a galvanised box trailer, woodworking tools, 40 sewing machines, a printing machine, reams of paper from a Bomaderry paper mill, musical instruments and loads of sewing materials were among the many gifts from people in and around KV to the impoverished residents of Remexio. But the principle of our partnership was always to consult, form friendships, and work side-by-side with the Timorese. When the young people of Remexio requested soccer and volleyball uniforms and equipment plus funds to repair their playing fields, we worked to meet these requests (even though we may have considered other needs more pressing)

From 2001 Timorese young people, including from Remexio, visited Kangaroo Valley, some staying for months at a time. They lived with various local families and learnt many skills while improving their English 

KVETFG members have self-funded our individual involvement in projects, including our many visits to Timor. There we consult with village leaders and as many villagers as possible to assess their needs and priorities.  For instance, discussions in 2009 led to KVETFG undertaking the challenge of funding a Village Lighting Project, our most ambitious project at that time. The many remote villages around the Remexio sub-district were in particular need of some means of lighting their homes at night. A solar lighting system for every dwelling was the way to go, but the cost would be great.

A partnership was formed with the Alternative Technology Association (ATA, now trading as Renew) who, together with people travelling from Kangaroo Valley, trained local Timorese to install and maintain the systems.

Begun in 2009, the project took seven years to complete and cost several hundred thousands of dollars. Finally, some schools and every home throughout the sub-district that needed a lighting system had one - a total of 1,507 homes. Most of the funds were raised through six biannual Treks for Timor, where teams and individuals were sponsored by friends and family to complete all or part of a 50km trek in and around Kangaroo Valley within 12 hours. The penultimate $20,000 was raised via crowdfunding in 2016, with energy company ActewAGL donating the final $10,000. Such major corporate sponsorship, while very welcome, has been rare in our history. However, KVETFG has received significant financial help from individuals as well as involvement with two schools in the area: Oxley College in Bowral and St John The Evangelist Catholic High School in Nowra.

Now, in 2023, KVETFG members are keen to return to Timor Leste after the years of lockdowns on both sides of the Timor Sea. We haven’t been idle in the meantime, maintaining personal contacts electronically wherever possible, but opportunities for fundraising have been minimal.

For many years we have funded Remexio students at Bacau Teachers College and partnered with Friends of Aileu to provide scholarships to Remexio students from especially poor families. The “Our Projects” section on this website describes our current challenges in relation to our two student houses in Dili and the commitment we’ve made to support up to 16 students through their tertiary studies. Not all are from Remexio, but we are now seeing the benefits from supporting young and talented Timorese to be well educated. This will be of great importance for the future strength and prosperity of their country.