Soibada, Northern Beaches’ Timor Leste sister village

In the lead up to Anzac Day, veterans often reflect on their service and the impact it has had on their lives and that of their families.

Over the last 15 years, I have been involved in Anzac Day commemorations in many schools on the Northern Beaches. In 2009, at Maria Regina Catholic Primary School in Avalon, one such commemoration changed the direction of my life. I stressed to the children that day how I joined the military not because I liked war, but because I wanted to prevent it. I explained my hopes to play a small part in bringing peace to the world, to make it safe for children just like them to go to school and to live freely. 

The children wanted to know more about where I had served. We talked about the tiny nation of Timor Leste, their incredible 24-year fight for independence, and INTERFET, the peacekeeping force led by Australia that was sent there in 1999 – of which I was a part. It is not widely known that Australia has had ties to Timor Leste since WWII when our soldiers were protected from enemy forces by young Timorese boys and sheltered and nursed by the women. 40-70,000 Timorese lost their lives protecting Australians from enemy forces. Australia has a debt of honour to this country.

These young Avalon students were moved by the fact that children in Timor still suffered as a result of war and asked if they could help do something about it. At the initiative of the teachers and students, a project was launched to link the school in friendship with a primary school in Timor. I volunteered to help. Through connections from my service, Maria Regina was linked with a school in the village of Soibada. Before long the two local governments became officially partnered. The Friends of Soibada was formed.

In September 2009, I made my first trip back to Timor Leste since 1999. Instead of crawling from an RAAF Hercules Aircraft to a greeting of gunfire and smoke, I walked calmly across the tarmac with Mrs Kathy Gee, the then Principal of Maria Regina. In 2010 the official Friendship Agreements were signed between our local governments and the Friends of Soibada became a registered charity with DGR status. Volunteers from the Northern Beaches have been visiting the village twice a year since then (apart from during COVID). 18 other schools in Sydney have partnered with or are in the process of joining with the schools in Soibada. Numerous community groups, surf clubs and churches of all denominations are now involved in sustainable development projects in the village. 

Our goal is not to make the change but to facilitate it so that it comes from within the Soibada community. We must enable people to help themselves through education, training, and medical support, and thereby assist in a small way to restore the dignity that was stolen from the Timorese during the years of oppression and set them on a path to a better life. All our projects in the village are coordinated and led by a committee of local leaders.

It is amazing to think that one Anzac Day presentation at a school resulted in the creation of a charity that continues to change lives today. It is proof that everyone can do something to help others and that the Maria Regina Primary School motto of “Making a Difference” is a way of life for the students. Many of them are now adults and have visited their friends in Soibada.