The Encouragement Foundation

Liz and I went to East Timor in April courtesy of Qantas frequent flyers. We wanted to check out the land and building site for the hostel. We have returned from the trip to the Maliana district, full of excitement as the school hostel building has commenced.

Deo reported yesterday by SMS that the brick walls are now going up and that the roof would be on by the end of May.

So in August this year, 40 children from the very remote area of Lolotoe will move into the hostel to start their first year of high school. Your encouragement has given these kids an opportunity, which would almost certainly have been denied them.

We have seen first hand the difficulties encountered by the isolation and the lengths children will go to gain an education. We watched as every morning and again in the afternoon, streams of school kids, (and some teachers), all in their bright school uniforms, walked from their villages close to Maliana to and from school. Some of the villages are 10 kilometres away.

Deo told us that some of the children arrive home in the pitch dark at 7pm. There are no street lights in their little villages. But they are so motivated because they know that education is their way to a good future

Each of you wonderful ‘encouragers’ can have as little or as much of this project as you want. The children and their families would be ecstatic to have personal contact with you. We would welcome your ideas and thoughts as well.

Sincerely,

Robert.

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