Having moved in March this year to our new formation house in Ostico, we are delighted that, thanks to the very generous support of the Noel and Carmel O’Brien Family Foundation, the building includes spaces for the wider village community to gather and engage in development opportunities.
As well as a training/meeting room, we have a wonderful, open, very welcoming space for the community to join us for planning conversations, larger gatherings or just to ‘drop in’ for a more relaxed chat.
All this has proved such a blessing for us, as so quickly we have been welcomed into the Ostico community and feel so very much part of it.
So far, we have had a variety of planning meetings with the farming community to discuss their needs and agree on plans for ongoing agricultural development; with community leaders and a Timor-based company regarding an Australian Government tender for using off-grid power to pump underground water to a village and its surrounding farms; with other NGOs based in the Baucau area; and with local Parish leaders and members.
The meeting room also has weekly English classes echoing off the walls, plus the voices of young children who come twice a week to sing songs mostly in English (a great way to start to learn a new language!), and it is soon to host sewing classes offered by World Vision to a group of local women, and workshops on health and nutrition.
We have also been delighted to host 15 women who are part of a government-appointed group to evaluate government decisions in terms of justice for the wider community. They were very moved when they realised their values aligned so strongly with Mary Ward’s!
The larger space has offered hospitality to groups large and small, including the village celebration of Mary in the month of May; a group of students and teachers (20 in all) from Loreto College Coorparoo for a meal and lively dancing the Timor-Leste way; and a shared celebratory lunch for 150 following the first profession of our first Timorese sister, Rosalina Belo – all cooked by members of the Ostico community.
We are so grateful to be here in Ostico – in a beautiful setting, a house offering so much opportunity and a local community that has so warmly embraced us into their lives. We trust our presence will help to lift the spirits, capacity and livelihoods of many members of this simple, impoverished, warm and welcoming Ostico community.
Please email mwiaustralia@loreto.org.au with your CV and an expression of interest detailing your skills, experience and availability.
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