CARITAS launched its Project Compassion appeal in Brisbane last Tuesday with the message that there is still a long way to go before the East Timorese can rebuild their shattered lives and create a proud new nation.
Two Caritas workers, Orlando Sarmento and Inacia Tamele, from the East Timorese enclave of Oecussi, shared their experiences with the crowd, mostly comprising Catholic school students, at the South Bank Piazza.
Caritas Australia’s national director, Jack de Groot, said that with the first harvest of maize and rice crops due soon, the charity would no longer need to distribute food in East Timor.
“We will of course continue to feed people who might be still vulnerable,” he said.
Project Compassion last year raised more than $5 million for disadvantaged communities living abroad.
“We need Australia to do the good work, not only in East Timor, but in over 35 other countries,” Mr de Groot said.
Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane presided over a commissioning ceremony which saw students handed donation boxes.
