PRESIDENT’S REPORT OCTOBER 2014

It gives me great pleasure to report at the second AGM for Water East Timor (WET) Inc. There has been much activity in the past 12 months to report to you tonight.

The support of the local community has been tremendous, both in terms of joining as members of the group and in terms of the generous donations we have received. As of June 30, 2014, we have 40 members. A total of just over $30,000 has been donated, both from individuals and groups within the south west and in Melbourne. The provision of fresh clean water to communities touches the hearts of many people. On behalf of the committee and members I wish to say big thank you to all who so generously donated money.

The policy WET has devised and finds it succeeds in the communities is to have a member of our group inspect and cost the tasks proposed. If they are doable, the work is undertaken by local people, led by Eddie de Pina and if necessary, skilled tradesmen from this area. In early 2013, myself and Yve visited the village of Sauria to see that two toilet blocks had been built; one at the school, the other in the community area. The locals had completed the tasks for both these toilet blocks with the help of the local water team.

In July 2013, I returned to assist with the completion of the work commenced at Letefoho. In particular, the priest’s house was provided with fresh water. This work is dedicated to the late Xavier Mugavin. The water pipe has now been extended to supply two houses that are close by.

The major project for the next 18 months is the refurbishment of the secondary school at Letefoho. I have visited Letefoho twice this year, in February and then again in September, to work out what is required for the project. Costing have been done and given the size of this project it is going to be conduct by 5 groups from different parts of Australia: WET, Rotary Club of Warrnambool East, Rotary Ascot in Perth, the Rotary Club of Torquay and LETS in Sydney. All are contributing money and expertise to the project. WET’s contribution is water tanks and connections to the new toilet block and kitchen, and the supply of new roofing material which also will be connected to the water tanks. This is exciting for the Timorese as they have never undertaken this type of work before and a new learning skills will have to be used.

In 2015 there is the possibility of a project in the town of Meleano, where there is a need for a small medical clinic to be built

In addition to donations, money raised from other community activities is used to finance projects.

In July again, we have had the opportunity to cater for the Warrnambool and District Artists Awards evening. This is the third time we have catered for this even and the evenings have not only provided us the opportunity to raise funds but to promote the work undertaken by WET to the wider community and develop links with the artists.

A garden walk in September was another activity organised by Albert Rd residents in Port Fairy as a fund raising event for WET. Nine gardens and houses were open for visitors to inspect. The serving of afternoon tea at one garden provided an opportunity to promote the work undertaken by WET. We do appreciate the $9,484.00 raised from this event. I was asked to give a talk to the Rotary Club of Port Fairy after the garden walk and the club added the balance to the donation to make it $10,000. I thank all involved for giving their time to organise such activities.

As in the past 10 years, the Rotary club of Warrnambool East contributed $ 6,000.00 this year.

However, in addition to thanking the community for their support, I must also say a big thank you to the work undertaken by our secretary, Mabel Mitchell, over the past 12 months. Being still a relatively newly created group, Mabel has undertaken much of the work associated with the group gaining incorporation and fund raising ability. Work is currently being undertaken to gain tax deductibility status. I hope the secretarial role is less onerous from now. Also I would like to thank Don Carter, our Treasurer, for his work. We now have the ability to transfer money directly to a bank account in Timor.

To keep the community informed of our activities, we have developed, thanks to the skills of Roby Fawley, our website - We hope this is informative for the public as well as members. I also would like to thank outgoing committee member, Phil Kerr, for his support on the committee in the past 12 months.

In closing I would like to thank all committee members for their contribution over the past 12 months. Sharing the workload makes everyone’s tasks easier. Thank you also to all our members for their continued support.

Thank you to all.

Andrew Graham, President W.E.T. October 2014