Federation Project 2021-2024

East Timor '24 project

The aim of this project is to bring two qualified professional young women, Pascoela Bareta and Maria Guterres, from Dili in East Timor to Perth for a educational skills transfer visit, where they will visit hospitals, cancer treatment clinics, libraries and educational facilities to observe modern practices, the learnings gained from the educational visit will empower them to increase their potential and to improve the lives of women and children in East Timor.  These young women are already leaders in their communities, one in the field of education and the diagnosis of cancer in women and the other in inclusive library management and the implementation of education scholarships,  by expanding their knowledge, and observing modern methods and ideas, they will take these learnings back to East Timor to improve their own practices and empower the knowledge to others. 

SI Joondalup the sponsoring club, has a long term relationship with both these women, who they met in 2010 as young village girls, who through poverty or lack of opportunity had no hope of tertiary education. With the assistance of SI Joondalup, both women graduated with honours in science.. Their visit to Perth was to allow them skills transfer and learning opportunities.  

Images below are from the Xanana Gusmao Reading Room where Maria is the Manager.

SI Joondalup project lead Jennie Van Driel arranged visits with the following facilities. 

• Harry Perkins Research institute hosted by Dr Andrew Redfern, Medical Director
• The Western Australian State Library, tour by head librarian
• Kalamunda Hospice
• St John of God Oncology  Department visit hosted by team manager
• Aboriginal Language Corporation  meeting with chief linguist and tour of facilities
• McGrath Foundation  for Breast Cancer Care

Highlights and takeouts on the visit by Pascoela Bareta :

On visiting the Harry Perkins Institute, I was overwhelmed with everything – the generosity of the Institute, and Prof Andy in particular for giving up so much time, the size of the facility, the speed with which they can process pathology. Oncology department, the literature available for patients, the availability of access to collaborative effort in education and medical knowledge was wonderful. 

What I gained from my visit:

1.      Possible colloboration with Professor Andrew Redfern possibility will collaborate with Medical Oncology department in the future Maybe he can share his specialist on researchers on Cancer or other diseases to our medical Oncology doctor in Dili National Hospital

2.      Also, will collaborate with Harry Perkis Institute may they provide training to our health worker in Timor Leste.

3.      Feeling blessed that I had this opportunity to visit Harry Perkins Institute. 

Thank you once again for a spectacular presentation and tour.  The generosity of all involved was amazing.

My visit to the Kalamunda Hospice

That was one of my favorite places to visit the staff were very kind and generous in giving of their time to explain all detail to us. Actually, it’s my first time visit to Hospice,  in Timor Leste we don’t have any.  Really appreciate that Judy spent her time explaining all the details of the set-up of the Hospice. Such valuable practical information to me to bring home when we establish a Centre this year.
What am gain here during my visit:

1.      Connection medical doctor and Nurse at Kalamunda Hospital ask their support to provide us with their knowledge.

2.      Dr. Yamin also sharing Connection on Mentorship, awareness and fostering link in the Asia Pacific region. Will write an email to the president to provide online class on Palliative Care for nurse students

3.      Also, received valuable information and ideas on how to set up HALIKU women’s cancer support Center

4.      Impressed with how patients use creative activities every day with nurses, this provides me with inspiration maybe in the future our center will use this knowledg. 

Highlights and takeout by Maria Guterres on her visit: 

1..       The management of the book collection at the City of Joondalup and Wanneroo Library and Cultural 2entre is very well organised and this could be one of the ideas for me to adapt the management of the book collection in the XGRR library to make it look attractive and easily accessible to visitors.

2.       Possibilitity that the Joondalup City library will make a book donation to the XGRR library in the future.

3.        Book donations from: Harry Parkinsh, Kalamunda Hospital, Breast Cancer Care, and ASeTTS.

4.       Kate Van Driel and Jennie Van Driel have agreed to support the scholarship programme at XGRR.  They are committed to transfer money annually to support one student until the student graduates.

5.       I also learnt about the importance of preserving local languages and one of the things I learnt from the visit to the Noongar Boodjar Language Centre was how they make dictionaries for local languages using objects in the environment. I received an aboriginal language dictionary donated by Mr Kate Van Driel and this dictionary will be very important as it will serve as an example for the local language preservation programme in XGRR.

Below: Pascoela Barreto and Maria Guterres with Professor Andrew redfern at The Harry Perkins medical research Institute.

Project Lead Jennie Van Driel, reports on outcomes achieved since the visit:

Professor Andrew Redfern from the Harry Perkins medical centre has since visited Dili, and has written on suggestions of how he could help with the cancer clinic in Dili. 
The things that come to mind are: 

• working out some kind of data collection process so cases can be measured, at least to an extent.
• suggestions on screening engagement and delivery
• possibility of a pathology service, even if specimens are taken and prepared locally and then slides are assessed in WA
• a simple compendium of the most essential anti-cancer treatments that are off-patent or not vastly expensive.
• Some form of negotiation with various pharma companies might help.

Pascoela Barreto was also put in contact with the International Arm of St John of God Medical Services which had an agent in Timor Leste.  This was  arranged by staff at St John of God Hospital in Perth which they visited.

The Australia Hospice Association has provided a workshop on end of life care to Dili and medical services in the hinterland   This service was instigated by the Kalamunda Hospital and Hospice which they visited while in Perth

Back here in Perth we have had an enquiry from another Soroptimist club who would like to continue to work with us on the Timor Leste project.

Murik Lakes Seeds of Friendship Community Garden

Soroptimist International Moreton North Inc

Project coordinator - Kylian Kenni

The primary aim of the project is food security, followed by economic empowerment for the women.  
The project meets SDG 2, 4 and 8 as well as 5 of the 8 SISEAP objectives of:

•  Education
•  Elimination of violence
•  Economic empowerment
•  Food security, Healthcare
•  Environmental sustainability/water/sanitation

Project Concept

Project update June 2024

Men collecting timber for the pylons

Men collecting timber for the pylons

Men arriving back to the village with the pylons

Men being paid for their work

Village meeting to discuss progress

Men collecting water

Plants planted out for food

Women learning to plant seedlings

Congratulations to Soroptimist International Rangatahi Wellington, who are the successful winners of Round 5 of the Brilliant Futures Fund with their Ovarian Cancer Awareness Project

The project will directly address the issues of Ovarian Cancer, by raising awareness of ovarian cancer, its symptoms, and risk factors, aligning with SISEAP's commitment to women's health.
SISEAP's mission to educate, empower and enable is carried out in this project. We will educate by spreading critical knowledge about ovarian cancer, enabling informed choices. By providing comprehensive yet user-friendly resources, we will enable women to take charge of their health and well-being. Furthermore, we will empower women and communities to support affected individuals and advocate for change in the face of this devastating disease in partnership with an ovarian cancer charity. This project not only reflects
SISEAP's vision and mission but also embodies the organisation's dedication to being a voice for women

This project will provide vocational training such as sewing, cooking and basic literacy to the grassroots women and girls who have had nil to minimal education.

SI Port Moresby nominated the 4E's Scholarship Program (Educate, Empower, Equality & Equity)

Awarded AUDВ 5,000
November 2021

This program aims to provide access to education and training for grassroots women and girls in local communities, to improve their literacy and vocational skills to enable them to become financially independent. В This will in turn allow them to improve their livelihood, giving them the confidence to make informed life choices.

In Papua New Guinea, 2 out of 3 women and girls experience domestic and sexual abuse every day. The 4E's program aims to enable the women and girls who are affected by domestic and sexual violence to break the cycle and create lives for themselves and their families.

With the COVID19 pandemic and many people losing their jobs and being displaced, women have resorted to starting a small business with their savings to keep them and their families going. With the support of a local women's bank, training will be given to women and girls in financial and basic budgeting training to help them better invest their funds.

The training programs will help them to create financial independence by arming them with knowledge and skills that will enable them to create informal employment or small business ventures for themselves ie by cooking and selling the products to earn money to sustain themselves and their families on a day to day basis. These programs will give confidence to these women to better prepare themselves for opportunities in the formal job market.

The project aims to help over 100 women and 200-300 children.

Please view this video where a young teacher who was a recipient of the award speak of the benefits HEREВ 

SPOT is an ongoing puberty education project that seeks to educate and empower young girls aged between 9 to 16 years old in Malaysia. The vision is to help young people become confident and resilient in making informed decisions for their well-being, now and for their future. We are optimistic and ever-evolving in our quest to remove embarrassment, stigma and fear around sex education. It is powered by youth volunteers and has successfully collaborated with 4 Soroptimist Clubs in Malaysia. The project has changed the lives of more than 10,000 girls already and has moved to the digital space in light of the pandemic. Now, SPOT wants to go bigger, better and more accessible to all.

SI Petaling Jaya - SPOT Online Talks and Workshops Project

Awarded AUDВ 4,000
November 2021

This project addresses SISEAP's mission of empowering women while they're still young girls by providing puberty and sexual health education to ensure they're empowered and able to keep their body autonomy. By increasing education opportunities, SPOT seeks to reduce teenage pregnancies and provide resources to girls in unsafe environments.В  SPOT employs volunteers from corporate and civil spaces, which helps to increase awareness of sexual education in adult spaces and allows women to give back to young girls in safe spaces.

During 2021 and 2022, SPOT aims to deliver online talks and workshops to young girls and boys, psychosocial support to all beneficiaries (for pandemic related mental and emotional health issues), a reproductive and sexual health Q&A platform, provide supporting materials such as the SPOT Puberty Activity Book, as well as improve the education of girls, teachers, parents and volunteers.

The project aims to help over 100 women and 10,000 children.

Find out more on their websiteВ 

This program aligns with the SISEAP vision and mission by taking up the challenge to educate and help teenage girls cope with the challenges they face in their growing up years.

SI Bangsar - Teenagers Survival Kit

Awarded AUD 10,000
June 2021

Latest News: 

After many months of virtual activities, we finally had our first face to face workshop on 13/7/22 at Sekolah Menengah Puteri Titiwangsa (a girls school).

Facebook: SICB Teenage Survival Kit and Soroptimist International Club of Bangsar

You Tube Channel: SICB Teenage Survival Kit

Project values and goals

SICB aims to provide comprehensive information on the topics, and teenagers will be guided to resources where they can get the help they need. Teenagers will be given a safe space to ask questions and discuss these subjects with adults who are experts in these fields. Parents, care givers, teachers, and counsellors of teenagers were also invited to join in the webinars and project.

The first pilot webinar was held in March 2021 on Teenage Pregnancy and Baby Dumping to a group of young college students. A second webinar held in May 2021 was expanded to parents, grandparents, teachers, school counsellors, and care givers. As at 31st March 2022, a total of 7 webinars and 2 focus group discussions have been conducted with excellent reviews and useful feedback.  

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the official launch of the project was postponed and there was a soft launch instead during the “It’s Great to be Teens!” virtual workshop in January 2022. SICB launched a video competition to engage more teenagers in the TSK project to make videos on the various topics in the modules. Teenagers can be very creative and are able to convey key messages in different ways.  The competition has attracted some good entries so far.  

SISEAP and SICB is hopeful that with more funding and fundraising, the TSK will continue to make a meaningful impact and create greater awareness amongst Malaysians nationwide on the various topics affecting teenagers. 

The program will cover six main topics of concern for today’s teenagers. Besides providing knowledge, teenagers will be guided to resources where they can seek help. They can ask questions, discuss problems in a safe space with experts (including SICB members) in the relevant fields. They hope that the interaction will enhance their knowledge, enable them to share their concerns, learn from others, experience peer/adult support, improve their self-esteem and give them confidence to deal with these daily issues. The girls will have a chance to stay in school, feel safe, continue with the education they deserve and grow up assured and armed with the tools to contribute to a happy and healthy community.

Teenagers today are faced with many challenges…stress, depression, bullying, sexual activity, peer pressure and many more. Teenage girls are more vulnerable as they risk facing pregnancies and sexual harassment. Many of the issues are considered taboo in society. The culture and education systems do not encourage open discussions on these topics, hence teenagers have no one to turn to when they are in trouble.

An Awareness Program will cover these topics:

1. Teenage Pregnancies and Baby Dumping

2. Underage Sex & Child Marriage

3. Depression & Mental Health

4. Cyber Safety

5. Bullying

6. Sexual Grooming & Sexual Harassment

The program will provide comprehensive information and knowledge on how to deal with these issues. They will be guided to resources where they can seek help when they need it. Teenagers will also be given a safe space to ask questions and discuss these subjects with adults who are experts in these fields. With the education, teenagers will be empowered to make healthier and safer life choices to contribute to a happy and healthy community.

The project aims to help over 500 women, 1000 girls and 600 boys.

Project Update:

Covid has prevented the project from having face to face workshops but there have been several webinars held, one of the webinars on Teenage Pregnancy and Baby Dumping had 90 attendees 80% women and 20% men.  Work commencing for this period will be Train the Trainers and production of video and hopefully the implementation of face to face events.

The implementation of this ground breaking project would not have been possible without the funding from the Brilliant Futures Fund.

SI Hornsby in partnership with Afghan Women on the Move and Host International will provide migrant women in Sydney with skills in sewing, financial literacy and English language to increase economic independence and social contact within their own and other communities. This will help the women move from a ‘Survive to Thrive’. This project will run for 20 weeks and provide up to 30 women with new skills and a pathway to financial independence..

Update on Project