The Matadalan Ba Malu program is volunteer run and completely dependent on donations which are used towards supporting the travel and living expenses while staying in Melbourne.

Tired of relentless Christmas Sales, Junk under the tree and endless consumerism? 

Give a gift that matters this Christmas by donating on behalf a loved one to the  Matadalan ba Malu Christmas Campaign. We are a small group of students, graduates and staff from RMIT University in Melbourne who undertake community fundraising to support the education of two to three women per year from East Timor to study English. While RMIT English Worldwide waives the tuition fees, Matadalan ba Malu raises funds to cover all other travel and living costs associated with the three month program. So if you want to contribute to something that really can make a difference then support Ana Gutteres and Juvita Pereira who have been selected to study English at RMIT in March 2013. The Matadalan ba Malu program is entirely voluntary, and as such is entirely dependent on community donations of which 100 per cent goes towards the program.

If you would like to support this campaign, please make a donation to the program in one of three amounts:

$25                  $50                  $100                $Other

Following receipt of your donation, we will then send on a small card featuring a message and an original photo from Timor-Leste that you can give to the person you are donating on behalf of. We also send a letter of thanks to you, and a receipt for your donation.  

Making a donation requires two easy steps

1)   Please transfer donation online to:

  Commonwealth Bank

•  Account name: The English Worldwide Scholarship for East Timorese Women Committee
• Account number: 063262 10610026
• Please include your name your name in the payer’s details when paying online.

2)   Please send an email to mbm@timor-research.org which includes your name, the amount that you have donated, and an address that we can send the Christmas card, receipt and letter of thanks to.

Please note that we need to have received the donations and notification by 18 December to ensure that gift cards will make it by Christmas via Australia Post.

Who are Ana and Juvita?

Selected from over 600 applicants, Ana and Juvita were the top female candidates in the 2012 Rotary Youth Leadership Program in Timor-Leste.

Ana Guterres is 22 years old. Her family is from Venilale though she now lives in Dili where she studies International Relations. Ana hopes to develop her leadership skills and ability to help those in Timor-Leste with less power and influence. In the future she would like to be a diplomat in order ‘to lead and to serve’, and to contribute to the development of her country.

Juvita Pereira is 21 years old and from Viqueque and grew up in an orphanage. Juvita hopes to both support and be a leader for East Timorese youth, so that young people can contribute to the development of their family and community. Juvita is now studying law at university in Dili and hopes in the future to become a judge. 

Who is Matadalan ba Malu? 

Matadalan Ba Malu facilitates English language scholarships for women from Timor-Leste. Working with like-minded partners and community organisations in Timor-Leste, the program identifies women who would benefit from high quality English training and the experience of a cross-cultural exchange in Melbourne, Australia. The program is nominally located within the Globalism Research Centre at RMIT University, and the team comprises staff, graduates and students of RMIT who have had various forms of engagement with East Timor.

Thanks to the generous support by RMIT English Worldwide, Matadalan Ba Malu has been able to offer a limited number of tuition-free placements each year to successful candidates. However, the costs and services associated with this program extend well beyond the tuition component and we must undertake community fundraising in order to cover for the travel and living expenses of each candidate to attend the courses.

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Beyond our Christmas Campaign, donations can be made at any time via the following two methods:

1) Making a direct deposit to:

 Commonwealth Bank

• Account name: The English Worldwide Scholarship for East Timorese Women Committee
• Account number: 063262 10610026

(If you donate via this method, please email mbm@timor-research.org to let them know that you have made a donation)

2) For larger donations it may be possible to make a tax deductable donation through the RMIT Foundation. To discuss this option please contact mbm@timor-research.org

For more information on how to donate please contact mbm@timor-research.org