Establishing new Mother Support Groups in Dili and Oecusse

Transcription

1 Volume 23 September 2016 It is often the stories themselves that shape our newsletter - sweeping aside best laid plans. This time those stories came from Alola's extraordinary work in maternal and child health - stories about new mothers, new beginnings and new programs in Timor-Leste and the support of friends in Australia. We hope you enjoy the Spring edition. In the meantime we will begin planning our next edition - a focus on economic empowerment - and Christmas. There's plenty to look forward to, be proud of and inspired by. Thank you for your support. Establishing new Mother Support Groups in Dili and Oecusse Since November 2015, the Alola Maternal and Child Health program with support from the World Food Program has established 54 new Mother Support Groups - 36 in Dili and 18 in Oecusse. The objective of the programs is to contribute to the reduction of malnutrition in Dili and Oecusse. increase their knowledge and awarness of the importance of good nutrition for mothers and children under five years of age. Every three months the Maternal and Child Health team meet with Mother Support Group members in their villages for supervision and monitoring of the projects. During the meeting, Mother Support Groups members also report on identification and referrals for pregnant and lactating women and children under five years to the health facilities. Following establishment of the new Mother Support Groups Alola s Maternal and Child Health team have run several activities to support their ongoing development and sustainability. This includes: program presentations to community leaders and members a baseline survey participatory problem analysis workshops infant and young child feeding and community management of acute malnutrition training health promotion cooking for complementary feeding demonstrations focus group discussions with caregivers. In addition to these activities, nutrition education sessions were delivered to the community leaders to

2 Alola Australia board news Maria Bohan Chair Alola Australia Manager of Alola s Maternal and Child Health Program visits Melbourne and Geelong Maria Imaculada Guterres (Macu), whom you met in our June newsletter, visited Melbourne and Geelong in early August. Macu came to be a speaker on 5 August 2016 at a Geelong fundraising event organized by the Friends of Viqueque. Kirsty Sword Gusmão the founder and chair of Fundasaun Alola was the key note speaker along with Macu and Deb Singleton, Science Coordinator at the Geelong Christian School. Deb has visited Timor-Leste and Viqueque many times. Thanks for all Alola supporters I would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful Alola supporters who continue to stay in touch, to raise funds for Alola and to remain strong in their commitment to supporting the women and children across Timor-Leste Strong Women - Strong Nation. Obrigada Maria Bohan Chair Alola Australia Mother Support Groups for Viqueque with help from friends in Geelong Excerpts from Maria Imaculada Guterres speech to Friends of Viqueque Fundraising Dinner for Alola in Geelong on 5 August 2016 Yvonne Edward, Kirsty Sword Gusmão and Brian Edward of Geelong Friends of Viqueque This fundraising event was held in the Fred Flanagan Room at the Geelong Football Club and 140 people attended. Over $17,000 was raised to support Alola s Maternal and Child Health Program in Viqueque and also the national coordination of the program. Macu told the audience that she was very proud of the program because it is having positive impacts on mothers and children s health in her beloved country. While Macu was here she stayed with Board members Sunita Varlamos and Maria Bohan and enjoyed seeing the Melbourne market and some of the countryside around Geelong. Boanoite Alola s maternal and child health program works to support new born care, infant and young child feeding, birth preparedness planning, distribution of maternity packs and the women s cancer support group program. We work at the community level by setting up Mother Support Groups and also support health facilities by providing counselling to caregivers and mothers, as well as supporting the strengthening of health facilities so there are safe deliveries. I am very proud of our work in the program. Alola s maternal and child health programs have positive impacts on mothers and children s health in my beloved country. I have 25 health staff across Timor-Leste and we now working in 11 municipalities out of 13. We have 138 Mother Support Group co-ordinators and 2500 members women and men. Mother Support Groups are very important because their role is to educate and counsel mothers and caregivers; identify people who are malnourished including pregnant women and children; and refer them to health facilities. Mother Support Groups also make household visits and provide practical support to breastfeeding mothers. Maria Imaculada Guterres, Kirsty Sword Gusmão and Maria Bohan With your funding to support maternal and child health in Viqueque we will work with a group coordinator to train the Mother Support Groups in: counselling in infant and young child feeding, including breast feeding and complimentary feeding

3 basic safe motherhood and family planning community management and acute malnutrition After receiving this training the women and men members go out to families and communities to educate and counsel them on all these important things. Ladies and gentlemen, my warmest thanks to all of you. Obrigada! Obrigada! Breastfeeding - a foundation for sustainable development Excerpts from Kirsty Sword Gusmão s presentation to the Geelong Friends of Viqueque fundraising dinner for Alola in August Kirsty reflected on how much has changed in maternal and child health in Timor-Leste since April 2005 when she last came together with Geelong friends to raise funds for Alola. Kirsty shared some of the successes achieved and challenges that still lie ahead. Breastfeeding is a foundation of sustainable development In September 2015, the world's leaders committed to 17 goals aimed at ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring prosperity. Together, they form the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2016 World Breastfeeding Week was an opportunity to raise awareness of the links between breastfeeding and the Sustainable Development Goals. By recognising that breastfeeding is a key to sustainable development, we will value our wellbeing from the start of life, respect each other and care for the world we share. Maternal mortality rates have similarly declined from 506 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2005 to 215 in Nutrition, food security and poverty reduction Under-nutrition, including sub-optimal breastfeeding underlies four percent of all deaths of children under the age of five years, across the world annually. However rates of exclusive breastfeeding in Timor- Leste have risen dramatically over the period 2003 when Alola commenced its breastfeeding promotion activities to the present day. When Alola launched the National Breastfeeding Association of Timor-Leste in 2003 only 30 percent of women exclusively breastfed their babies. The reasons for this ranged from traditional beliefs that babies require more fluids and sustenance than those available in breast milk to a lack of awareness of the dangers of breastmilk substitutes, including mixtures of honey or sugar and water. Thanks to Alola s work of promoting breastfeeding and good infant feeding practices through Mother Support Groups across the country, rates of exclusive breastfeeding now stand at around 62 percent. Survival, health and well-being Breastfeeding provides the foundation for lifelong health and wellbeing. Children and mothers who do not breastfeed are at greater risk for many conditions including acute and chronic illness for children, and breast and ovarian cancer for mothers. Malnutrition and anaemia in young children are substantial problems in Timor-Leste. More than half of the children under five years of age are stunted or too short for their age. In addition, 38 percent of children suffer from anemia, most often caused by poor diet, malaria, and intestinal worms. Both malnutrition and anemia put children at risk for infections and impaired ability to learn and succeed in school. Timor-Leste s challenges and successes in terms of the health of mothers and babies can be seen through four of the areas covered by the Sustainable Development Goals. They are: nutrition, food security and poverty reduction survival, health and well-being environment and climate change women s productivity and employment. There have been dramatic improvements in rates of maternal and infant mortality since Infant mortality figures have dropped from 67 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2005 to 44 deaths in Photo provided by Kirsty Sword Gusmão Environment and climate change Breastmilk is a natural, renewable food that is environmentally safe and produced and delivered to

4 the consumer without pollution, packaging or waste. There are environmental costs associated with not breastfeeding babies. It is estimated more than 4000 litres of water are needed to produce one kg of breastmilk substitute powder. No electricity is needed to produce breastmilk and requires no fuel for transport. Women s productivity and employment Maternal employment results in decreased breastfeeding rates with all the known health consequences. Every additional month of paid maternity leave decreases the infant mortality rates by 13 percent. Lactation rooms and paid breastfeeding breaks can increase breastfeeding at six months. Alola s approach The integrated approach to delivering Alola s maternal and child health, economic empowerment, advocacy and education programs allows messages about health, nutrition and cancer awareness to reach women and communities across Timor-Leste. And a last word - global breastfeeding rates have remained stagnant for the past two decades. Less than 40 percent of infants under-six months of age are exclusively breastfed. This puts Timor-Leste ahead of the global norm and in a good position to lead the way in raising the bar for countries like Australia (less that 15 percent?). Our Everyday HALIKU Hero Margaret Rollings completes her Camino trek You may recall the stories of Margaret Rollings from our previous editions, sharing news of her intended walk and updating you on her progress - well she did it. By walking an epic 800km in Northern Spain, vital funds for Haliku, a program that supports women with cancer were raised by Margaret who exceeded her $5000 goal, raising $5218. We extend our deep gratitude to Margaret for her incredible efforts and share some reflections from her inspiring journey. We thank Phil O Malley and the staff at Everyday Hero for supporting Margaret with her online fundraising page. We also wish to acknowledge and thank all the supporters of Margaret s walk, who contributed in generous ways to make a real difference to the lives of women experiencing cancer in Timor-Leste. Margaret shared some reflections and gratitude from her journey on her Everyday Hero Page. Photo from the Haliku facebook page I returned to Australia in July 2016, having successfully completed my long pilgrimage. Successfully I say, not just because of the long distances covered, but because, with the help of many, many kind family members, friends, children of friends, ex-colleagues, old (and I use the term politely) classmates, politicians and anonymous donors I managed to achieve my goal of $5,000. As I have mentioned, this amount is beyond my wildest dreams and remember at the very outset thinking, how am I ever going to raise even $1,000. I know I have said it all before but I am eternally grateful to you all for sharing in my quest, without you it would not have been possible, you are all now part of the journey. Thank you everyone once again, you are the best, you're champions. I love you all. Margaret also reflects on her journey with breast cancer, the situation in Timor-Leste and humbly concludes with how her amazing efforts will support Haliku. The time has arrived to begin to bridge the gap between the fledgling nation of Timor-Leste and Western nations. Let the dreams of equity for women with breast cancer in Southeast Asia s newest nation become a reality. The cost of determining a woman s vulnerability, subsequent surgery and care if considered sufficiently at risk, is manageable in a western country such as ours, for this we must be eternally grateful. In my case, and, of course also Kirsty Sword Gusmão s, after recovering from the initial shock of diagnosis, we commenced our breast cancer journey with a high degree of confidence due to the top class treatment and care by the state of the art hospitals and highly trained professional medical teams, readily available to everyone here in Australia. In addition, I was fortunate to have a highly compassionate, fully qualified breast care nurse whose words to me Margaret, we will get you through this will remain in my memory forever as gold. I had support groups such as Breast Cancer

5 Network Australia (responsible for My Journey Kit and quarterly publication The Beacon), Cancer Care, a very informative group of trained volunteer workers based in the hospital and the list goes on. Unfortunately this is still nowhere near the case for our sisters in Timor-Leste. There is still no data collection or systems in place to draw up breast cancer statistics in Timor-Leste. However, as the famous Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. The present situation in Timor-Leste is that Haliku has been officially accepted as one of Alola Foundation's key programs. Alola has begun the process of raising awareness and supporting patients of breast cancer and other cancers. Little-by-little the message is being delivered and heard, even in the most remote towns and provinces of Timor-Leste. The extra funding I have raised will be used to train members of the Mothers' Support Group in twelve villages in three municipalities of Timor-Leste; Ainaro, Baucau and Liquica, all places I visited during my time working there. Thank you very much to Qhella Barreto for letting me know that HALIKU with the support of Alola and Alberto Brites held a mini workshop (for breast and cervical cancer) in June, at four villages in the Municipality of Lautém. Los Palos on the eastern tip of Timor- Leste is beautiful but very remote, so when a person is diagnosed with any type of cancer the challenges in terms of treatment are enormous. Little by little, with your donations, no matter how small, the situation will improve. I am so grateful to have participated in this start up process - been able to give back a little something to the war torn country and community that welcomed me with open arms and gave so much to me. Thank you all so much for your wonderful donations so far - this has been an incredible journey. Although Margaret has exceeded her fundraising goal, the support needs of women with cancer continue in Timor-Leste. If you would like to contribute to Haliku please see our how you can help page at the conclusion of this newsletter and let us know you would like your generous funds to specifically support Haliku. Thank you and a HUGE thank you to Margaret Rollings. Strengthening the relationship between Timor and Australia Story by Alola Australia board members Christine Perkins and Natalie Savin Once again a group of Victorian women were welcomed by Timorese women, for a short time we were able to participate in their lives, hear their stories and come to a greater understanding of the challenges they faced and the joys they experienced. For two weeks in July/August 2016 the group travelled along the north coast of Timor-Leste from east to west and back again and all were inspired by the people they met. Alola Australia and Fundasaun Alola s relationship has been strengthened by this trip. From the smallest village to national policy - community development at its best During our visit we were privileged to be able to engage with this young country through the prism of Fundasaun Alola and those who have served it over many years. MSG/SHIO group in Samalari Most importantly, we were able to meet with groups and individuals at all levels of the organisation. Towards the end of our visit we were on the island of Atauro and met with a group who had come together with one important purpose to be by the sides of friends and neighbours during their pregnancies to ensure safe and healthy outcomes for both mothers and babies. This group had come together under the Fundasaun Alola banner of Suco Hadomi Inan ho Oan this village loves women and children or, in short, SHIO.

6 As visitors we were feted with chairs out front while some twenty members of the SHIO gently responded to our questions as we responded to theirs. The peeling away of reserve gradually allowed levels of delights and humour to flow. As much as the lives of people of Timor-Leste were intriguing to us, so too were our lives something to uncover. Such interactions underpinned deep feelings of kindred spirit between us as we all joined a discovery tour to engage the real people in the room. What we were witness to that day were the early days of a SHIO in Vila (on Atauro). Earlier in the tour we had met a mature SHIO in Samalari, Baucau. Once again, the enabling of stories of the SHIO blended with the peeling away of the personas of us the visitors and through humour and honesty a connection was reached. Our engagement with these two SHIOs added to our understandings of how Fundasaun Alola was reaching out across Timor-Leste. The establishing of SHIO groups and the capacity building which followed let us feel that there was this warm inclusive spirit making its way across the nation. In time all villages would be reached. The vehicle was women and their supportive men, and the driving force of a desire to protect women and children. This was community development at its best. The meaningfulness of meeting with those who were participants in the SHIOs was enhanced by exploring how those working in Dili utilise the knowledge and experiences of people in the villages. We learned how Fundasaun Alola plays a vital role in bringing the lived experience of the village to inform policy making at the highest levels of government, both nationally and internationally. Keep in touch Join our 1,401 friends and keep in touch through the Alola Australia facebook page. Visit our website for the latest on upcoming events and campaigns, Fundasaun Alola programs, annual reports, making donations, getting involved, newsletters you might have missed and much more. Contributors Alola Australia newsletter production team Wendy Mayne, Christine Perkins, Sue Lee, Marita Jacobsson Fundasaun Alola news Alzira Reis CEO Fundasaun Alola Stories Establishing new Mother Support Groups in Dili and Oecusse by Maria Imaculada Guterres Alola Australia board news by Maria Bohan Mother Support Groups for Viqueque with a little help from friends in Geelong by Maria Imaculada Guterres Breastfeeding - a foundation for sustainable development by Kirsty Sword Gusmão Our everyday Haliku hero completes her Camino trek by Margaret Rollings and Marita Jacobsson Strengthening the relationship between Timor-Leste and Australia by Christine Perkins, Natalia Savin and the Alola Australia tour of Timor group Faye and Mardi Trompf with Venilale weavers Visit our website for more fantastic stories from the 2016 Alola Australia tour of Timor-Leste. It is worth the visit to read Melanie Atkins story about Alola s savings and loans program, as well as a little Zumba; Mardi Trompf talking about rebuilding a nation through maternal and child health; Faye Trompf s impressions as a new Alola supporter; Katherine Rechtman s reflections on the resilience and optimism of the Timorese people and Catherine Jerome s insights into the power of education in Timor-Leste.

7 Support Alola with a donation To make a one off or regular donation you can: Make a direct deposit to Alola Australia. Our bank details are: Alola Australia, ANZ Bank Collins Place, Melbourne Victoria BSB: Account number: Swift code: ANZBAU3M Reference: donation [your surname] So that we can acknowledge your donation please send an to friends@alola.org.au with your details and amount of deposit. Send a Cheque: Cheques should be made out to Alola Australia Ltd and mailed to PO Box 382 Abbotsford 3067 VIC. Australia Donate Online via Paypal: visit our website ( and click the Donate Now button. Donate by Credit Card: Complete the following form and mail to our PO Box Credit Card: Visa or MasterCard Card Number Expiry: / Name on Card:... Signature:... Amount $... Address:... Address: P/Code:... Important Privacy Notice: Alola Australia complies with the provisions of privacy legislation and does not pass on personal information to any third party except if required to by law. Alola will retain the information provided on this form, where appropriate, and use it only for the purpose for which it has been given. If you do not wish to receive updates from Alola please tick here Strong Women, Strong Nation Feto Forte, Nasaun Forte