IEU(SA) Equity Dinner
On Friday November 10, IEU (SA) members from a range of sites and sectors gathered at the Brompton Hotel for our annual Equity Dinner.
The dinner provided an excellent opportunity for members to network, share a meal with other members and listen to our two guest speakers present their recent experiences of brilliant union activist and education work being done in East Timor.
[Photo above, clockwise: Abbey Kendall, Meredith Farmer addressing attendees and Sonja Brownridge]
Our first speaker was Abbey Kendall, Director of the Working Women’s Centre SA and Abbey shared the story of a 10-year campaign to improve the working lives of domestic workers in Timor.
Elisabeth Lino de Araujo, founder of the Working Women’s Centre Timor- Leste, led this campaign. Elisabeth was inspired to set up the centre (with the support of APHEDA, unions and the Australian Government) after attending the SA Unions Anna Stewart Memorial Project in 2009 and being hosted by the Working Women’s Centre SA.
Up until very recently, domestic workers in Timor (almost entirely women) were not recognised under Industrial law. Due to the work of Elisabeth and the WWC Timor-Leste once the impending change of legislation is rolled out, the wage of a domestic worker will increase from on average 10-20 US dollars per month to over 100 USD.
Abbey highlighted the importance of key parts of the programs being implemented. They are about community building, rather than just charity. The programs focus on peer-to-peer training to build sustainable structures and programs.
Sonja Brownridge, a proud IEU (SA) member and 2023 participant in the Anna Stewart Memorial Project, spoke to us about her recent trip to Timor-Leste as part of the Pilot Program 2023: ENHANCING LEARNING AND PROFESSIONAL EFFICACY PROGRAM, based at Instituto Catholico Para Formacao De Professores (ICFP).
ICFP is a Marist-run Catholic Teachers College that offers an accredited Bachelor of Teaching and is the only tertiary institution outside of the area of the capital Dili. It is also one of only two providers of primary education teacher training in the country.
Sonja, along with a small a group of Catholic School teachers from across Australia, spent the July term break working with the staff at the college who deliver teacher training, to enhance literacy and numeracy programs. She will return next year to lead the group. The office staff also benefited from this work as it improved their proficiency in English.
To find out more about the work that ‘APHEDA- Union Aid Abroad’ do, or to join, follow this link:
Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA – Global Solidarity
To find out more about ICFP in Timor Leste, read this web page:
Teacher Training College | ET0064 » Australian Marist Solidarity
Meredith Farmer
Organiser. Equity Committee Coordinator.
