Project Support

The (new) APHEDA Office in Dili provides support to the UNTL Library Project & volunteers

The aim of this Web site is to support all Australian and international efforts to assist the UNTL Library.

The UNTL Library staff urgently needs consistent and ongoing training and support for both library and IT development. Unfortunately, due to inadequate and piecemeal funding, support in Dili has been fitful and sporadic.

Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA established the UNTL Library Project with an initial 3-month project period. It has provided considerable ongoing follow-up support since then, including a second 3-month volunteer period in early 2002. They are also supporting two volunteer librarians in Dili at the end of 2002.

The UNTL Library Project has continued to receive support from different sources with further volunteer training in Dili and significant support efforts in Australia.

Support for the library has come from many sources - too many to mention all of them here. They include:

Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA, Independent Education Union, Victorian Department of Education, South Australian Department of Education, USAID, The Asia Foundation, AUSAID, National Tertiary Education Union, Sagebrush/Skaha, Dymocks, ACIAR, University of Technology Sydney, University of New South Wales, Victorian University of Technology, Australian National University, the Brazilian & Korean governments, New South Wales Department of Education, a number of International NGO’s, the East Timor Transitional Administration (ETTA), the Peace Keeping Force and many others.

For further details see our Donors Register.

Friends of the UNTL Library Group

Friends of the UNTL Library groups have been established to assist and coordinate grass-roots efforts in Australia. Groups in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra are actively raising funds and material resources. We hope that there will be Friends groups starting up in other states and overseas.

Please contact us if you are interested in assisting this important project if you:

• would like to make a donation(online payment, cheque or regular salary deduction)
• want to join the Friends of the UNTL Library Group
• want to join the Friends group email list
• want to promote this project in your workplace or community or are interested in establishing a local Friends Group (we can provide advice and promotional material)
• want to promote support activities and efforts you have organised
• would like to contribute information to this Web site.

This site will have an international audience but will initially include only contact details for Australian efforts. Information about overseas support efforts and contact details will be included as they become available.

We hope to provide Indonesian and Portuguese language versions of this site in the future. (We welcome offers of assistance from translators!).

We will also try to provide information and contact details for efforts to develop other library services in East Timor.