According to Emmie Forge, President of the Armidale CWA, the chance to learn about the culture and history of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (commonly known as East Timor) has revealed a greater understanding of a country known only for it violent repression at the hands of the Indonesian regime.
Almost 200 members of the Country Women’s Association of NSW attended the annual Study School held over three days at the University of New England, where they heard personal stories of East Timorese women, performances of Timorese music by professional musicians and lectures on the rich cultural history of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.
“I have found the study of East Timor really interesting,” said Emmie Forge.
“We just seem to take country to country for granted, but when you come to something like this you really do learn about the country that you are studying, it is a big awakening for us.
“You soon realise how very, very lucky we are to live in Australia.
“I had a silly concept of East Timor and didn’t realise that it had as many mountains as it does and I didn’t realise that there were many languages spoken there.
“It is just wonderful to come to these study Schools and here all about it.”
NSW State International Officer Rowena Casey believes the study of Timor-Leste will ignite a passion for one of our closest neighbours amongst CWA members.
“We have had such a wonderful group of guest speakers over the weekend with representatives from 25 of our 30 CWA branches attending,” said Rowena Casey.
“They will all go back to their home towns fired up to tell all their branches and groups about Timor-Leste.
“This is the start of our study of this country.
“We have a different country to study each year and this is about the 74th country of study.
“We started in 1938 with Norway and so it has grown over the years.”
Story: Jo Harrison
