J540N Encouragement House
Timor-Leste, Southeast Asia
In partnership with Encouragement House and The Encouragement Foundation
The Situation
For the majority of villages in Timor-Leste, a small primary school is the only school in their region. Many villages have a primitive and under-resourced primary school, but no junior high or high school. This prevents children from progressing beyond primary school in their education, and inevitably keeps them in the cycle of un/underemployment and poverty that their parents are in.
In 2009 the Encouragement Foundation began the construction of “Encouragement House” (EH), a safe, secure and supervised dormitory accommodating students from rural villages so they could attend high school. The children come from rural villages surrounding Maliana who would normally be denied a high school education opportunity because of the high cost or difficulty for parents. On top of providing a safe living environment for students, the project also provides computer and English courses for the surrounding community and tertiary education options for year 12 graduates.
The Objective
- To reduce poverty through access to education and achieve sustainable community development in regional areas surrounding Maliana.
J540N