Success Stories

Alumni have been making a difference to the lives of hundreds of Timorese men and women across Timor-Leste. From teaching electronics to young people, advising the G7+, improving infrastructure, tackling COVID 19 and advocating for the rights of people with disabilities alumni are committed to using their knowledge and experience to give back to their country.  

Alumni have been making a difference to the lives of hundreds of Timorese men and women across Timor-Leste. From teaching electronics to young people in Baucau to  support small entrepreneurs and alumni are committed to using their knowledge and experience to give back to their country.  

Gil Zairo de Assunção Soares Ximenes

Story of Gil Zairo de Assunção Soares Ximenes!  Alumni and environmentalist Gil Zairo de Assuncao Soares Ximenes was born in 1994 and grew up in Dili during the war for independence. He started primary school in the early 2000’s and vividly remembers walking through burnt out houses and destroyed infrastructure on his way to school. Despite the destruction around him and the trauma he experienced as a child, he felt excited to start his formal education. ‘I felt a joyous sense of freedom and peace and kept my head held high. My heart was filled with excitement for my first…

Carmeneza dos Santos Monteiro

Story of Carmeneza dos Santos Monteiro! To mark International Women’s Day 2023 we caught up with Australia Awards alumni and Timor-Leste Australia Award Association President, Carmeneza dos Santos, to find out about her life’s journey, motivations, and challenges and why International Women’s Day is important to celebrate. Carmeneza dos Santos Monteiro is one of 150 women who have completed an Australia Awards scholarship since the program was introduced in Timor-Leste in 2000. Born in Tutuala she grew up in Ira -Ara, Lospalos, in the far east of the country, under Indonesian occupation, when it was difficult for children to access…

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM TIMOR – LESTE (WDPTL)

After eight years, what has changed from Australia’s 22-million-dollar investment in the development of Timor-Leste’s workforce? Quite a lot it turns out. Australia Awards alumni are punching above their weight in national influence, Australian labour mobility jobs have increased elevenfold and the Technical and Vocational Education & Training (TVET) system for hospitality has been transformed. Australia’s investment has delivered for Timorese, but there is still a long way to go and hard-won lessons to pass on to the three Australian programs and others who will continue this work. This report for what is now called the Workforce Development Program Timor-Leste…

Director of National laboratory – Endang Soares da Silva

AAS Alumna, Endang Soares da Silva recently participated in the case study by Australia Awards Global Tracer Facility. The report is now published and can be found here. 

Former Minister of Public Works

H.E. Salvador Eugénio Soares dos Reis Pires is an alumnus of the Australian Development Scholarship and the current Minister of Public Works in Timor-Leste’s 8th Constitutional Government. He graduated with a Master of Architecture from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Melbourne, Australia, in 2007 with a first class honors.