EDUCATING THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF SABU ISLAND – BY PROVIDING A ROOF OVER THEIR HEADS!
For the past 20 years the Rotary Club of Beaumaris has supported the education of young people from poor villages in the remote Island of Sabu in East Indonesia, enabling them to gain an education.
One of the many ways we have provided the support is to assist in the upkeep of schools and hostels that do not receive support from the Indonesian government.
Sabu/Kupang visit May June 2025
Six members of Beaumaris Rotary returned to Kupang and Sabu Island in May 2025 to review project progress: John Manx, Mark Perelaer, Geoff Stockdale, Viv Zapolletto, Ken Mirams and Richard Potter.
We met with the three former Sabu students who manage the Sabu Island student hostels in Kupang to review student support needs and any building works necessary. We then continued to Sabu and met with Pastor Franz and Tarsie who now organises many activities particularly building works. We then followed up projects from the 2023 visit detailed below.
- We visited Perema school to inspect the roof repairs carried out in 2024.
- We inspected the plans for the Seba girls hostel kitchen reconstruction.
- We visited the Mehona school in Liae and agreed the repair plan for the roof repairs.
A small committee of former students now teaching and nursing on the island was established to assist with student selection for University in Kupang.
Repairs to Mehona school roof at Liae on Sabu island costing $9,500 financed jointly by Beaumaris Rotary and Rotary foundation has stopped the roof from leaking during the Monsoon allowing school to continue.
SEBA GIRL’S HOSTEL KITCHEN REFURBISHED
During the visit to Seba on Sabu Island in 2023 it was decided that the cooking facility in a dilapidated shed on an open fire was both unsafe and unhygienic. Unfortunately, the refurbishment was delayed by damage to a school roof, considered more urgent due to the impending monsoon and also by the monsoon itself which lasted longer than usual. Finally with the help of a Rotary district grant the refurbishment has been completed, and the 20 girls who live there during the week will now be cooking in a much safer and more hygienic environment. This work was completed in 2025.
We have recently worked at the remote Perema primary school, to repair the roof and carry out other necessary repair work caused by rain damage. This work had to be carried out prior to the start of the monsoon season.
The project was funded by the Rotary Club of Beaumaris and private donors.
For before and after photos click here.
Our next project will provide a new kitchen at a student Hostel in Seba – watch this space!
Read about the June 2023 fact-finding trip to Sabu and Kupang here
Learn more about our work by watching our movie
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Like Rotary, Pastor Franz is a strong believer that education is the pathway out of poverty. Maria and Tesa are not the only beneficiaries of such support. Here they are pictured with their brother Harrison, who went through the same system and is now a qualified engineer.
There are many others. One is Maria N. Maria N. completed her high school education on Sabu and her nursing degree in Kupang through which she found paid work. She went on to gain -graduate qualifications in midwifery and is now employed as a midwife at a hospital in Sabu’s main town Seba.
How is it possible that these young people were able to attend university in a city hundreds of kilometres by sea from their home?
Staffed, sponsored hostels provide students with a safe environment as their home away from home.
Penfui-Kupang Girls Hostel near completion
The project to provide a new girls’ hostel in Kupang, West Timor has now been brought to practical completion, and with assistance from a district grant furniture and furnishing were provided. The new bunk beds mean the girls no longer have to sleep on mats on the floor!
With the foundations first poured in 2018, and built in stages over several years, with funds from Beaumaris Rotary and generous private donations, the hostel allows up to 120 young women from Sabu to attend university and gain a tertiary education.
Beaumaris Rotary assists with ongoing funding to this and two other hostels to support students at with their daily needs including food and other essentials. To discover the history of our involvement with Sabu see Sabu Island Story.