Who We Are

"Like many Australians, I have watched with pride and a growing affection for East Timor the work of Australian peacekeepers in helping the country to move forward after many years of great challenge. I have also been moved by the stories of the people throughout the years of struggle, and the strong humanitarian contribution Australians have made in so many ways.

Back in January 2009, I was privileged to spend the best part of a day talking with Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão in Dili about the ways in which Do Something could assist this wonderful country.

Do Something's East Timor Now campaign is a result of that meeting. We want to help raise the flag for this fascinating, culturally rich new nation - a country with untold potential - as we mark the 10th anniversary of its historic vote for independence. Our campaign is a call to action to Australians to get behind and support East Timor on its road to full economic independence. Our aim is to promote tourism, trade, investment, donation and volunteering in East Timor.

On this point, and in the light of the United Nations Mission in Timor-Leste's (UNMIT) assessment that the country is "calm and peaceful" we would urge the Australian government to heed President José Ramos-Horta's repeated calls to lift the travel advisory on East Timor which strongly discourages Australians from visiting. This would bring us in line with the US, the most security conscious world power, which has no such travel warning or alert for East Timor.

As you will see, our website and campaign provide information on everything from the unique tourism activities available here - including world-class diving and snorkelling off the coasts - to trade opportunities, through to options for Australians to make a difference by volunteering, donating or befriending an East Timorese community.

Many people have come together to make this campaign happen, showing the genuine breadth of goodwill towards East Timor.

Kenny Lay, East Timorese-Australian businessman and owner of Timorcorp, the leading coffee company of East Timor, is the campaign's founding sponsor.  We are very grateful for Kenny's support.

Leading international photographers Martine Perret of UNMIT, Dan Groshong, Zésopol Caminha, Nick Hobgood and Rusty Stewart have generously donated their stunning images of East Timor and its people for use on the site.

And our friends at Ogilvy Singapore have adapted a street art tourism campaign they did onsite in East Timor into extraordinary posters that extol the many virtues of East Timor as a destination for travellers. We want the community to download, print and distribute these fantastic artworks and spread the word about East Timor.

Many other partners have allowed us to adapt their content to help ensure the East Timor Now campaign site is a comprehensive one stop shop, including Lonely Planet, Turismo Timor-Leste, Discover Dili, and Travelotica.

And our fabulous web designers, Pollen Digital, have put their heart and soul into the design of the website with, I hope you'll agree, outstanding results.

Please join the campaign by using the signup panel in the footer. And if you want more information or would like to work with us, do contact us using the form under the Who We Are menu, above.

In the meantime, we hope you will join with us and 'Do Something for East Timor Now'."

Jon Dee
Founder and Chair, Do Something