When the water started seeping in under the door, Madalena froze in fear. She sat stiff in her chair, cradling her five-year-old daughter Anisa (both pictured above) on her lap, as her husband, niece and nephews looked for sandbags to block the water.
“I just sat quietly and prayed,” Madalena says. “I was stressed. We were losing hope.”
Torrential rainfall over the Easter weekend led to widespread flash flooding and landslides in the nation’s capital of Dili. Madalena, a ChildFund project officer, is one of more than 11,000 people whose homes were destroyed or severely damaged as a result.
More than 40 people died in the natural disaster, which also caused significant destruction to roads and bridges in Dili and surrounding areas. “We had no electricity and all our firewood was wet,” Madalena says. “We did not have clean water to cook and for two days we were not able to shower.”
As the weather worsened during Easter Sunday, Madalena’s neighbours began evacuating, but Madalena and her family remained, terrified that thieves would raid their home if they left.
As the water rose knee-deep, the family moved some of their belongings to higher places, such as on top of furniture, but could not save everything.
“A sack of rice, our refrigerator, wardrobe, books, rice cooker, toilet and beds were all destroyed,” Madalena says.
Other than a small plastic Hello Kitty guitar and bubble blower, Madalena’s daughter Anisa also lost her toys and storybooks.
ChildFund field staff Madalena and daughter Anisa, age 5. Madalena and her family’s home was destroyed when floods hit Timor-Leste over the Easter weekend 2021.
Professional netballer and long-time advocate for carers Jillian describes herself as “just a little old lady”, but her energy, enthusiasm and, most of all, generosity is anything but little.
Jillian is a born go-getter, having raised seven children as a single mother, played and coached netball since a teenager – helping to empower children through the power of sport – and campaigned for decades for better support for carers in mental health. Now, at 84 years old, Jillian is still active as ever in her community, supporting those less fortunate than herself.
A cause close to her heart is helping disadvantaged children and their families through ChildFund. For almost 20 years, Jillian has been donating to ChildFund’s appeals and, more recently, buying Gifts for Good. The latter was inspired by her late son Justin.
“On Christmas Day Justin would hand out all the Gifts for Good he had bought,” Jillian says. “It was such a special thing he did.”
Often, tears of gratitude were shed as each family member read aloud how their Gift for Good would support disadvantaged children around the world. “We would give thanks for the lives we had, compared to the lives of the children receiving Gifts for Good,” Jillian says.
“I remember one Christmas we had a boyfriend of someone’s join us and he received a Gifts for Good, and he said it was his most memorable Christmas experience ever .
“It was such a genuine experience of giving and thoughtfulness for him; it wasn’t just about giving each other gifts without a thought or without gratitude for what we had.”
