Indian Ocean Aid Agency

IOAA has a mission to provide pro-active means of dealing with poverty and Malnutrition in Australia and overseas. We promote the concept of community run agriculture systems as a means of community empowerment, self reliance and reduction of poverty and malnutrition.

IOAA is a very new organisation, our first project is based out of a community health clinic called the Bahkita Centre in a village called Eraullo in the Ermera district of East Timor. The organisation running the health clinic is Leeuwincare Inc. Leeuwincare is an organisation run by East Timorese people who are dedicated to providing health services, free ambulance and hearse services, English lessons and computer training to the local community Leeuwincare exist on a skeleton budget of donations from various groups around the world.

We hold cultural aweareness training for young people heading overseas to volunteer in third world countries. The participants learn the importance of being aware and sensitive to the cultural or religious beliefs of different cultures. It can be very easy to offend people from other cultures (we call them cultural breaches), and can sometimes set a project back or even bring it to an end. We also offer volunteer work in Perth with different aspects to our organisation.

IOAA have formed a partnership with Leeuwincare to establish the agriculture system which will address the following issues existing in the Ermera district:

• High Infant mortality rate 30% in some areas
• Protein deficiency related illnesses
• Food security issues at various times during the year when food and money are scarce in the community
• Children attending school often miss out on breakfast resulting in fatigue and a reduced ability to learn
• Orphanages that have trouble coping with the dietary needs of the orphans
• Lack of training and employment opportunities