Monday, August 31, 2009

Tais Exhibition - Celebrating women's culture - Sunday 11th October


We will be holding our annual
Tais exhibition 1 - 3 Sunday 11th October at the YHA, 215 Katoomba Street, Katoomba. We will be joined by musicologist, Ros Dunlop, who will provide us a with a multi-media presentation introducing the audience to tradtitional East Timorese culture, music and musical instruments.

Tais weaving is a form of textile production carried out by women in East Timor. Women, using a simple back strap loom, produce beautiful hand woven cloths that are used for a range of functional and ceremonial purposes.

Each district in Timor has its own unique designs, colours and styles. We purchase the tais at women's tais co-ops in Dili. These tais are purchased from women scattered across the country and brought to market in Dili for sale.

Tais production is a major source of income for women. We buy the tais using fair trade principles to re-sell in Australia. We generally do not mark up the price of the tais as the purpose of the sale is not to make money but more to create markets for the sale of tais outside of Timor. We also use the tais sales as way of educating and raising awarenessim the Blue Mountains of East Timorese culture.

Please join us and buy some beautiful Christmas gifts. All proceeds go to projects that directly assist women and their families in East Timor. For more information call Suzie on 4784 1718.

Garage Sale - 9 - 3 Saturday 26th September


The next Sisters garage sale will be held Saturday 26th September at 66 Wentworth Street, Blackheath. Donations can be left on the back verandah (entry via Prince George St). We always welcome more helpers. join us Friday 25th to set up or come on the day. For more info call Gail on 4787 6310. We open at 9am. Cancelled if raining.

Book Sale results

On the weekend of the 29 and 30 August, people in East Timor celebrated 10 years of independence since the referendum was held. Simultaneously the Blue Mountains East Timor Sisters ran their annual book sale. With thousands of books available the doors finally opened at 9am. The sale was continuously busy with many satisfied customers throughout the day.

The sale not only provides the Sisters with an opportunity to raise much needed cash for projects for women and children in East Timor but also enables the group to speak to people in the Blue Mountains community about life in East Timor and why we do the work we do.

At the end of the weekend we raised over $10,000. The Sisters group wish to thank everyone who donated and bought books as well as the many supporters who assisted us to promote and then run the sale. A very special thank you must go to the Book Sale Team - Ruth and Steve Moline, Wendy and Tom Whitton and Jennifer Rowe. It was a heroic effort and we love you for it!

BMETS is a project of the Mountains Community Resource Network.




Tuesday, August 04, 2009

BMETS ANNUAL BOOK SALE 29 - 30 AUGUST

Blue Mountains East Timor Sisters will be holding their annual book sale at the CWA Hall, Megalong Street, Leura, Saturday and Sunday 29th and 30th August from 9am - 3 pm.

Do you have books to donate? We are still looking for quality books/CDs/DVDs. Please NO encyclopaedias/text books or magazines. These are hard for us to sell and usually need to be taken to the recycling depot at the end of a long book sale!! Donations can be left on Ruth's verandah at 8 Westbourne Street, Wentworth Falls or call Ruth on 4757 1953 for more information.

We hope to see you there. There will be bargains galore and fresh books coming the whole weekend. Remember all funds raised go directly to projects supporting women and children in East Timor.