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Louise Pollard, Manager, Aspire UWA, is full of surprises. In addition to her role in Aspire, which was honoured with an AFR Higher Education Equity and Opportunity award last week , Louise spent two years in Timor Leste as a volunteer supported by the Australian government.

Louise first fell in love with Timor Leste during a short visit in 2006. The next year she began as a volunteer with Austraining International in the country’s Ministry of Education, supporting the director of teacher training. But Louise soon found her role was much broader than expected.

Although based in Dili, the capital city, Louise spent a lot of her time in a remote community in the Ermera district, located in the west central part of the country. There, she learned to speak Tetum, one of the national languages of Timor Leste, took on a role translating for visiting doctors in the village medical centre and coordinated Timor Leste Vision (a Perth based organisation) program in the region.

Some of Louise’s strongest memories from Timor Leste are from her time at the community and medical centre.

“There was a 16 year old girl who had run away from Dili who was heavily pregnant. She came to the village and was encouraged to go to medical centre when she went into labour,” Louise recalled. “There was no doctor there at the time, just the mid-wife, and the poor girl had no family with her. So the mid-wife invited me in to help.”

“The mid-wife and the girl did all the work. All I did was hold her hand and provide support,” she said

After a few hours of labour, the girl gave birth to a healthy baby boy. The boy, named Octavio, was adopted by a family in the village.

Louise tries to go back to Timor Leste every year to visit her Godchildren, drink endless cups of local coffee and work on TLV’s projects in Ermera. She still gets updates about Octavio, who is now seven, from his adoptive parents.

“The media always focus on the political instability and issues facing the country but it is such a beautiful place full of kind and generous people.  When I think of Timor Leste I think about all the things the Timorese people are doing for themselves and their community,” said Louise.

“When I’m there, I always feel very welcomed and supported.”