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At the age of 14, Ornella Byak left her life in Australia to visit her closest neighbor, East Timor. That trip changed her life forever. She questioned how her morning coffee could afford to educate a child for a month, yet many could not even afford that. She questioned the disparity of education and opportunity.
At the conclusion of this first visit, one of her Timorese peers approached her and said, "Don't forget about us." That day Ornella made a promise and commitment to the Timorese community – to never forget about them and do everything she could to create the same education opportunities she had growing up in Australia.
Six years on, with the generous support of Australian donors, she has assisted transformation of education systems in the community of Letefoho with threefold yearly growth and immense student success. In continuing this mission, Ornella founded BETTER in 2018, and recently the organisation was granted DGR status and became a registered charity with the ACNC.
Currently, BETTER is focusing their works in Cailaco, Maliana, as the children are over five years behind curriculum. Each year BETTER will build three classrooms and facilities to welcome a new year group and an additional 75 students. This will start with Kindergarten and grow to year 12.
Together, with the community BETTER are so excited to bring the opportunity of free, high-quality education as we empower BETTER futures through education.
BETTER are incredibly excited to change thousands of lives and futures.
This is just the start…