Our Mission

The Nusatenggara archipelago - including Flores and Timor - is one of the poorest regions of eastern Indonesia, and the closest to Australia. The NTA - East Indonesia Aid or Nusatenggara Association - was started by Australians who had been working in the area and were told by local leaders how some of the poverty could be lessened with aid targeted at key projects in particular villages. Such aid could, for example, be directed to supporting wells, business and agricultural initiatives, and teachers and schools.

In Australia the organization is run by volunteers and expenses are kept to a minimum so that most of the funds (presently over 90%) go to eastern Indonesia. But we have a plan to increase expenditure in Australia and employ staff. In Indonesia 18 persons, mainly field officers, are paid to keep an eye on developments and to help with accountability. The activities we support in Indonesia can be broadly divided into those involving education, small infrastructures, and income-earning. With the latter we employ rotating credit, which means that we provide our support as loans which must be repaid after 1-2 years.

The work of the NTA is all undertaken in the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), which forms a big part of the Nusatenggara archipelago and takes in the areas of West Timor and Flores (see map). This is the poorest province of Indonesia, and has an income per head of about one third the average Indonesian level. In 2008 this income at the current exchange rate is about $190 per head per year.

The main goal of the NTA is:

To reduce poverty amongst communities in rural areas of Nusatenggara Timur through sponsoring small-scale economic and social development activities amongst communities. These activities are identified by local people through a consensus (musyawarah) process. They are implemented by the people concerned, and overseen by NTA staff.

You can find out more about our current projects by clicking the Projects menu.

You can make a donation by sending a cheque (click donations), or online by clicking the button at the bottom of this page. All contributions are acknowledged and are tax deductible.

The NTA is member of ACFID and a signatory to the ACFID Code of Conduct, which aims to maintain and enhance standards throughout the non government development organisation community (NGDO) and ensure public confidence in: the integrity of individuals and organisations comprising the NGDO community; and quality and effectiveness of NGDO programs.

NTA acknowledges the assistance of the Rotary Club of Canberra Burley Griffin and the Rotary Club of Darwin.