Central Victorians are leading the way in building friendships with one of Australia's closest neighbours, Timor Leste.
Friendship groups have been formed over the past 20 years to share knowledge and projects across Timor Leste after its independence in 1999.
Jenny Feiss is a committee member of the Bendigo Maubisse Friendship Group and said her nine years on the committee have been rewarding.
"I've been up there eight times and each time I go up there I learn something new," she said.
"And I think it's been beneficial for the Timorese people in terms of showing them ways of doing things.
"They've learned a lot about building projects, they've learned sewing, their health is improving."
Maubisse is in the central highlands of Timor Leste, 73 kilometres south of the capital Dili.
The Bendigo group was formed in 2006 to fundraise and complete projects that directly benefit the people of Maubisse, such as helping build schools and donating school desks and chairs.
Rae Kingsbury is a former CEO of the Victorian Local Government Association and lives in Muckleford, just outside the central Victorian town of Castlemaine.
In 1999, Ms Kingsbury was the local government representative to observe the United Nations-supervised ballot that led to the country's independence.
"The period of the ballot for independence was incredibly hard for the people of Timor-Leste," she said.
"More than anything, they need friends, then and for the future."
It was on her return from Timor Leste that Ms Kingsbury began the friendship groups.
Maubisse has a population of 20,000 people and is the main coffee-growing region of the country.
Many of its residents are farmers who exist on less than $350 a year producing green beans, mandarins, avocados, oranges, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, and shallots.
Ms Kingsbury said the friendships look to avoid providing "stuff" and give something meaningful.
"When I was working with them a lot as [the] consul they would often have all the answers, but they might not have the process about how to go about planning it — who do you need to ask for it? What goes first?" she said.
"They won't have that institutional understanding, so I would work through some of that with them and they would do that themselves.
