Kia Motors Australia Extends Support To Timor-Leste

SYDNEY – March 7, 2011: Kia Motors Australia is helping the world’s oldest Catholic Charity extend its palliative care and medical services throughout East Timor (Timor-Leste) by providing it with a Kia Sorento AWD.

The Order of Malta was established in 1048 when the Knights Hospitaller protected sick, poor and injured pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land. Today the organisation is still known for its mission “to service the poor and the suffering” by providing services and facilities to support the sick, elderly, the handicapped and those who are marginalised and homeless.

Kia Motors Australia has provided the Australian Association of the Order of Malta with a Sorento to be used in and around the Timor-Leste Capital, Dili to move nurses, medical staff and equipment.

The Order of Malta’s first Ambassador to Timor-Leste, H.E. David Scarf said the addition of the Sorento will significantly improve the Order’s mobility and therefore its capacity to carry out humanitarian works in the area.

“Our highest priority in Timor-Leste is the rehabilitation of the ambulance service by providing Basic Life Support training to its 67 drivers and nurses,” Mr Scarf said.

“The Sorento will provide mobility to the program and will also be used to transport palliative care nurses to visit patients, as well as transporting patients to Dili Hospital. It will also venture out of the capital city to visit the Order’s regional projects, travelling though terrain that is not suitable for a conventional 2WD.”

Following the official handover, the Sorento will be transported to Darwin before being shipped to Timor-Leste.

Kia Motors Australia President and CEO, Mr MK Kim said the Order of Malta has spent the last nine years restoring hope to thousands of Timorese and deserves support.

“A significant portion of East Timor’s one million residents are still trying to rebuild after decades of hardship,” Mr Kim said. “If we can help such a humanitarian organisation as the Order of Malta to improve medical and education services _ as well as infrastructure _ for our neighbours, then it is time and resources well spent.”

The Order now operates in more than 120 countries across five continents. Worldwide there are more than 12,500 members, 80,000 permanent volunteers and 20,000 medical personnel.