From the Dean of Identity and Community
East Timor Solidarity 2024
In the recent June/July school holidays students from Years 10 & 11 combined with students from Padua College for an immersive experience in East Timor. As a nation East Timor has only been independent for roughly 25 years after being governed by the Indonesians. It is one of the poorest nations globally and has faced challenges in getting the country on track through the building of basic infastrucutre. It is an Island Nation with large and beautiful mountains and people who are resilient and filled with a great sense of welcome.
Over the course of the 16 days, we spent time in some of the villages that had the presence of the Christian Brothers up until 2017 and now is overseen by Mary Mackillop Today. While in the villages outside the main city of Dili we were guided by Julia who was educated in a village school over seen by the Christian Brothers in 2004. She went on to be sponsored by the brothers to go onto university where she obtained a degree in Global and Economic Development. She does work in the villages to educate the people in financial literacy but also to setup their own industry through coffee and vanilla bean farms.
One of the great highlights in our first days was being shown a small school that Julia started independently in Dili. This school is very much in the spirit of Edmund Rice with it being a hedge school run out of a building resembling a small house. The school takes students who were not able to educated past junior school and gives them the opportunity to be educated in IT, English and business. We experienced a humbling moment when we gathered at Julia’s home and she shared her story of growing up being raised by her uncle after the passing of her mother and father. She lived in a remote village outside of Dili but through her education was determined to do something for the people of Timor. This was a stark moment for all if us to hear her story outside of her small childhood home in the mountains. Her work was a reminder of the strength of the Timorese people and the determination to build a better country for the Timorese.
Over the coming weeks we will publish some of the students' stories to see their perspective of the trips but throughout nightly debriefs the impact on our students was lasting.
MR PAUL CORFIELD
Dean of Identity and Community