Schools need our help

By Deirdre O’Sullivan

Renewed efforts are being made in NSW schools for much needed equipment and fundraising drives for schools in East Timor.

East Timor schools are still operating in "emergency" mode after the devastation in the aftermath of the 1999 referendum for independence from Indonesia.

Building a country anew from the ashes in East Timor will take some years and requires ongoing international awareness and assistance. While peace has been successfully restored and it is a safe and beautiful country it remains dirt poor. The annual Budget for the country is only $US100 million a year and, in the latest census close to a million people were counted. Education funding, while a government priority, is spread very thinly. Indeed, with an average of 8.3 children per mother at present, East Timor may well need emergency food relief as well.

During a two week visit to NSW state schools in Sydney and Orange districts a delegation of nine district superintendents and principals from East Timor met with representatives of the NSW P&C who explained the structure of the organisation. Parent organisations are being developed in East Timor with the support of UNICEF. Liquica Primary School principal Rosinha dos Santos Castro described how parents had helped in making desks and chairs for her school on Saturdays. However, Rosinha said that owing to poverty (more than 41 per cent of Timorese people live on less than US55c a day) significant fundraising by parent communities was not feasible at present. Fatumeta Junior Secondary High School Jose Campos said his school still lacked sufficient desks and chairs and many students still had to sit on the floor.

Local people who live near schools are in survival mode and there is little excess to save or give to others. With a very high percentage of unemployment "school canteens" become a small business for local women who set up shop in the grounds with plastic buckets of pastries and mangoes at recess (breastfeeding baby in tow). While popular with students these canteens make little money given 5c is the average price of a pastry or mango slice with chili.

The DET Helping Our Neighbour -- East Timor Education Fund has been operating since October 2000. The program has three target areas: funding assistance; equipment aid- in-kind and training expertise. The Department consults with the Ministry of Education East Timor as the allocation of donations. Most funds (more than $50,000) have been allocated to the rebuilding of classrooms and boarding facilities for Nataboro Agricultural High School in Manututo District.

Funds in the account are now down to $3000 and Education Minister Andrew Refshauge has committed to funding another container of equipment for East Timor in the near future.

The DET Helping Our Neighbour program would like to raise the balance in the account to be targeted for Maliana Agricultural High School in the Bobonaro District of East Timor. Mr Paolo Afonso, principal of the school was with the delegation. He said his school desperately need laboratory equipment (as labs were badly destroyed in 1999), as well as equipment like tools for use in agricultural high schools such as spades and hand ploughs.

East Timor has four specialist agricultural high schools which were developed during the Indonesian occupation. They were destroyed in 1999 but the Education Ministry wants to renew them as a new skill base for their new nation -- still a predominantly agricultural society.

Before the next delegation of East Timorese education officials in August 2005 it would be great to show we still care for this new struggling nation.

If you and your committee at you local school could assist in raising funds for Education in East Timor it would be greatly appreciated by Maliana Agricultural High School.

Cheques can be made out to DET Helping Our Neighbour East Timor and sent to Department Of External Relations, Helping Our Neighbour Fund, 35 Bridge St Sydney, NSW 2000.

In light of a container of equipment being sent, ask your local school not to throw out useable old equipment like desks, chairs, computers and so on. Note that books in English are not useful in East Timor as the main language is Tetum and the official language is Portuguese. Indonesian is also spoken and read.

You can email ellen.mcewen@det.nsw.edu.au or deirdreos@ozemail.com.au.

Deirdre O'Sullivan now teaches ESL at Fairfield High School.

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October 2004 contents