There are 8 students and 3 teachers travelling to Timor Leste in April this year as an immersion experience. The group is made up of Year 11 and 12 students who are interested in other cultures, broadening their life experience and working as a team to make a difference for a community in Timor Leste that need development support.
These students aim to build relationships with local Timorese by working in schools, community youth centres, a crèche, the teachers college and other similar places. The group will be based at Baucau which is a beautiful town on the North East coast of Timor Leste. The students will be exposed to many new experiences such as learning Tetum (the local language), helping at the local youth centres, eating simple food, being a minority in a majority culture and visiting the local market. The main project that we have committed to is to refurbish a rural primary school at a small village called Abafala. This school is in great need of repair and rebuilding and it services a community of 264 students from prep to Year 6. Over three years our aim is to replace the roofs and make one wing structurally sound. The students will spend time living in the village and working with the students in the school.
Our major fundraising event is this Monday night 25th February at Watermarc. There will be a presentation on the immersion and Abafala project as well as an auction of wines and entertainment by Amanuael Visser, Sarah Pitcher, Olivia Cartledge and others. Tickets are $25 at the the Galen front office 5721 6322.
