Clonard College Visit to Timor Leste 23/6/2024 – 3/7/2024
Day 1 – Clonard’s eight Year 11 students and three staff (Carmel Brown, Michael McCallum and Jen Talbot) arrived in Dili on Sunday 23 June after a 6am flight from Melbourne, via Sydney and Darwin, touching down at 3.10pm. After a slow visa process, and some confusion over rooms booked, we were able to book into the Esplanada Hotel, with air conditioning, comfortable rooms, a swimming pool and upstairs eating area overlooking the ocean!
Day 2 – We visited the Santo Antonio de Motael church, the Australian Embassy, the Santa Cruz cemetery and the Alola Foundation, travelling by a combination of some walking, some taxis and a mikrolet home!
Day 3 – We packed the next morning and loaded our bus, before visiting the Resistance Museum, reinforcing so much about our understanding of Timorese history and the past Indonesian occupation.
We drove along the coast to Baucua for lunch, leaving by 3.30pm. Despite some bad road conditions in the middle, we safely arrived at our Carbala Guesthouse accommodation in Viqueque at 5.40pm. We ate that evening at the Guesthouse, enjoying rice, noodles with beef and vegies!
Day 4 – Our students visited Clonard’s sister school, Uaimori, with the liaison officer for the Geelong Viqueque Friendship Schools, Mariano, for the first time. Each of our travelling group, students included, were presented with traditional Tais in a formal ceremony in the school library where we met the principal and some members of staff including the librarian we sponsor. There was time then for games, counting, singing and reading with the Uaimori students, as well as some outside activities when the 10.30am bell was rung. Interesting to see the government sponsored food program had been reinstated, with students at the break lining up for rice and bananas.
After resting and making wool bracelets in the Timor flag colours in the heat of the afternoon, we walked to the Catholic Church in Beloi, stopping on the way to view some organised Futsal and Volleyball games, and the adjacent market.
Day 5 – Our students again had conversations with the Uaimori students, breaking into reading/discussion groups of one Clonard student with three-four primary students in the library and in the shade outside the library. We also visited the Christian College Kindergarten that day.
Day 6 – We woke to light rain falling and our students visited both Uaimori, where skipping ropes, bubble wands and frisbees were fun activities and Viqueque (meeting Paulina, Mariano’s wife there) to sit with students for more English conversations. We noticed Viqueque had a new coffee shop, and a pharmacy. Eating options are still a little limited in Viqueque although we mixed up meals by pre-ordering at Lumiere and discovering some wonderful fruit juices on offer there!
Day 7 – We left Viqueque early, travelling just as far as Baucau and staying at the Palapa Guesthouse for the night, with air conditioning, comfortable rooms and great views of Baucau from the balconies. The only challenge was the 48 stairs leading up to the rooms, but the views made this worthwhile. We had pre-ordered meals at the Vitoria Restaurant and our girls enjoyed playing cards after dinner on the cool terrace upstairs.
Day 8 – Our group attended Mass at the local Catholic Church. Our bus then took us back home to Dili, via a visit to the Good Crocodile Foundation, where we were welcomed with dancers and some formal speeches, complete with a tour of new maternity rooms, and lunch. This visit impressed upon our students the valuable work undertaken by that Foundation. We arrived ‘home’ at the Esplanada that afternoon for a cooling swim, after which we organised, a laundry run with the hotel to take some of our washing for us. At $1 an item this proved a luxury for our tired but happy group!
Day 9 – Our flight the following day was not until 4pm so we took the chance to catch a mikrolet to Timor Plaza for a look and a shop, buying some snacks and a scrubbing brush to clean the soles of our shoes before the airport. Toasted sandwiches at a nearby café, the Centro supermarket (for Beng Beng chocolates) and the buying of coffee beans for presents were a hit!
We were able to arrange cars to the airport) at 2pm and flew out of Dili at 4pm as scheduled, arriving in Darwin at about 5.45pm.
Day 10 – To fill in time before our 12.55am flight we wheeled our luggage around to the Mercure where we’d pre-booked a ‘day stay’ at $30 per head (free use of pool and dinner at Cossies restaurant). Although weary and glad to be home at 5.30am.
Our group have since individually recorded some valuable reflections on their time in Timor, and a selection of these are as follows:
- We left Timor after 10 days, our hearts feeling fulfilled, having gained an appreciation for all the small things and our bodies exhausted from the persistent heat and humidity! It truly was an experience of a lifetime and all the memories we have made with the people and the country will not be forgotten! (Asha)
- My favourite part was teaching the children English, where you would say a word and they would repeat it straight after. They were so unbelievably interested in learning English. Receiving the Tais from the school was also an honour and I will cherish it forever. (Jasmin)
- I loved visiting our sister school, Uaimori, each morning and spending time with the students, whether that was playing with them outside or reading with them in the classroom. I am so thankful to have been able to form connections with the students and spend time with them. Viqueque is also absolutely gorgeous, and I enjoyed going on afternoon walks with the group to see different parts of the town like the church, the local market as well as the local volleyball and soccer tournaments. (Noor)
- I will forever be grateful for this opportunity, and that I was amongst a group of seven other amazing students and three generous and supportive teachers. We learnt about a deeply cultured history, explored new places, and had a once in a lifetime adventure in a beautiful, joyful and welcoming country called Timor Leste (Grace)
- My key takeaway was visiting the schools and getting the opportunity to teach English, build relationships, learning more about their culture and their way of living, and of course getting to see the joy on the children’s faces. My experience at Uaimori primary school was amazing I loved every minute of it and getting to see how excited the kids got to see us was definitely something I’ll always remember…. (Paris)
- A takeaway from this trip for me was definitely that i want to travel and experience new places. This trip also made me realize how negative we are as a society, and we are all always looking for the negatives in life and always having the want for something new, without never living in the moment and being happy about what we have and where we are in life. (Millie)
- I loved going to the Uaimori Primary school as the kids were always so happy to see us and a lot of them were so genuine and willing to learn. And it was incredible to see the difference we made in the few days we were there. Although the kids were crazy it was an incredible experience to be able to work with them and immerse ourselves in their culture as they also taught us many things about themselves, their lives and their culture. (Madi)
- I think the biggest takeaway was how lucky we are to have been born in Australia. We have good running water and houses that are structurally sound compared to some of the houses I saw in Timor. We also don’t need all the stuff we have. Seeing the kids next door play with rocks and the spinning top toy, all made from materials they found, made me realise everybody over there finds joy in simple things and personally I want to be more like that. I over think so many things and try to do so much, but really, I need to take a step back and appreciate what I have and how it brings me joy and that I’m grateful for it. (Brodie)
Michael McCallum, Carmel Brown and Jen Talbot, Clonard College 2024
