DAMASCUS College students packed their bags yesterday, but not with the usual things you’d find in a teen’s backpack. Medical equipment, sporting goods, stationery and school supplies jostled for space with the clothes they’ll need for a 10-day stay in Timor Leste.
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Eleven students and four staff will today start the long journey to East Timor where they will visit Damascus College’s sister school Santa Maria College in Ainaro, a mountain town about seven hours from the capital Dili.
While there the group will experience a different culture and way of life, will teach English to Timorese children, and make their donation to the sister school to help with development plans and support their educational needs.
The year 11 students have been working for almost a year to raise money and source donations to support the school and other non government organisations in the area.
“Our pattern is for students to apply to go in mid year 10, then they go through a fairly intense process to get on board,” said assistant principal Tony Haintz.
“From there they work really hard on a fundraising program for our sister school Santa Maria and try to understand some of the cultural and international issues associated with that nation and visiting a world different to ours. By the time they’re in mid year 11 we pack them up and send them off.”
Students this year held a trivia night, various sausage sizzles, designed and sold a calendar and ran other events to raise cash for the school and other organisations working to make a difference in the country.
The school’s first exposure to East Timor came when it accepted four Timorese refugee students in 1998-99 when Indonesian military-backed pro-Indonesia militias were violently sweeping through the country in the lead up to the referendum on independence.
After the country won its independence, the City of Ballarat vowed to support them and set up a sister city relationship with Ainaro, including the friendship school program which Damascus joined in 2005.
