There are many quiet revolutions taking place in East Timor, our nearby neighbour. Fr Michael Lynch SDB reports exclusively for The Record.
One quiet revolution that I recently witnessed was the graduation in basic building skills of 106 previously unemployed young men. Most of these were school dropouts who used to spend their days sitting by the roadside and throwing stones at passing cars.
For these graduates it was clear that this was the first time their achievements were not only publicly acknowledged. What’s more about half have already secured paid jobs, a significant achievement in a country where the level of unemployment is still very high.
East Timor is still the poorest country in South East Asia where a good percentage of the population survive daily on limited food.
I was in Timor last month; it was, I think, my 17th visit in ten years and twelve months since my previous visit. What were my impressions?
The nation, which is not even eight years old, seems much more stable. People are moving around with a greater sense of purpose and safety.
The Government appears to be doing what it was elected to do; it is moving in the right direction. Like all governments, it is criticized for not doing more and not doing it quickly enough.
There are young people everywhere. You see them in groups, walking to and from school, playing sport, and so on. While they have always been fairly keen on schooling, I noticed, on this occasion, a much greater enthusiasm for learning and doing well in their studies. As I already mentioned above, a particularly significant experience for me was the graduation ceremony at Comoro on 11 February.
When we hear ‘graduation ceremony’ we usually associate it with high flyers. Well, this graduation ceremony was for school dropouts, who had now been given a ‘second chance’. They had completed a basic skills course in building construction.
Who were these men?
Most did not complete primary and secondary education. Perhaps they did not have the opportunity to go to school or there were no schools in their district. Some had learning difficulties and others because of the turmoil in the country, had never been to school.
Prior to undertaking the courses a good number of them were more than a tad embittered and angry. Many used to spend their days just sitting by the roadside.
The basic building construction courses were in masonry, carpentry, electrical, metal fabrication (including welding) and plumbing. At the graduation they were presented with a certificate and personal box of tools.
Three of the participants came from Gariwai village (near Baucau).
Village Chief, Maria Lidia Belo, was fulsome in her praise adding that she had two of the boys working on extensions to her house. She added that the parents from other villages were very happy as the lads who were previously doing nothing, are now occupied.
The course was taught at the two Salesian (‘Don Bosco’) Technical Schools in Comoro (Dili) and Fatumaca (near Baucau).
It was initiated and largely financed by the South Australian Government’s Austraining International and AusAID in partnership with Salesians in Timor, the Australian Salesian Mission Overseas Aid Fund and Timor’s SEFOPE – the government agency responsible for vocational training and employment.
The teachers were trained in South Australian TAFE Colleges at Elizabeth, Regency Park, Gilles Plains, Marleston and Panorama.
I was privileged to participate in the graduation ceremony together with the Australian Ambassador to Timor, Peter Heyward, Secretary of State for the Timorese Government’s Department of Vocational Training and Employment Bendito Freitas, Salesian Vice Provincial Fr John Paul Guterres, South Australian Government representatives Dennis Mutton and Patrick Markwick-Smith.
“The basic building skills project has given these young Timorese training and new hope for a better future,” Mr Bendito Freitas said. “From their days at Don Bosco they now have a better appreciation of the dignity of work and the importance of personal self discipline for success in any undertaking,” he added.
The high level of co-operation between the Australians, the Timorese and the Salesians was highlighted by speakers at the graduation.
The South Australian Government, Austraining International and the SA TAFE Colleges are to be commended for initiating and driving the partnership with the Salesians’ Don Bosco Technical Schools.
I sensed that this basic skills project was indeed part of Timor’s quiet revolution when I saw the ‘graduates’ walking away clutching both the certificate and the heavy tool boxes.