Renewing old school ties

By Rebecca Fraser
TWO Berwick teachers have headed off to East Timor to share the Australian way of life with their sister school.
Kambrya College teachers Ruth Scott and Ben Forbes flew to East Timor on Sunday and will spend just over a week visiting the college’s friendship school in Letefoho.
Ms Scott said, ever since Kambrya College opened in 2002, it had been associated with the Letefoho school and the schools had formed a strong bond.
She said the Australian East Timor Friendship Program had matched the college with a junior secondary school called 20 de Mai (20 May), named after the country’s independence day.
The school is located in the mountain district of Letefoho, south west of the capital of Dili.
Last year Kambrya College sent a friendship banner to the school as a sign of their new relationship.
Ms Scott said they were looking forward to collecting a reciprocal banner on their trip.
The librarian said both she and Mr Forbes would meet students and teachers at the school and help in the classroom with various activities, including English conversation.
The pair will take AFL Auskick footballs in a bid to share some of Australia’s culture with the teachers and students, and will also make Aussie damper.
They will take films and photos of their trip and have been asked to present these at a forum of the Australia East Timor Friendship Program in May, which will be attended by Kirsty Sword Gusmao, the ex-Melbourne woman married to freedom fighter and East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao.
Ms Scott said Ms Gusmao was devoted to improving the conditions of the people of East Timor, especially women, and she was looking forward to giving their presentation.
She said the pair expected conditions in East Timor to be very different from home but she believed it was Australia’s duty to help the new country rebuild and grow.
Ms Scott admitted that she was extremely excited but very nervous about the trip and they had enlisted a driver to help break down the language barriers.
“I have never been to East Timor and it will be difficult as it is a volatile political place with limited infrastructure.”
There is no phone, no Internet, no water and no electricity in most of the rural areas.
“Australians owe it to East Timor as we have treated them not so well in the past and we have a debt to them. Because of this we need to take part in their rebuilding.”
Ms Scott said during the trip the teachers hoped to find ways that Kambrya College could further help their friendship school.
In July, two school sport teams from the Ermera District in East Timor will visit Berwick to compete in volleyball and soccer in the Edwin Flack Games.
Ms Scott said the Timorese students would hopefully be billeted in homes of students from Kambrya College, further promoting ties and friendship between the schools.