This web site provides a record of the University of Notre Dame Australia East Timor Project managed by the Edmund Rice Centre. The Edmund Rice Centre is now independent of the University of Notre Dame and this project is no longer collecting donations. For current information see the Bakhita Project.

The Journey The Pilgrimage Computer Project Images of E Timor Stories How you can help Back Home

The fire damaged reading room at the Lahane Pastoral Institute, Dili, where we established our main training room. The smoke blackened walls hold the ghostly image of a crucifix destroyed in a fire following the independence vote. How you can help our Computer Clusters Project for East Timor

In October 2000, John McCarthy of Seton College, Fremantle and Bryn Jones of the University of Notre Dame, Australia spent 2 weeks in East Timor deploying the 50 computers sent previously in the container. They also began to make contact with groups that could use the hundreds of computers that they expect to provide in the next 12 months. This is their story.

John arrived in Dili a few days before me and began to set up the training centre in a room provided for us at the Pastoral Institute at Lahane, just outside the centre of Dili. The room was a disused reading room which had been damaged by fire during the aftermath of the independence vote. The original set up (above) involved 24 computers running from one powerpoint in a room that was dark and oppressive.

John had already contacted his Parish at home and asked them to sponsor a refit of the room and they quickly agreed to send us $2000. So 3 days later...

The room was cleaned and repainted, rewired with 24 Australian powerpoints, 2 fans and 4 new light fittings. It was transformed into a pleasant and airy work environment and the students came from all around.

 

The Pastoral Institute is in the centre of this photograph. It has 120 residential students who will return to work in their villages when their studies are complete. They will take computer skills with them and hopefully some computers from our project.

 

The Institute (extreme left edge of this photograph) is at Lahane on the hillside just above Dili. It is about 20 minutes walk south of the central markets (Telstra building). Dili and the ocean can be seen in the top right.

The fire had left the room blackened and sooty with this remarkable symbol on the wall. We felt that it was such a powerful symbol that we planned to keep it as a lasting reminder of the history of the room.

Over the weekend, the room was emptied out, the electricians moved in and John and some students from the Institute undertook the mammoth task of cleaning the room and painting.

Nearly finished and the difference is starting to become apparent. It's Monday afternoon and we have advertised classes for Tuesday morning!

Mary puts the finishing touches to the remnant symbol. Mary is a volunteer teacher from WA spending her long service leave at Lahane

The last few patches get painted and, as it is about 32 degrees and 90% humidity, we are pleased that it's coming to an end.

The room is declared finished and we are pretty happy about that.

Next morning and we are open for business. Fr Kornelius, the Director of the Institute looks on as some of his students practice the computer skills that have languished for over a year. Many of the students had computer skills but had not had an opportunity to practice them for over a year.

After the first few chaotic days, we settled into a routine of running classes for local young people in the mornings and early afternoon and classes for the Institute staff and students in the evenings. With only "word of mouth" advertising, we often had 40 or 50 students.

The teaching staff of the Institute had good computer skills but had not had access to computers for over a year. Our aim was to get them familiar with the systems so that they could take over after we left.

We produced a set of basic instruction signs in English and the teachers translated them to Tetum. They were pasted all around the room to deal with the repetitive questions of beginners.

Just like students everywhere, the enthusiastic, co-operative workgroup in the corner have just discovered solitaire!

John offered these local Primary School teachers a deal. "If you can use these 5 computers by lunchtime tomorrow, when I go back to Australia, you can have them!". They beat the deadline and they took them away.

In addition to the training centre at Lahane, we also set up a training area in a Youth Centre near Bishop Belo's house, a training room for the Conossian Sister's Convent and supplied 5 laptops to a school in Manitutu.

Computers for this project were provided by:

Seton College WA
Presbyterian Ladies College WA
Corpus Christi College WA

Trinity College WA sent computers via a different project but they found us, (as computers in need are apt to do) and we put them to good use!

In the next few weeks we will be supplying laptops to a Marist Brothers College in Bacau and adding to the numbers at Lahane. The next visit will take place in January 2001.

If you can help with computer donations or cash to sponsor a visit by a teacher ($2000) please click on Computer Project below.