Seven Year 10 & 11 students have been in Timor-Leste for the last 3 weeks of Term 3 and have experienced immersion in a climate, culture, and standard of living completely different to that they are familiar with. They will have opportunities to share their thoughts and experiences when they return. It may take time for these experiences to sink in so I will not attempt to preempt their thoughts and feelings. As an adult, who has traveled to places with similar standards of living before, it has been a reminder of the discrepancy between developed and developing nations’ share of resources (globally speaking) and all the issues that accompany this reality. I shared with the students, Australian philosopher, and proponent of ‘effective altruism’, Peter Singers 1972 thought experiment.
‘You are to imagine that you’re walking past a shallow pond when you see a child struggling in the water. There is nobody else around to help. Just before you wade in, you remember that you’re wearing your most expensive shoes. Unfortunately, there’s no time to remove them, and they’ll be ruined by the water’ What do/should you do?
While the answer is obvious. It becomes less obvious if you apply the idea across greater distances. Put simply, despite our capacity to save the lives of distant people in terrible situations, given our relative wealth, often we do not.
In our experience, people in Timor-Leste are generous, friendly, kind and undoubtedly tough and resilient. Students walking an hour each way to school with minimal food, carrying water and subsistence living are just some examples.
The experience has given the students plenty to consider, and we are grateful that Friends of Venilale in Mansfield and Friends of Mansfield in Timor-Leste have been willing to help make the trip possible. The students have engaged extremely well, and we hope to be able to visit again with another group.
You will have an opportunity to support this year’s students to raise money for our Uai Laco (our partnership school) during Term 4 so please look for opportunities to contribute and find out more from the students about Timor-Leste and their experience.
