Marist Solidarity has agreed to fund the development of a new IT study centre in the remote village of Boile in the district of Baucau to help young people develop skills and talents for their future.
Community leader, Celestino da C. Treitas, and his team initiated the program by contacting Marist Solidarity in-country project partner Brother Tony Clark.
They presented Brother Tony Clark with a proposal to establish an IT study centre to help young people build proficiency in computing and develop good study habits to encourage ongoing learning. They call the program ‘Fini Ba Futuru’, or ‘Seeds for the Future’.
Celestino and his team had the novel idea to use the under-croft area of the community’s recently-rebuilt ‘sacred house’ or ‘uma lulik’. In Timorese, the word ‘lulik’ refers to the spiritual cosmos, root of life, and the sacred rules that dictate relationships between people and nature.
The ‘Chefe du Suco’ of Bahú—a sub-district of Baucau, and village elders fully support the program and plans to establish it under the sacred house.
Marist Solidarity will provide funds to purchase five computers, which will enable more than 50 young people from the local community to undertake the new IT classes on a roster basis.
Celestino has studied management in Dili. His team includes 10 young people that will deliver the program, all of whom are at various stages of completing different IT and management certificate courses.
Until now, Celestino has been teaching students using a very old and slow computer at his house.
The village of Boile is about five kilometres from the city of Baucau. The community mostly relies on small-scale subsistence farming, like growing crops, raising goats and fishing. They receive little financial support from the Timorese Government, district administration, or other non-government organisations.
Marist Solidarity is proud to support this small community, where seeds for a different future, shaped by education, are being planted within the whisper of the ancestors’ spirit.
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