Will Cooper and Logo Aunese
We woke at around 7 am after another night on the concrete, surprisingly most people felt more energised than yesterday. A quick breakfast of rolls and cereals gave us the fuel needed to teach and hopefully to inspire the children in the various classes today. Each of the immersionists were divided into the 3 classes (A, B and C) in years 7 and 8. Today we were all assigned new classes by Father Quyen, however it didn’t take long to settle in and continue with where we left of from yesterday. Beginning with a long game of Soccer (for the boys) and Volleyball (for the girls) between each of the classes of year 7 and 8, the students were ready to hit the classrooms. Starting with mathematics, most of the group were surprised by the student’s ability to complete and understand complex equations (one year 8 class even understanding Year 11 Adv Maths concepts). Almost immediately the sounds of laugher and cheers could be heard as the group committed their all so as to not only teach but keep the children interested and ready to learn. From all these challenges a lesson that could be learnt is that through persistence and openness you can really surprise yourself, and on the way you can discover many things you never would have thought of yourself. Indeed we gain far more from this experience than we can possibly give.
Being a part of their learning process today was a great experience. In English we guided the 6 classes through the responses to letters written from students in Harvey Bay and Geelong. Seeing each student attempting responses in English or learn new words was immensely satisfying. It also gave a new perspective on how challenging the role of teacher can be. With day two coming to an end with animation class, there was a continuation of established friendships, roars of cheers coming from many classes and the hard hitting desk beats the school has come to know as “Break’. There was also the foundation of stronger friendships and ones to be built upon over the next two days with it all being sealed with a simple handshake , a firm hi-5 or even a hug. We all have gifts to share, it is just a matter of how we use them. Perhaps the greatest gift we can give is our time to others. Time is something we can never put a price on. Hopefully there would have been many people today who have been affected in a positive way and will continue to pay it forward. Kasait is a place of immense joy. Students want to be here, they want to learn and they want to see a brighter stronger future for the nation of Timor Leste. Hopefully the Jesuit schools can continue to support this growth into the future with so many of our communities giving the most important gifts of all – our time and our love.
Following the exhausting day (and the teachers were also feeling this way after some intense Professional Development with the Timorese College staff for two hours) we had some chill out time playing handball and showering. Following this we experienced one of most exciting sites – watching sunset over the ocean from the Jesuit residence on Montserrat high above the school. It made the core Jesuit characteristic of ‘Seeing God in All Things’ easy to understand.
That’s all we have from today here in Kasait and as the kids here would say “See you tomorrow brother and sister!"
We woke at around 7 am after another night on the concrete, surprisingly most people felt more energised than yesterday. A quick breakfast of rolls and cereals gave us the fuel needed to teach and hopefully to inspire the children in the various classes today. Each of the immersionists were divided into the 3 classes (A, B and C) in years 7 and 8. Today we were all assigned new classes by Father Quyen, however it didn’t take long to settle in and continue with where we left of from yesterday. Beginning with a long game of Soccer (for the boys) and Volleyball (for the girls) between each of the classes of year 7 and 8, the students were ready to hit the classrooms. Starting with mathematics, most of the group were surprised by the student’s ability to complete and understand complex equations (one year 8 class even understanding Year 11 Adv Maths concepts). Almost immediately the sounds of laugher and cheers could be heard as the group committed their all so as to not only teach but keep the children interested and ready to learn. From all these challenges a lesson that could be learnt is that through persistence and openness you can really surprise yourself, and on the way you can discover many things you never would have thought of yourself. Indeed we gain far more from this experience than we can possibly give.
Being a part of their learning process today was a great experience. In English we guided the 6 classes through the responses to letters written from students in Harvey Bay and Geelong. Seeing each student attempting responses in English or learn new words was immensely satisfying. It also gave a new perspective on how challenging the role of teacher can be. With day two coming to an end with animation class, there was a continuation of established friendships, roars of cheers coming from many classes and the hard hitting desk beats the school has come to know as “Break’. There was also the foundation of stronger friendships and ones to be built upon over the next two days with it all being sealed with a simple handshake , a firm hi-5 or even a hug. We all have gifts to share, it is just a matter of how we use them. Perhaps the greatest gift we can give is our time to others. Time is something we can never put a price on. Hopefully there would have been many people today who have been affected in a positive way and will continue to pay it forward. Kasait is a place of immense joy. Students want to be here, they want to learn and they want to see a brighter stronger future for the nation of Timor Leste. Hopefully the Jesuit schools can continue to support this growth into the future with so many of our communities giving the most important gifts of all – our time and our love.
Following the exhausting day (and the teachers were also feeling this way after some intense Professional Development with the Timorese College staff for two hours) we had some chill out time playing handball and showering. Following this we experienced one of most exciting sites – watching sunset over the ocean from the Jesuit residence on Montserrat high above the school. It made the core Jesuit characteristic of ‘Seeing God in All Things’ easy to understand.
That’s all we have from today here in Kasait and as the kids here would say “See you tomorrow brother and sister!"