Loreto in Timor Leste

As a result of a call from our international leadership team, every ‘province’ or region of the Loreto world-wide institute was asked to have ‘the courage to move’. In 2005, our Australian province thought that Timor Leste, so close a neighbour, coming recently from such a traumatic upheaval and with a very young population, might be a place we could make some first steps.

Australian Loreto Sisters, Anne Byrne, Anne Kelly and Diaan Stuart answered the call to begin this new venture. All three sisters had many years of service behind them, all had to begin the local language, Tetun, from scratch, and two had never worked in a foreign country. All had experience in our large and well established schools in Australia, and one sister also had experience working in refugee camps in northern Uganda.

Diaan Stuart ibvm and Anne Byrne ibvm began work in partnership with the Marist Brothers at the Catholic Teachers’ College in Baucau, and with the Canossian Sisters there, while Anne Kelly began work with a local agency promoting women’s literacy in rural areas. The college was begun in 2000 after the Marist Brothers were invited to commence a teachers’ college by the bishop of the diocese of Baucau which takes in the whole of the eastern region of Timor Leste. In the last three years the sisters have been evacuated twice due to civil unrest. Anne Byrne has since returned to Australia and Natalie Houlihan ibvm joined our contingent there in April 2009.

Diaan has been teaching at the Teachers’ College in Baucau since 2006. In 2003 the College accepted its first group of student teachers. Prior to 2000, 90% of teachers were from Indonesia and most of these teachers returned to Indonesia after the East Timorese won independence. Thus the need for teacher training was critical. The college accepts applications from all the thirteen districts based on final Year 12 results plus an entrance interview. In 2006 the first students graduated. They had managed to continue studies despite the political difficulties.

Diaan has key responsibilities in training the young Timorese faculty as they gain their Master of Education through ACU. They are now moving into full lecturing practices with confidence. Diaan returned to Dili to teach English in 2009.

Anne Kelly ibvm went to Timor Leste early in 2006 to take up a position with a local agency teaching literacy to women in rural villages, however her time was interrupted by outbreaks of violence, which brought the country close to collapse. In 2010 Anne was asked by the General Leadership team to take responsibility for the Loreto NGO office at the UN in New York.

In April 2009 Natalie Houlihan ibvm joined the Loreto contingent in Timor Leste, working at a Catholic college for training teachers. Her role was to assist and support graduates and surrounding communities. She now works in student pastoral care and biblical studies.

Photos from top:

Diaan Stuart ibvm Anne Kelly ibvm
ACU Chancellor Julian McDonald cfc with graduating student Romana Beto from Fohorem 2008. Romana is teaching in her remote village school in the mountains close to the Indonesian border.

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