By Private Delizia Costa
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"No more
schoolwork, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks"!!!
This was a rhyme I often chanted as a child at school. Going to school was something I did
not particularly like. What a contrast my schooling life was - compared to the lives of
the students of East Timor. Whilst on deployment to East Timor with 176 AD Sqn, we
endeavoured to take part in a humanitarian project. The decision was made to give
assistance to the Hudi Laran Elementary School in Dili.
Bouncing up and down in the back of a Landcruiser, we wound our way on bumpy, narrow
roads, passed by burnt down and destroyed buildings and eventually arrived. We discovered
a place that reminded me of the run down, abandoned buildings that I played in with my
brothers as a child. But I was told not to go near these places because they were too
dangerous.
 One of the schools few classrooms |
 Even after what they had been through, the kids were always smiling |
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The Hudi Laran school teaches
almost 400 students and struggled badly to accommodate all of them using their sixteen
tables and chairs.
The school did not have doors or any walls between classrooms. What walls it did have were
rotting away and the only blackboard available was a rough square drawn on a wall. In
spite of the insufficient space and limited teaching supplies, education was still a
priority for most children.
With the guidance of Sister Fabriola, a nun from the local convent, we coordinated,
through broken and difficult to understand English, the donation of supplies and funds. We
accomplished this through fundraising activities such as the 'crab races' held at the
Dare' Club and through the generosity of the people back at home.
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2SGT Wendy Barnett helped to
organise donations from schools in Australia as well as from the families and friends back
home. Mrs Payne, PTE Payne's wife, did a wonderful job collecting and sending donations
from Darwin.
Myself and the other members of the Squadron, during our rest time, worked tirelessly to
repair the school. The Air Point of Entry became the 'furniture factory' for the school.
CPL Swain, a carpenter by trade, constructed tables and chairs out of leftover wood. SGT
Paterson was in charge of the maintenance and installation of doors and locks as well as
security meshing needed to prevent theft from the school. Fresh paint was also sent over
from Australia to give a much needed facelift to the grey and mouldy walls.
Almost all of the soldiers from 176 AD Sqn helped in reconstructing and repairing the
school. Deserving a special mention were PTE Jennifer Slattery and PTE Scott Sinclair who
built a 'naughts and crosses' structure out of scrap materials for the children to play
with at school. But first, Jen and Scott needed to succeed in teaching the children how to
play the game.
 PTE Lang with some of the children. |
 Biggs and Angemi Painting Services! |
Going to 'fix the school' was looked at as more of a social activity than 'work' as such. To all the troops who gave their time and effort to the school and its pupils you can be proud in upholding the 'Aussie' tradition of 'helping out your mates', because the children of the Hudi Laran school became just that, our mates.
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The children at the school were high spirited, tenacious and resilient in spite of the horror they must have had to face. This is something that I, as a Private in the Army from Queanbeyan NSW, could not even begin to imagine.
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Their smiles, their joy and their grateful zeal for their lives is something that I will always honour as having a place in my memory.
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