Dear members of the Whitefriars College Family,
In the 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy says to her dog, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” It’s a phrase that has come to mean that we have stepped outside of what is considered normal; we have entered a place or circumstance that is unfamiliar and uncomfortable; basically we have found ourselves outside our comfort zone. When was the last time you felt like that? How did you feel? How did you cope? How did you adapt to this significant change in environment? I present these ideas and ask these questions having just returned from two weeks in Timor-Leste with a group of dedicated staff and 13 incredible young men.
For most of this group of young men it was the first time they have experienced life in a developing country. To put it into context, Timor-Leste only gained independence as a country twenty-five years ago following many years of occupation, oppression, persecution and fear. As a young and developing country, the people of Timor-Leste face many challenges including a lack of infrastructure and support in Health Care, Education and many other services and supports we take for granted.
For our boys their experience included a fairly dramatic change in climate, different and limited food options, basic living conditions, e.g. no air conditioning, a bucket for a shower, etc. Our students took these changes and challenges in their stride and demonstrated gratitude for the wonderful support and hospitality provided to them by their hosts, the very warm and welcoming Carmelites of Timor-Leste.
Our students spent time at both the Carmelite Novitiate House in Hera and the Carmelite school in the Village of Zumalai, a six-hour drive from the Capital, Dili. At the Carmelite Novitiate in Hera, the boys learnt about the history of Timor-Leste as well as experiencing first hand the life of a Carmelite.
During their stay in Hera, the students particularly enjoyed the opportunity to join with the Carmelites for early morning and evening prayer. At first, this chance to stop, breath, think and pray took the boys outside their comfort zone as their lives are so full of activity that they never have the chance to stop and live in the silence afforded by these prayerful opportunities. However, over time, they grew to look forward to these times of prayer and silence with many suggesting that it gave them a great sense of peace and calmness that they had rarely experienced in their lives back home.
In Zumalai, our boys spent their time teaching and supporting the 400 students from Kindergarten to Year 8 of the thriving Our Lady of Mount Carmel School. The school also houses a boarding facility for twenty-five very disadvantaged students. Apart from teaching in the classroom, our boys spent every spare moment playing with and interacting with the Zumalai students before and after school. In a short period of time, our students made wonderful connections with these children which has enhanced the already strong relationship between our two schools.
On one occasion a student from Whitefriars, Noah Carson, produced a box of Frisbees which had been donated by Ultimate Victoria. The Zumalai students, who have very little in the way of toys or sporting equipment, were so excited with their new frisbees that they spent the entire afternoon playing with our boys and learning the art of frisbee throwing which they picked up very quickly. The looks of sheer joy on the faces of these young people was inspiring.
Each evening, following dinner, we would gather with our students to check in and to talk about the days experiences and the insights that had been gained. Following several days with the students of Zumalai and the Carmelites of Hera, we asked the boys what they were learning from their various experiences. Many of the boys spoke particularly of the positivity and generosity of everyone he had encountered along the way. One boy commented that he could not get over how happy the children of Zumalai were. “They have nothing” he said, “but they are the happiest people I have met.”
As someone who has been privileged to attend a number of similar immersion experiences at other schools, this is a common observation. I have reflected on this idea of happiness and wonder why it is that these people with very little appear to be a great deal happier than those of us who have a lot!
The conclusion I have come to is that these people live in the now. They don’t live in the past or for the future, they live firmly in the present. The children who played frisbees with our boys for hours on end, did not have a care in the world. In the midst of their disadvantage and difficulty they weren’t worried about what was or what is to come, they lived for now, for the sheer joy of the moment and for the company of each other. Perhaps we could all learn lessons from the children of Zumalai!
I leave you with one of my favourite scripture quotes from Matthew’s Gospel which best sums up the example of the faith filled and joy filled people we met on our travels in Timor-Leste.
Mark
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]? 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:25 – 27, 34
Mark Murphy
Principal
