We only have a million people in population, mostly Catholic. We were known then as Portuguese ... still open our doors
THE COURAGE TO LEARN AND TEACH Sr. Francelina Ximenes Freitas, FDCC “I want to be the school leader who continues to help students to become responsible individuals for the nation and the church.” Sr. Francelina Ximenes Freitas is a missionary from the Canossian Daughters of Charity, Servants of the Poor. She taught and guided the East Timorese youth during the conflicts with the Portuguese and Indonesian conquerors.
PHOTO FROM SEAMEO INNOTECH
I am a Timorese. I am a missionary belonging to the Canossian Daughters of Charity, Servants of Poor. In the span of 20 years, I had been the headmaster of two Catholic high schools, before and after Timor-Leste’s independence: one in Manatuto, and another a Canossian high school in Dili. My country, Timor-Leste, is a small in terms of land size, about 15,000 square kilometres. We only have a million people in population, mostly Catholic. We were known then as Portuguese Timor until the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin) declared independence in November 1975. But, nine days later, Indonesian government saw our country as a threat and occupied us as its province. At this time, so much violence had happened
between the Timorese separatist groups and the Indonesian military. In 1997 I was first transferred to Manatuto, one of the 13 towns in Timor Leste. It was the hardest time for me and for everyone in the country. I became the headmaster of St. Anthony Senior High School, even though I felt I was not yet ready. I was just a plain religion teacher at the time. I was clueless on how to run a school and lead teachers (mostly Indonesians) who are older and more experienced than me. I humbly confront all these challenges. I spent the next 6 months learning the ropes from my fellow teacher, and from my own experience. It was really a difficult time. In the middle of a challenging political situation, Timorese students suffer persecution from Indonesian soldiers. We began to
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welcome students expelled from other schools, Most of the students, particularly the boys, wanted to join the guerilla movement. We welcomed them all, especially the persecuted ones and took them into safety. I engaged all people in the school to harmonize and collaborate. I tried to find ways to increase teacher’s salary, and complete teaching materials needed for each class. I strived to make classrooms as spaces of learning for Indonesian and Timorese children to peacefully study together. I am proud and happy of facilitating this. But all these problems were too small compared to what we experienced after. It was a dark time for Timor-Leste, between 1997 and 1999. The country was then a few steps toward its independence. It was the time when the Indonesian military killed people and burned down all school buildings. But in October 1999, with the United Nation’s help, Indonesia finally lost its grip on Timor-Leste. Sadly, skilled Indonesian teachers left us, leaving behind most Timorese volunteer teachers unprepared. When independence finally came, we all began again to rebuild our country despite limited resources. Still, I was grateful that we were able to slowly rebuild our school. With great energy and joy in their hearts, local volunteer teachers helped us make a fresh start. They worked even without pay for the next two months. Sooner, I would take in solutions to give them sufficient salary and pay them on time. I also nurtured relationship and connection with both parents and students. I encouraged and engaged students more to actively participate in the teachinglearning process in school. I connected and collaborated with the local church, my congregation’s leaders and with the government’s education ministry.
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And then after independence in 2002, I faced another challenge. I became the headmaster of the Catholic school of Saint Magdalena of Canossa at this time. I am a Canossian sister, and this school is under our congregation. While we must strongly pay attention to serve the poor, most of our students come from rich families, with parents affording to pay as much as US$200 to US$300 every year. But we still open our doors to both the poor and the rich, prudently treating them equally, regardless of their economic capacity. Whether a student is poor or rich, nobody is treated differently. My experiences as the headmaster of both school were incredible. Both shaped my courage, humility and creativity. I have become a leader open to continuous learning. I have learned to exercise participatory leadership. With these learning experiences, I have grown both as a Canossian sister and as a human being. I have learned to serve people, both the less fortunate and the fortunate ones. I love this life of developing the talents and interests of my students, to inspire them to study more and transform their future lives. I have witness a great contrast of my experiences, but one thing I know is that I have learned to respect and love my students as human beings, regardless of their status or life situation. For the poor and the persons with disability Our school has design approaches to accommodate both the poor students and those people with disability. We don’t ask families to pay full tuition fee in cash. Most of them are poor and lack the ability to make money out of what they have. Instead of students paying money, we ask them to pay for what they can. There were parents who paid livestock like cattle, goat or pig, once a year; farmer parents paid
crops like corn and rice. Students usually do not know this arrangement on their school fees. Instead, it is always between the parents and the school.
I praise God to see students, however poor and physically disabled, succeed at school. About 90 percent of them continue their studies in college or universities.
We also receive students with physical disability in our school, so they can catch up with the regular schooling. Some come in wheelchairs, and classes are done in the ground floor for their easy access. I am always touched by their willingness to learn, just like any regular student. They have developed deep friendships with fellow students, too. For example, at a time when one multimedia class was in the second floor, a student in wheelchair was carried upstairs by his friends to attend class once every week. They did this for 3 years!
I want to help the children more, so in the future they can develop the value of thinking for the welfare of others. This is the goal of Children and Adolescents missionary in this Catholic diocese. I want to be the school leader who continue to help students to become responsible individuals for the nation and the church.
Parents and teachers help together for the school to thrive. Priest and nuns help around to seek for financial solutions for the school. Social organizations, social ministries and education ministries help us too, in terms of financial and organizational support.
I’d like to borrow the words of Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes: “He who loses his wealth, loses much; he who loses a friend, loses more; but who loses his courage, loses all.” I believe God has always accompanied me, my school, and all the people I worked with through the most difficult situations and times. This is the story of our courage.
Success in this work is not what I feel, but by those who have felt it through my work. I am driven to do this work because of the courage to sacrifice, to love as God loves us, to be humble and open enough to learn continuously from every person I meet and every event I encounter. To improve myself through the endeavors I had, the books I read, and the things I learn in the field of education. And, to nurture good relationships with people around me.
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