Jonia, who was in the first group of Across the Timor Sea students to Graduate from St Francis of Assisi School, has completed her University studies; and is now a qualified Nurse.

Oscar has also completed his Korean Language course, which will be a big step towards his aim of joining the Timor Lestè Diplomatic Corps.

All at Across the Timor Sea are looking forward to receiving photographs of these wonderful achievements.

Across the Timor Sea were very pleased when three children entered high school, and the Across the Timor Sea Scholarship program, in 2018. Whilst we only usually only have a boy and girl each year, the three boys were such outstanding candidates, we could not oppose.

Izolitu Borges de Graca Um, Domingos da Costa Sarmento and Octaviano da Costa Domin ~ January 2018

~  With their first Across the Timor Sea Backpacks

 ~ The three students receiving backpacks, in 2019                                  

Five years later, these little boys are now fine young men. Whilst, Izolitu left school before reaching Year 12, he will benefit from his time at St Francis of Assisi.        

Octaviano and Domingos are soon to enter their final year; and have very good prospects of doing well in their High School Graduation.

All at Across the Timor Sea wish Octaviano and Domingos every success in their final year of High School.

All at Across the Timor Sea are anticipating very important news from Timor Lesté.

• Fernanda’s Final Year Graduation from St Francis of Assisi is soon; and she is planning to continue her tertiary education at Dili University. (Competition at Dili University is intense, because there is only one University in Dili; and there is a large number of students wanting entrance.)
• Jonia is expected to complete her final year of Nursing; and Graduate with her Nursing Degree. (News of her progress will be exciting for Across the Timor Sea as she is she was in the first group of Across the Timor Sea scholarship students to Graduate from St Francis of Assisi School a few years ago.)
• Domangas will be entering her final year at University in 2023, so we anticipate news of her progress.
• We are absolutely delighted with News that Oscar has completed his Korean Language Studies; and very much look forward to news of his progress.

11^th November is Remembrance Day in Australia.

 Each year, on the 11^th hour, of the 11 Day, of the 11^th month, we observe one minute of silence, to remember those who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts.

On 11 November, at 11.00am, we will pause to remember all of the men and women of the Australian Defence Force who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Lest we forget.

~ Across the Timor Sea

All at Across the Timor Sea have been very concerned about news of Oscars progress, as we had not been able to learn about how he is going. (Oscar is one of Across the Timor Sea’s former scholarship students at St Francis of Assisi school.)

We were all pleased to find out that Oscar has been in Dili for 2022, studying Korean.

For quite a while, we have understood that Oscar had planned to enter the Diplomatic Corps, so studying a new language would be a great advantage.  

We are so pleased with this information, because Across the Timor Sea was established to support education in Timor Lestè; and learning Korean will be helpful to Oscar in whatever direction his future takes him.

For Across the Timor Sea, there have always been challenges with sourcing transport of goods and parcels to Timor Lestè, however with COVID complications (and Monsoonal flooding etc.) it has been overwhelming.

When the last container delivery happened, just as the COVID disasters hit, there were so many problems and delays.

An outcome of this was that the usual delivery choices for Across the Timor Sea had ceased to be an option.

Goods collected have been building up, so when Jan reconnected with a fellow Rotarian that was sending a container to Timor Lestè; and was willing to allocate space for Across the Timor Sea to use, it was an overwhelming relief.

All at Across the Timor Sea are extremely thankful.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

~ Across the Timor Sea