Ask to use material, get more information or tell us about an item
Set amongst the chaos of youth gang fighting in 2006 that has turned tens of thousands of East Timorese families into IDPs (internally displaced people), an inspired East Timorese teacher develops a vision for the children in her school. Sister Aurora Pires, along with New Zealand teacher Anne Fisher, trains teachers to nurture their young students so they can heal wounds and break the cycle of trauma to build a humanistic and truly democratic society.
New Zealand documentary maker Peter Marra, with the collaboration of the East Timorese film makers of the Centro Audio Visual Max Stahl Archive Timor Leste, uncovers this remarkable story while documenting the home and school life of five-year-old. Soon after filming her first days at school and Marra returned to New Zealand, he learns that the girl and her family have been forced to abandon their home and flee as violence escalates in Comoro, their neighbourhood in the capital city Dili. Marra returns to East Timor with the intention of finding her. Through interviews with school teachers and other local leaders, Marra uncovers a personal story that creates a portrait of the reality and needs of the Children of a Nation. This is also the universal story of the needs of all children in every culture.
"Independence was never going to be easy for Timor Leste, whose people bear the deep scars of the brutal 24 year long Indonesian occupation. ‘Children of a Nation’ does not spare us from the sad realities 8 years after liberation– grim poverty, grimmer unemployment and health statistics. (12% of children do not live to see their 5th birthday.) Families cannot afford school fees. It is hard to escape the thought that the United Nations has not been very effective in its task of overseeing the reconstruction of the devastated nation. Peter Marra blends the personal and political – telling us the poignant story of Tercia, a little girl he first met as a critically ill baby whose family needed his help to get to the hospital. With Peter’s help, Tercia’s family can send her to school – until the 2006 political turmoil and violence forces the family to join a mass exodus of 150,000 people from their homes. Fortunately, not all aid misses the mark. Young people will be the ones to shape their nation’s post colonial identity and determine what will be kept from the cultures that were imposed on them. Director Peter Marra talks with dedicated teachers whose approach to education is refreshingly holistic. The language debate in East Timor has echoes of the debate about Maori language immersion. It has been shown that children who begin their educational journey in their indigenous language are affirmed and valued and develop better literacy than those forced to study in an unfamiliar language. The Mary McKillop religious order, which has had a long association with Timor Leste has developed a successful literacy programme based on Tetun books and local stories. It is good to know that Tercia and the children of Timor Leste have friends standing by them."
- review by Maire Leadbeater