Vivien
Maidaborn – Stuff - September 15 2016
OPINION: Timor-Leste
is a new country, the third youngest in the world after South Sudan. It's also
a very small country, similar in size to Auckland with a population of roughly
1.2 million.
Every
country's future is in the hands of its children. In the case of Timor-Leste
- a young nation stepping out from under the dark shadow of conflict this
statement is true indeed.
The
people are young. Half the population is under eighteen and one third of
their people are aged under eight.
East
Timor is an island, one covered in mountains, and this means the challenges to
accessing education are as much geographical as anything else. The population
is dispersed widely and roading infrastructure is fragile.
We
are very fortunate in New Zealand, where 95 per cent of our pre-schoolers
have pre-schools they can attend close by. The numbers in Timor-Leste
couldn't be more different. Only 17 per cent of children attend a public
pre-school.
How
come attendance is so low?
The
government simply can't afford to build a pre-school in every community.
Many
children face walking 2-5 kilometres to reach the nearest school. One
example is in the coffee-growing region of Leubasa/Leimea Leten, where UNICEF
supports a pre-school. The only route to school takes young children beneath
plantations, submerging them in darkness, which is a scary walk when you are
little.
You
begin to understand why parents would choose to keep kids at home until they
are older, rather than have them face such a dangerous journey.
Imagine
not having any formal education until you were seven or eight. Children come to
school and aren't at all prepared, usually it's the first time they have seen a
book or even held a pencil. Children quickly fall behind and end up repeating a
year.
These
children are then more likely to stay at home and skip school, especially when
it rains and they are faced with a walk that is not only long but also slippery
and muddy. The dropout rate is high.
Malnutrition
and stunted growth are big problems in Timor-Leste, about 50 per
cent of children under age five are stunted due to poor nutrition or hygiene. The
impact on brain development is significant. The children become
susceptible to disease.
An
important part of pre-school education in Timor-Leste is to explore with
parents what raising children in a positive and nurturing environment looks
like for them. The importance of healthy diets and positive
discipline, bonding through singing and talking to your baby, are all
vital to healthy growth.
For
many people, the trauma of past conflicts still exist, especially for the
generation of parents who experienced the occupation, so learning new ways,
and rediscovering traditional ways is part of creating a new society.
Now
in this post-conflict era, a new generation of people in Timor-Leste have a
chance to create a new country, a country without violence and where children
can flourish.
The
very young kids represent the first hope in a long time of childhood unmarked
by conflict.
Now
is the time to support this latest, newest, country of South East Asia to
build their new place, to support their dream of children educated to take
their place in the world, and to support them to grab hold of the vision they
have for Timor-Leste.
*Vivien
Maidaborn, UNICEF New Zealand Executive Director
This
article was supplied as part of Stuff's partnership with Unicef NZ.
You
can help children in Timor-Leste go to pre-school. For every dollar you give, UNICEF NZ Ambassadors Jo
and Gareth Morgan will match.
