Agroup of Year 11 and 12 Tenison Woods College students have embarked on the 11th annual immersion trip to Timor-Leste.


Tenison Woods College and its sister school San Francisco Xavier College in Hatolia have continued a tradition of an annual visit to Timor-Leste which has been a long-standing event on the Tenison Woods College calendar.


This year, the college will take two separate groups of students this month where they will visit various communities in Timor-Leste.


Throughout the year, the college community has raised just over $30,000, that will go a long way to support the communities who will be visited.


At the sister school in Hatolia, money will go towards the upkeep of buildings, finishing the girls’ dormitory and resources such as computers and books.


The school has just received 20 computers from Tenison Woods College fundraising and a scholarship from the Minister of Education in Timor-Leste.


Timor-Leste Immersion Trip Co-ordinator Bernadette Fisher said the students enjoyed being involved with the program.


“We look forward to helping the students develop their computer skills when we are there,” she said.


We will also work with the students to improve their English, through an activity book we have created that has conversation starters in both English and Tetun language.”


This year, Tenison Woods College has also donated two computers to the Dominican Orphanage to assist students who can use them for homework and education purposes.


Money raised by the college is also used towards school fees, food and the general running of the orphanage that 26 girls call home.


The Bakhita Centre uses money gifted to work on projects that are in need at the time.


Some of these include getting water to villages, funding the building of schools and helping families in need.


“It is a joy for me to experience Timor-Leste with the awe and wonder of a new group of students every year,” Mrs Fisher said.


“The Timorese are kind, generous and teach us so much about living simply with faith and love in our hearts.”


In June, the college held its annual charity day, a final fundraising effort before they departed for Timor-Leste.


The day started with a Whole School Mass led by Father Peter who delivered a homily on what charity is and love being an action.


Father Peter emphasised the love we express through service to others enables us to empathise and motivates us to engage in selfless acts of kindness.


This, he reminded the college, is the essence of charity day through opening our hearts and wallets to support our friends in Timor-Leste, not only through action but also through prayer.


The main fundraising effort held on charity day saw dozens of student-led market stalls selling a variety of different items as well as a student run barbecue.


This saw the college surpassing its charity day goal of $5000 and hitting a record of just over $8000 through donations from staff, students, and the wider Tenison Woods College community.


Staff and students celebrated their massive achievement with a muddy slip and slide.


For each fundraising target reached, students celebrated by watching student leaders, teachers and heads of school go down the slip and slide on a beautiful Mount Gambier winter’s day.


The main goal of $5000 reached resulted in Tenison Woods College Principal David Mezinec hitting the slip and slide as excited students watched on.


The charity day was successfully led by college captains, Teangi Stephens and Bree Robinson, the college’s Catholic Identity and Mission Team and Director of Wellbeing Tania Sigley.


“Teangi and I could not be prouder of the efforts of the Year 12 cohort in hosting the Charity Day activities for all of the school to enjoy, as well as the participation of all involved in our first ever slip and slide prize event the following week to serve as an incentive for fundraising,” college captain Bree Robinson said,


“With Teangi on the Timor-Leste Immersion trip and myself having been last year, building awareness of the purpose of charity day and raising as much money as possible was a huge goal of ours and very close to our hearts, we are overjoyed to say we smashed previous fundraising records.


“We thank our school community for their support of another incredible charity day and we look forward to seeing the difference this makes for our brothers and sisters in Timor-Leste.”