HERA PROJECT UPDATE

PP Richard and PP Barry will be in Timor next week as part of the celebration to open the building for a Primary School in Hera, a village outside the capital of Dili. This is the end of a highly successful project run by our club over the last 2 years. PP Richard gave a brief report to the board last week:

Here is the status.
 
A big thanks to Brian for going through the financial reconciliation.
 

The physical building is complete and an agreed sum of US$8,500 was  remitted to pay for classroom fit-out, teaching aids and kitchen fit out (the latter required to provide students with breakfast and lunch – a mandatory government requirement).

 
As per my previous communication there were another ~US$25,000 of requests to which we did not agree. These largely related to landscaping, provision of equipment to support their agriculture business (eg tractor and other equipment) air conditioning and building a concrete block wall around the school. 
 
We now have around $900 left in the RAWCS account. No decision has yet been made on the disposition of this money.
 
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The main points to be made next week at the celebration of completion of the construction phase are :
 
The Hera  community and supporters have done a spectacular  job.
 
As is the case with pre -schools in Australia the community has a significant role to play in ongoing support for the school. 
 
The MOU signed is a significant and enduring document.
 
The administrative running of the school and the teaching within the school should be treated as quite distinct activities .
 
A building doesn’t make  a school. And the fit out and other material items also don’t make a school. What differentiates a school is how it nurtures both the academic and personal development needs of the students. To be successful in the long-term they need to place significant emphasis on this latter item. We recommended they look at a number of pre-schools to work out why some are more successful than others.
 
We owe a big vote of thanks to our donors; Rotary Club of Mosman, Rotary Club of Coromandel Valley and all the individuals who supported the project. 
 
I would also thank Barry and Graeme who provided so much support for the project.

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CHRISTIAN IN TIMOR LESTE

Sat Oct 5 , 2024
Christian with Domingo’s at the Pre-school He was at the RYPEN opening yesterday; looking forward to the pre-school opening. The mural is painted by one of the Hera team and is a wall in the Pre-school library – 3 of the Rotary International themes