Australian Global Citizenship Programs for School Students Take Tasmanian Students to Timor Leste

Tasmania, Australia February, 2013 – Tasmania’s Scotch Oakburn College sent the second group of their staff and students off to visit their Timor Leste global citizenship partner school, Maliana One High School, as part of a global citizenship program for school students. Principal Andrew Barr also joined the trip, facilitated by not-for-profit social education organisation Destination Dreaming, which runs global service learning programs for Australian school students in partnership with schools in rural Australia and in nearby countries. www.destinationdreaming.org.au/
 
The students’ first morning in Maliana began with dancing at 5:00am with new local friends, before the group headed out to watch the Tour De Timor bike race through the town. Each day was filled with lots of English language tutoring- working in small groups at the Encouragement House and at Maliana One – a key way to bring the global citizenship program to life on each trip. The Scotch Oakburn teachers also ran a session for pre-service teachers at the local university to foster a higher level of shared learning as part of the global citizenship program.
 
One evening, the group shared dinner with a local family just outside Maliana, who are campaigning to get a library built in a nearby village. This is a worthy project that Destination Dreaming is currently negotiating funding and support for.
 
After Scotch Oakburn College’s first visit in 2011, the College’s community raised an amazing $3,000 for their partner Timor Leste school. This year’s group had the privilege of donating the funds on behalf of the community, which will enable Maliana One to install fresh drinking water for their 1300 students and 55 staff. www.destinationdreaming.org.au/
 
Funds from the group’s visit and Destination Dreaming were also used to buy materials and pay local builders to construct another student shelter for the new dormitory ‘Kookaburra’. The shelters have proved to be a real hit and it was great to see the students (from both Scotch Oakburn and the Encouragement House) assisting the builders to prepare the site and foundation.
 
At the conclusion of the 10 days, a participant of the global service learning program for school students 18-year-old Kathleen said “I have learnt that giving is a truly fantastic experience and that making a change in one person’s life, changes the world for them. I had the best week of my life giving and as a result will endeavor to share and continue to give for the rest of my life.” www.destinationdreaming.org.au/
 
Scotch Oakburn teacher Tania Deguara said, “once again the experience was incredible. Cultural awareness, global understanding, problem solving and collaboration are essential skills to have to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. A Destination Dreaming program provides an excellent opportunity for young people to learn about and experience the challenges, hopes and possibilities of another culture and in turn learn about the ways they as young people in Australia can shape the world they want to live in.”
 
Destination Dreaming works with schools in Australia and internationally to create sustainable community partnerships and teach students from both areas about global citizenship, self-awareness and social justice. These global citizenship programs for school students are aimed at helping the young people to thrive in an increasingly global world where understanding cultural differences is becoming more and more important. To find out more visit www.destinationdreaming.org.au/.

Contact Information

Kate Miller

Program Director

Destination Dreaming

(61) 03 5255 5148

info@destinationdreaming.com.au