Sch. Bert Boholst wrote on May 31: Here is an update of what is going on at Colegio de Sao Jose (CSJ), East Timor.
So far, we are the only school in the whole of Dili where classes are going on, in the middle of hearsays, chaos and danger. The local newspapers have noted it and even the international media came to our school. Fr. Edu (Ratu Dopo) is on the move, giving almost daily briefing to students and faculty.
CSJ has now become a refugee center, as it has always been in the past years, where people bring whatever they treasure, including chickens and monkeys. Children, big and small, are all over the vicinity, playing, running, sleeping and crying. East Timorese from the east and the west are here, peacefully living together. Fr. Edu has always challenged the students to think as real Christians, that we are all brothers and sisters.
Two-thirds of the rooms at CSJ are occupied by refugees. One-third is reserved for classes. We have irregular classes. We combine classes with two sections for each year level. Many of our teachers are also refugees here at CSJ, so they can just come and teach. However, most of them are frightened, stressed, confused, troubled and worried, so they cannot focus.
Fr. Edu is in full control of the situation here. He knows the psychology of the students. He has a wider perspective of the political and cultural background of the people. He has been inculcating in the minds and hearts of the students the importance of education for their future, the meaning of becoming ‘men and women for and with others’, and on how to be critical in receiving hearsays and information. He has empowered them to monitor movements of people in the campus, cook their food, clean their school and slowly, slowly think for themselves.
On the second day of the intense fighting when gunshots were all over and going on all day, Agus (Tanudjaja) and I were trapped in the school. So, we ate lunch with our students at 2 pm. That time I just thought of the New Year celebration in the Philippines. However, when students started to scream and cry, I was also a little bit startled.
Now, it is quiet, although violence is still rampant around the other areas of the city. Day by day at CSJ, the number of students going back to school is increasing.
As soon as possible, Fr. Edu is planning to issue certificates of graduation to the graduating students while waiting for the national exam if it will push through. The peace and order situation is uncertain, until when, we do not know. The certification would enable students to apply for study in the university abroad and to look for possible scholarships.
The undergraduates can still recover next school year. Hopefully, the declaration of a ‘State of Emergency’ by President Xanana will improve the situation. What we are afraid of is the possible declaration of a martial law with a divided military or the worst scenario, a civil war. God forbid!
At Taibesi, we also have refugees, but most of them come at night. We have been receiving assistance from the government, other NGOs and benefactors, so we just facilitate the distribution. Our senior Jesuits here have been very edifying, guiding us, and gently immersing us to real apostolic action.
We continue to pray for one another and please, do it especially for us here.