Port Moresby, PNG, 17 March 2023 -- Stanley Timon completed his year 12 in 2016. His dream was to further his education, and he was selected to join the ITI Diploma program in Computer Technology. His father cared for his children and informed him that he would accompany him to Port Moresby. However, he had to sort out a space for his elder brother at Mendi School of Nursing. Unfortunately, on February 2nd, 2017, the day he had to travel with his father to Port Moresby, his father had a heart attack and died. Sad and confused, Stanley, who was waiting for his father at Mt Hagen, returned to Mendi.
Here is his story:
When I arrived home, I could hear people crying. My eyes filled with tears as I saw my father lying in the coffin. After the burial, all my dreams about school and my goals were shattered. 'Life is not on my side. l literally can feel the struggle', I said to myself. My mother is an illiterate woman. She works in the garden and lives in the village. People that were once our best friends started rejecting us. Then began my life of crime. I got involved with the boys around me and started stealing, smoking weed, and drinking homebrew (paiawara).
Then, I heard of Don Bosco. So, one day in 2020, I promised my two best friends that if I managed to find K1000, I would go to Port Moresby and enrol myself in Don Bosco. But, of course, I didn't know about Don Bosco. I only heard rumors that it's an outstanding technical school. After a while, I managed to get the money, so I came to Port Moresby. It was around October 2020, and I told one of my aunties that I wanted to enrol in Don Bosco and begged her to help me. She knew Mr. Jayson Jim, one of the instructors at the school, so she asked Mr. Jayson to assist me in getting registered.
After I enrolled at Don Bosco, my aunt told me to move out of her home. That made it difficult because I didn't know Moresby well. So, I moved into one of my cousin's houses, but after a month, he told me he didn't have a job to cater for me, so I looked for another option. I then lived with boys on the street, and came to school. After selling betelnut and smoke at night, we would put up our mosquito nets and sleep together. Then I found my grandmother's sister, so I went to live with her. She and her husband are old, living in a small house and working as a cleaner.
Then, I met a man, and he told me, I know you are struggling, so if you want me to help you, you must help me sell medicine, and I'll pay you. He normally gave me a target of 100 boxes of stop pain to sell. "Your payment will be K200", he said. So, every day after school, I would carry the medicine from street to street and sell it at canteens. I would then return home and sleep at 1 am. I would continue to work on the weekends, as I needed to reach my target to get paid. I often never ate. I slept, woke up with nothing in my stomach, and came to school. At those times, I made it my policy that food was not a problem. So, the only problem was how I would go to school, my bus fare, and how I would pay my school fees?
After getting paid, I saved K50 for the bus fare and K150 for school fees. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I never showed my struggle to any of my friends in school.
Lastly, and to conclude, I want to thank God for removing me from the bondage of poverty and Mother Mary for showing me Don Bosco. Speaking from the bottom of my heart, I can feel and see the second chance that Don Bosco gave to unfortunate young boys.
Thank you so much, Don Bosco and Salesian Educators, especially Mr. Jason, for the tireless efforts and support you gave me, Fr. Pedro, for accepting me even though I didn't pay the required amount at registration. Thank you, Fr. Ambrose, for your time and effort guiding us, young boys. I will never forget it.
Mr. Peter Goodwin, CEO of Remington Group of Companies, awarded Timon Stanley, an Electrical Technology student, a scholarship award and then offered him a 4-year apprenticeship scholarship with the Remington Group. "We will teach you all you need to know about Electrical Technology," he said. Mr. Goodwin appreciated his dedication and commitment despite his father's untimely death, faced with a bleak future and few prospects. "We know not what awaits us, and yet still, we strive to achieve," he told the audience as he encouraged Stanley and all the students to work hard every day with the strength of commitment. May God continue to bless you all.
