By Elise Larsen
DB Training Centre, Timor Leste, 12 October 2022 --
1. Introduction
Let me tell you a little about myself. I was born in Brisbane, Australia and lived there until I was in my early twenties. After I had finished my tertiary studies I started my adventuring abroad. I was fortunate to live and work in Europe, North America and South East Asia. I was trained as a teacher but in those days I did any work I could to save enough for my onward travel and living expenses. I worked as an office assistant at RMIT in Boston, a waitress, an office clerk and as a receptionist at a big London hotel but the job that changed my life was the one I procured in Germany. Here I was accepted as an English teacher in a big technical college situated between Cologne and Bonn. As a very young person this was quite daunting but I learnt a lot.
I was employed to teach English to adult electricians and young apprentices as well as some classes in the high school. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and decided that if possible I would focus my future career on teaching English as a foreign or second language. When I returned to Australia I continued teaching in secondary schools, mainly in Catholic Education but when I moved to Melbourne in my late twenties I got my first job in Australia as an English migrant teacher at a boys’ school in Clifton Hill close to the Salesian headquarters. Little did I know then that in later years I would work closely with the Salesian community in Timor Leste.
About this time I enrolled in a Graduate Diploma in Multicultural Studies. Once I gained the Diploma I was qualified to teach English as a Second Language in the state system.
In Melbourne I met my husband, a Danish adventurer. After we were married we settled close to Port Phillip Bay. We had two children, a boy and a girl. During this period of my life I was busy working and being a mother and wife.
After some years we bought a sailing boat and headed to the Pacific. The children were very young. We spent over three years cruising and in that time we visited several countries including the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Tonga. It was a very special family time.
On our return we settled in Brisbane, my home town,where I was employed as an English teacher with the TAFE system. I taught adult migrants and refugees from many diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. These were busy years as I combined work, family commitments and community/ social life but I enjoyed it a lot.
After my retirement, in about 2014, my husband and I set out on the boat he had built, to South East Asia. We visited many countries over about a five year period, including Timor Leste.
My daughter moved to Timor Leste for work once she had completed her studies so we visited her and I actually came here three times! When I visited I usually taught English to her Timorese colleagues who were permitted some time to attend my classes. I also helped out at UNTL in the evening English classes. This involvement made my visits more meaningful and I felt I was contributing a little, not just being a tourist.
It seems teaching and I have been companions throughout my adult life.
Right now my husband is living on our boat in Brisbane where I’ll return to in December.
2. Education
I attended the local parish school, St. Sebastian’s for my primary education. There I was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph. After that I attended the oldest girls’ school in Brisbane, All Hallows School. There I spent five years with the Sisters of Mercy. In my final year I gained a scholarship to study teaching at a Teachers’ College. I chose secondary school teaching. My subjects were English, French, Civics, History and Psychology as well as practical training in the classroom. I continued studying at Queensland University and attained my Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English literature. During this period I also worked in Queensland government schools. I completed my studies in my early twenties and like many of my contemporaries left Australia “to see the world”.
On my return to Australia I decided to combine teaching with external studies in Multicultural education. I was in Melbourne but my course was in Armidale, NSW at what is now called the University of New England. I gained my Post Graduate Diploma in the early 1980’s.
Once I was fully qualified I taught in the Victorian Adult Migrant Education System (AMES). At that time there were many migrants from every part of the globe as well as refugees from countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile and El Salvador. I taught all levels of English from beginner English to advanced and sometimes with a special focus like business. Over the years I attended numerous Professional Development courses . My teaching experience is probably thirty plus years, some of it part time. After my retirement I went travelling again and managed to do some teaching along the way.
3. How did you get to know about the CAGLIERO project?
When my husband and I returned to Australia in late 2018, I decided I wanted to achieve a long held goal to volunteer as a teacher.
As a young woman I had this dream of working as a volunteer in India with Mother Teresa (Saint Teresa of Calcutta 2015). Life got in the way but I still thought that one day I would offer my services as a teacher. She wrote,
“ Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” This has resonated with me over the years and when I heard that a friend, Jim Finlayson, was teaching at the Don Bosco Centre in Comoro, I contacted him. He encouraged me to apply for an English teaching volunteer position. Then Lauren Hichaaba, the director of the Cagliero Project in Melbourne guided and advised me further. I attended the Formation course in Melbourne and I learnt more of what to expect, my role, and how I could make a positive contribution.
Importantly, I realised it would be challenging but rewarding and that this was the time.
4. Why did you want to become a Volunteer?
At this period of my life I want to give back and focus more on my inner, spiritual growth. I feel in many ways my life has been blessed but like many people my priorities have been on my family, career, my immediate community and society. I think that now I can, in some small way, follow my original dream and Saint Teresa of Calcutta’s philosophy of loving kindness. As an ESL teacher I have often worked with disadvantaged people and I have tried not only to give them the necessary language skills but to offer friendship,empathy and a helping hand. I hope my English teaching combined with my support and encouragement can help these young people at the Don Bosco Centre to develop their confidence and self belief in their English ability and beyond.
5. Some words of gratitude
I have been at the Don Bosco Training Centre for about three weeks.
Firstly I am absolutely amazed by the joy that emanates from teachers and students. I do not think I’ve ever witnessed this consistent joy in any other place I have lived or worked in. Secondly I am so grateful to all the priests and brothers that I am with daily, who have offered me kindness and genuine hospitality, in particular Father Jolino. He has made me laugh and has guided me with ease during these early days of finding my way.This short period of my life is challenging but rewarding and I am deeply grateful that my life’s circumstances and I believe, God’s guidance, led me here. I will conclude with a reflection in the words of St Teresa of Calcutta.
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
