Children's struggle to access education in Timor

Children's struggle to access education highlighted in film

Wellington, 30 March 2010. – New Zealand filmmaker Peter Marra’s documentary, “Children of a Nation”, will be screening on Channel 74 (Documentary Channel) on Thursday 1 April at 7.30pm. It was listed as a finalist in the 2009 Asia-Pacific Child Rights Award jointly organised by Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“Children of a Nation” documents the story of a young girl in Timor-Leste from the time she is just a few weeks old till she is five and a half. Following his meeting with this girl and her family, Mr Marra decided to find out what opportunities existed for this child. This led to multiple trips to Timor-Leste, exploring schools and problems faced by parents in enrolling their children in schools.

In 2006, this girl and her family were amongst the tens of thousands of East Timorese families forced to flee their homes during the chaos of youth gang fighting. When Mr Marra located them shortly after this, the family had lost their papers and were surviving on their last bag of rice.

Mr Marra established a partnership with Max Stahl Archive to document this child’s life. The film also features an inspired East Timorese teacher, Sister Aurora Pires, who develops a vision for the children in her school. Together with New Zealand teacher Anne Fisher, she trains teachers to nurture their young students so they can heal wounds and break the cycle of trauma.

“This film highlights the rights of the child to have an education in conflict and post-conflict situations,” says Mr Marra. “Education is one of the greatest gifts people can have. It is one of the most life changing things that can happen to people, especially in Timor-Leste where parents don’t have money to send their children to school.

“It’s not just about money, it’s about empowerment.”

This is also the universal story of the needs of all children in every culture.

“Children are like candles in the wind, the potential they have to be the future of a nation is incredible. If you let the candle blow out, you are letting the nation blow out.”

UNICEF helps distribute Timorese story books in schools around Timor-Leste.

ENDS

© Scoop Media