The Founding of Kay Rala

Manatuto, East Timor

Estori Konoba Hari Kay Rala

Iha Fulan Agusto, Tinan 2002 hahu loke eskola foun ida mak naran Kay Rala nebe ami sei hametin liu hosi eskola ne'e se iha participasaun inan, aman ho profesores hotu. No mos qualidade hanorin iha area nonivel eskola nian.

Iha momentu atu haree eskola ida ne'e, haree mos hosi situasaun iha Manatuto. Hare'e hosi eskola secondaria nian iha ida deit mak eskola secondaria St. Antoni, i scola ne'e mos selu karun (fulan ida, $10). Iha inan aman sira balu atu fo'o eskola o continua oan sira nia eskola, maibe force atu selu osan eskola nian la to'o, tanba selu karun.

Iha momentu ne'e mos, iha mestri nain hat hare'e ba situasaun eskola nian henesan ne'e, sira homotuk lia ida ho inan aman sira, atu hato'o ba estadu RDTL, oinsa atu habele loke eskola foun ida atu ajuda labarik sira nebe'e inan aman la force atu selu eskola iha Manatuto. Consege estatu hatan, hodi husu ba mestri nain hat: imi hakarak hari eskola ida iha Manatuto katak hodi ajuda labarik sira, maibe imi mestri hamutuk nain hira mak bele hari eskola ida ne'e. Mestri nain hat hatan fali ba estadu: ami mestri sira etta hamutuk nain hitu, depois mestri hanesan alunus sira selu hamutuk nain hitu. Depois mestri sira seluk mos hakarak ajuda hotu labarik sira ne'e. Estadu simu mestri sira nia idea atu bele loke eskola foun ida iha Manatuto.

Oinsa sira bele atu tau eskola ne'e nia naran? Sira ba kualia ho presidente Timor nian, Xanana Gusmao, atu bele fo'o nia naran, Kay Rala, ba eskola ne'e. Presidente mos hakarak fo'o naran ne'e, nebe'e uza iha ai laran, atu tau ba eskola.

Iha data 8 fulan Agusto, tinan 2002, komesa ha'hu tau naran ba labarik sira nebe atu ba eskola. Iha tempo ne'e mos labarik sira hamutuk 132 fahe fali ba klasse hamutuk 4. Komese lisaun iha data 15 fulan Septembro i hala'o diak. I alunus sira mos komesa selu osan fulan fulan, $3.50 atu fo'o ba mestri sira nebe'e estadu la selu.

Agora, data 25 fulan Marco, tinan 2004, eskola Kay Rala iha alunus nain 227 i mestri hamutuk 20. Eskola nia tinan la'o hosi fulan Septembru to'o Augusto. Agora eskola iha alunus iha klass 1, klass 2. Iha Agusto oin, atu aumenta klas 3.

Se'i susar ba mestri i alunus sira hotu, tanba Kay Rala seidauk iha uma ida; sei usa uma pre-secundaria nian. Ami alunus, seidauk hatene oinsa atu resolve probleme ne'e, maibe ami hein ho pasensia.

Ba estroria hari Kay Rala maka ne'e deit. Sei bele, ami hakarak rona estori konoba eskola iha rai seluk. Obrigadu barak ba ita bot sira hotu.

Gabriel Soares Boavida
Chefe de Classe

English Translation:
The Story of Kay Rala's Founding

In the month of August, 2002, mothers, fathers, and teachers of Manatuto, to provide an ongoing education for their children, opened a new school named Kay Rala. They strove to ensure the quality of teaching for students at the highschool level.

At the time of founding the school in Manatuto, the situation was like this: there was only one secondary school in Manatuto, St. Anthony, and this school was expensive ($10 per month). Though the parents wanted to further the education of their children, they could not aford St. Anthony's expensive tuition.

At the same time, there were four teachers that also worried about this situation, so they spoke with the parents about conveying their concerns to the new government of East Timor: how to open a new school to help the children of parents without the means to afford the other school. Before answering, the state asked the teachers about how many were commited founding the school. Four teachers answered the state: we would like the state to pay salaries for seven teachers and the students can pay the salaries for seven more. The state agreed to help the teachers found a new school in Manatuto.

What name would they give to this new school? The teachers went to speak with East Timor's president, Xanana Gusmao, about giving his name, Kay Rala, to the school. The president also wanted to give this name, which was his code name in the forests during the war with Indonesia, to the new school.

On the 8th of August, 2002, students began to submit their names for registration. At this time, there were 132 children split into 4 classes. Lessons began the 15th of September and began well. The students also began to pay $3.50 every month for the salaries of the teachers not paid by the state.

Today, the 25th of March, 2004, Kay Rala has 227 students and 20 teachers. The school year here runs from September to August. Now there are students in class 1, and class 2. Next August, class 3 will begin.

It is still difficult for all the teachers and students because Kay Rala does not yet have its own building; it still uses the buildings of the pre-secondary school. We students do not yet know the resolution for this problem, but we are waiting patiently.

That is all of the founding story of Kay Rala. If possible, we'd like to hear the story about schools in other lands. Thank you all very much.

Gabriel Soares Boavida
Class President
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