Sponsor a Child in Dili, East Timor
Support children and young people who have found a new home in the Pintu Satu and Manleu boarding houses.
Sponsored children: 2 of 12
Educating Children with Disabilities in Buruma, East Timor
Funds raised so far: 2%
Saint Mary’s School welcomes children with disabilities in a context where access to education for them remains very limited. Through tailored support, it helps them find their place again socially and academically, but it faces financial difficulties in providing decent working conditions for its teachers.
What is life like in the Baucau district?
The village of Buruma lies in the district of Baucau, on the country’s north-east coast. Although it is only fifteen minutes from the town of Baucau, the population lives mainly in small villages, following a rural, community-based way of life. Most inhabitants make their living from subsistence farming, fishing, or small informal jobs, with low and irregular incomes. Unemployment is high, especially among young people.
Saint Mary’s School welcomes children with disabilities from all over the country, in the absence of facilities suited to these young people. In East Timor, disability is still poorly understood and rarely provided for. Those affected often face stereotypes and discrimination, leading to isolation, mockery, and an underestimation of their abilities. Mental health conditions, in particular, are often poorly perceived, which deepens their exclusion.
Despite the country’s commitments to inclusion, children with disabilities have very limited access to education. Many remain at home, and those who do attend school face a lack of adaptation, in overcrowded classes with poorly trained teachers. Access to care and rehabilitation also remains difficult, as these services are concentrated in urban areas.
Why is support needed?
At the start of the January 2026 term, the Sisters welcomed 15 new pupils, bringing the total to 43 children enrolled at Saint Mary’s School — all of them boarders, because their families live so far away.
The aim of Saint Mary’s School in Buruma is to enable the social and educational reintegration of these children. With the help of the teaching team, deaf children learn to lip-read and to express themselves, so they can go on to attend secondary school.
Today, three deaf pupils from the school are able to attend classes at a mainstream secondary school in the morning, and receive extra tuition in the afternoon at the Sisters’ school. Pupils who are not able to attend mainstream schools receive vocational training instead, such as sewing classes or manual-skills courses.
This work requires substantial supervision, with a team of 10 teachers, 9 assistants, and a cook (some of whom are former pupils). The children are divided into 9 very small classes (between 3 and 5 pupils each), which allows for high-quality support tailored to each child’s needs. In the afternoons, pupils alternate through the week between personalised support lessons and recreational activities. Saturdays are devoted to physical activities.
Why does supporting the teachers mean supporting the pupils?
The Sisters have set school and boarding fees at 30 dollars a month, to keep them affordable for families in hardship. However, this amount is at once too high for some families and too low to cover the school’s costs. They struggle to pay the salaries of the ten teachers, who earn between 150 and 180 dollars a month, not enough to provide for their own families.
With the average salary in East Timor being 200 to 300 dollars, the Sisters need outside financial support to guarantee a decent wage and maintain high-quality teaching, so their teachers can devote themselves fully to their work.
What makes this project so effective?
- Providing a decent salary and better living conditions for the school’s teachers and their families.
- Keeping the small class sizes that are essential to quality learning and to the wellbeing of children with disabilities.
- Securing the future of this wonderful school, in a country where facilities suited to children with disabilities are rare.
- Enabling the Sisters to welcome more children from vulnerable families.
- Helping children with disabilities to flourish and offering them a better future.
Who will benefit from this project?
The direct beneficiaries are the ten teachers at Saint Mary’s School. Most have taught at the school for many years. They have been specially trained in teaching methods suited to the children’s various disabilities. In a country where job opportunities are scarce and unemployment very high, they are often their household’s only source of income, and must sometimes support their extended family as well.
The indirect beneficiaries are the 43 children enrolled at Saint Mary’s School — children with disabilities, mainly deafness, autism, or intellectual disability. They often come from families of modest means.
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