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To help
counter an acute shortage of teaching materials, CARE International
Timor-Leste publishes a special magazine for Timor-Leste’s
students. Lafaek (meaning crocodile) reaches schoolchildren in
all 13 of the country’s districts, offering educational
information in Tetum, one of Timor-Leste’s main languages.
The primary education system still faces major problems in newly
independent Timor-Leste. Although the schools have reopened, there
are few teaching, reading, or supplementary curriculum materials.
Lafaek helps fill this gap. Topics include history, culture, and
health, as well as information on key issues such as children’s
rights, reconciliation and peace building, environment, and community
development.
USAID-ET has supported Lafaek since
May 2001. The current $99,858 grant to CARE for the magazine ensures
that the magazine and its teaching guide are published through
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October 2003. CARE
distributes Lafaek to Timor-Leste’s 698 primary schools,
reaching more than 80% of the country’s 184,000 primary
school students and all of their teachers. Indirectly, it reaches
a significant number of rural households, as well as government
offices and development agencies. Recent research shows that Lafaek
is often the only teaching material available in schools, particularly
in remote areas. Additionally, it offers the only written material
for children available in Tetum, the second official language
of Timor-Leste.
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