Helping St Bakhita
School
Achieve BETTER Together
Atlantis Timetabling is cooperating with St Bakhita School to donate second-hand laptops to Timor-Leste.
A simple plan.
We are now looking for at least 30, and ideally 50 laptops to donate to the St Bakhita School. The plan is to collect them and refurbish them in Sydney and send them on a pallet to Same Manufahi. This plan might also be repeated in a year or two.
We need Windows laptops in good working condition but we will be able to do minor repairs such as replacing the hard drive or reinstalling Windows. If you can donate 5+ similar laptops from your organisation then this simplifies logistics, but we won’t turn our nose up at any good quality laptop.
Why are laptops so important?
At the Bakhita School of Excellence in Same (Sah-may), laptops play a critical role in enhancing both teaching quality and student learning. Each teacher is equipped with a laptop, enabling them to project lesson materials and deliver interactive, technology-integrated lessons that incorporate video, music, and multimedia. This approach brings lessons to life, improving student engagement, understanding, and retention.
Providing access to essential online resources
Laptops also strengthen our teaching model by providing teachers with direct access to our Australian-based support network, allowing for ongoing mentoring, the downloading of lesson plans, and access to high-quality teaching resources. This ensures consistency in delivery and supports continuous professional development for our Timorese teaching staff.
Bridging the Digital Divide
With the school connected to Starlink, reliable internet access allows for seamless connectivity, opening up global learning opportunities for both teachers and students. Additional laptops will support the introduction of a computer education program, delivered during library time. This will provide students with foundational IT skills, preparing them for the demands of the modern workforce and ensuring they are not left behind in an increasingly digital world.
Together, this integration of technology is helping to bridge the digital divide and equip both teachers and students with the tools needed for a modern, high-quality education.
Ornella Byak - Founder of St Bakhita School of Excellence
At 14, Ornella Byak from Sydney’s North Shore visited East Timor and was struck by the poverty and lack of education in village schools. When a local peer told her “Don’t forget about us,” she promised to create the same education opportunities she had in Australia.
She delivered. She helped redevelop Letefoho Senior School, which grew 1160% in 5 years to 650+ students and ranked 4th nationally. At 19, in her first year of university in 2018, she founded BETTER Timor. After testing showed only 1 in 36 students aged 17+ could solve basic math, BETTER built a custom curriculum and teacher support program with 45+ volunteers. In 2023, President Jose Ramos-Horta opened the Bakhita School of Excellence in Same with 48 foundation students. The goal: a Foundation-to-Year 12 school for 650 kids, tackling a crisis where 700,000 children in Timor have little or no education.
Ornella’s school is growing and for the next phase of its growth, she needs laptops. The latest information about St Bakhita is here: https://bsesame.org/. Ornella’s organisation is a registered charity in Australia (DGR).
My name is Dr Tim Cooper
I am the co-founder of Atlantis Timetabling (and before that, Edval Timetables, Skedgo Pty Ltd Trip Planner and Nasdaq SMARTS Surveillance).
I have travelled to Timor-Leste (also known as East Timor) nearly every year since 2003, conducting small-scale aid projects: establishing an electrical/mechanical workshop, working with rice & corn storage/packaging/marketing, and donating computers
I have donated around 120 desktops/laptops over 4 shipments, since 2003, to educational institutions (UNTL, UNDIL and others).
Life changing
What is clear to me after years of working with the Manufahi/Same community is that laptops are one of the most sought-after things the local people ask for. Very few people in the districts can afford even a second hand laptop, although they all know what laptops are. For the locals, laptops are a gateway to education, the outside world, and professional employment.
I have gotten to know Ornella and her school quite well. It is a very impressive operation. It is free for the students. Ornella uses donors, primarily Australians, for the financial support she needs to pay teachers and for all the infrastructure a school needs.
Will you help us?
Call
Tim - 0488 084 136
