Chronicle Spring 2022

32 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

Janio da Costa What do you do at Teddies and how long have you been here? I work in the Logistics Department and have been here since May 2017. Tell us a bit about your background and your family. I grew up in Ossu, East Timor, and came to the UK in 2015. I left school at 18 as my parents couldn’t afford to send me to university. East Timor is a newly independent country and there aren’t many job opportunities there. My family are all still in East Timor – I miss them but due to Covid I haven’t been able to travel to see them for several years. I send home money and have saved enough to build a flat for my brother and sister and a family home for my mother and father. Did you enjoy your schooldays? I always really enjoyed school and would love to continue my education. I am currently paying for my younger brother and sister to go to school and university in East Timor – my sister is training to be a doctor – but when they have both finished university I hope to continue with my studies. I would love to work in the tourism industry and encourage people to visit East Timor. It’s such a wonderful country with beaches, rainforest and coral reefs to explore. The food is incredible too – one of the most traditional dishes is ‘tukir’, a dish cooked in a hollowed-out bamboo trunk over an open fire. It’s delicious! What do you enjoy about working at St Edward’s? I’ve found it to be a very friendly community. I really love working with Maciej and Danny – working in Logistics we get to enjoy the scale of the school site and all the wonderful new buildings on a daily basis. I am so grateful to Richard Hayes for giving me the job here. What do you do in your spare time? Do you have any hobbies or other passions? I am part of the Oxford Timorese Community Association. We are a strong community and get together to celebrate occasions such as Independence Day. I am part of a choir and enjoy singing Catholic mass. I also love to play the occasional game of football. Who or what inspires you? I am hugely inspired by my friends Larentino and Ruben who are both also from East Timor and who have both completed Masters degrees since they moved to the UK.