Now, let us update you all on Michel, the little girl who had the foot surgery that we funded last year. It unfortunately is not such a good update. When I arrived, Jimena informed me that things have not gone so well with Michel and her mother Ines. Ines has not been taking very good care of Michel, and her foot had become infected. Jimena had visited the doctor with them and then found out that instead of having just the one prior operation like Ines had told us, Michel had actually had 5 operations previously, and they had all not worked and it became infected because she had not taken proper care of Michel after each operation. After hearing this I felt so frustrated and helpless. We had tried to help and had probably made things worse in the end. It was really hard to hear and I was at a loss of what to do. Ines grew up in the state-care system at a place called Maria Cristina. She has no family and no support networks, and when she left Maria Cristina there was no formal support or preparation for her to start her life as an adult. She is now a single mother of two daughters, she has a basic job at a little shop, and she barely makes enough money to support her daughters. She has never received the kind of support needed to know how to handle a situation like the one with Michel and her foot. So it was not Ines I was angry at, although it was hard not to be, but it was the system that I was angry at, and the fact that all the children who grow up in state care here have no support once they turn 18, and they are expected to leave the centres they’ve grown up in and fend for themselves. They are not adequately prepared for finding work or finding a place to live, they are not taught the basic things about how to live independently, and whats more, most of them don’t have family to go to, or the family they do have are very poor and can’t offer them any support or guidance.

Michel and Ines in their house a few months after the surgery

This situation got me thinking about an idea. Last year when I was here I was thinking about this problem, and I was thinking about what the kids from Ciudadela SEDEGES were going to do when they reached 18 and had to leave and start living independently. I wrote up a basic project outline for a transition centre for the teenagers who leave state care when they’re 18, somewhere for them to get assistance in finding a job, finding a place to live, studying, learning to cook, learning to manage their finances etc. But last year I put this project idea to the side because I thought that it didn’t really fit in with what TIA was doing at the time. This year though, after the Ines and Michel situation, and after talking to a lot of people here in Bolivia who mentioned this lack of support for these teenagers and their likelihood to end up on drugs and on the streets, I pulled the project out again and took another look. Although what TIA does, or has been doing, is partnering up with already existing centres and organisations to help them improve and do better work, it is becoming clear that for one thing, this work has been encouraging the ‘hand-out mentality’ that unfortunately is quite prevalent in Bolivian society, and the other thing is that we were doing this work with the mindset that all the needs were being covered with already existing centres, and that there was no need to be creating something new. As we are now realising, the lack of support for the young people who leave children’s homes is quite a strong need that isn’t currently being filled, and as TIA’s slogan states, we are meant to be ‘helping disadvantaged children reach their full potential’. What better way to help them reach their full potential than to provide the support they need to become positive, active and capable members of society?

Some of the oldest girls from Ciudadela SEDEGES who will be left to fend for themselves in a year or two

So, as of 4 weeks ago, we have formed an investigation team to research the viability and necessity of this project, and to see whether it will be possible. We have set February the 15th as the date when we decide if the project is one we will go ahead with or not. So until then, we are open to any suggestions, ideas, comments, criticisms, and feedback related to this project. This does not mean we will be withdrawing our support from the centre’s we are partnered with currently, but we will be focussing on ways of making these current projects self-sustainable.

The first meeting of the Project Investigation Team! L-R: Maribel, Fernando, Daniela, Mathias, Ana Silvia, Kelly, (my seat - i'm taking the photo), and Jimena

So that is the latest TIA news over here in Bolivia! Apologies once again for the delay, as you can all see it’s been a busy month so it’s been hard to find the time to sit down and write this! I’ll write another update soon!

The following week something very exciting happened…and no, it wasn’t that Stacey left (although she did). We had purchased a Braille Printer for the Blind Rehabilitation Centre in November 2010 and had it shipped from the US, and it had been detained in customs for an entire year due to us refusing to pay the obscene amount of money they were asking us to pay in taxes and duties ($1,500 USD to be precise). There is a law in Bolivia that states that if there is something sent to Bolivia with the intention of being used by people with a disability, that the taxes and duties must be waived. So after one whole year and a lot of letters and meetings and discussions with lawyers and arguing with the officials in customs and in the Government, and with a letter that I had gotten from the Bolivian Consulate in Australia, they FINALLY released the printer to us!! It arrived in one piece with no damage (thankfully!), and we ended up only having to pay $140. We literally kissed and hugged it when we opened the box…it was an exciting day!

Opening the Braille Printer box....exciting!!!

L-R: Nico, Jimena, Tessa, the BRAILLE PRINTER, Kelly and Chris

Welcome back! So, what’s been happening in the world of Cochabamba, Bolivia, since the last post you’re asking? Let me tell you!! This week we went and helped paint the inside of the houses at Ciudadela SEDEGES with the kids, which was fun and messy. Poor Chris ended up being called Tio Loco (translation – Uncle Crazy) by the kids mainly due to his lack of Spanish and his inclination to just speak in English to all the kids, and of course his spontaneous dancing and singing probably had something to do with it as well.

L-R: Kelly, Chris, Tessa and Stacey after painting at Ciudadela SEDEGES

We also went and visited CEA San Jose, the Alternative Education Centre we recently started working with at the start of the year. We saw Hogar Nidito, the childcare centre that we have funded there, which is about halfway finished. The bathroom and kitchen area still need some work and there is still some furniture that needs to be bought, but overall it’s looking quite good. The students have already been bringing their children there whilst they go to class, and we employed a woman to work there for the final couple of months of the year to care for the kids. We have been debating whether to continue the project however, because the children that are going to be in the childcare are all under 18 months old. We are worried about this young age and the potential risks that come with it. We had originally been under the impression that the children were older, so we are considering our options now. Even though the students had finished classes the week before, we were able to meet one of the young single mothers and her 1-year-old baby who has been attending Hogar Nidito. She is 17 years old and is one year off from graduating San Jose with her high school certificate.

A student from San Jose Alternative Education Centre with her baby boy who attends Hogar Nidito

The following day we went to the graduation ceremony for 48 students from San Jose. It was so inspiring to see young people who have faced such hardships in their lives receiving their graduation certificate and fighting so hard to make better lives for themselves.

Graduation Ceremony for San Jose class of 2011

It really is humbling to be able to witness young people who have beat all odds and have succeeded in moving forward in life and making their dreams a reality. Through TIA we have been able to offer some support to these amazing young people to reach their full potential. We know that these young people will go on to make incredible contributions to this world and it is truly a gift to be a part of the journey. We thank everyone who is reading this for being a part of that. You are the ones who make this possible.