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!

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.

So for these first few posts, we will be sharing stories with you from Bolivia, as TIA’s Director Tessa has been over there since the 29th of November, and will be there until the 9th of February. So get ready for exciting updates all the way from Cochabamba, Bolivia…..

So we arrived in Cochabamba on the 29th of November. There was myself (Tessa, the Director of TIA), with Kelly, our Assistant Director from Australia, her partner in crime (aka boyfriend) Chris (or as we affectionately refer to him – TIA’s IT Support), and Stacey, our Volunteer Coordinator from Australia. We didn’t waste any time in getting straight to work, as Stacey was only going to be with us for 2 weeks, and Kelly and Chris were leaving the week after. So in the first week we were here we met with Jimena, our Bolivian In-Country Director, to get an update on how things were going.

L-R: Stacey, Tessa, and Jimena

We then went and visited Ciudadela SEDEGES, the children’s home where we work, to see how things were looking there. The water system that we assisted in setting up at the beginning of the year is working well and all looking good, I’m pleased to report! The kids still enjoy the luxury of running water in their houses and the hygiene looks much better than it was. The nutrition project we supported within the kindergarten centre at Ciudadela is also going well, with the kids learning to make lots of different foods. The boys had a ball climbing all over Chris as they don’t generally have many male visitors, so it was a total novelty for them to have someone who could give them horse rides and swing them around.

Chris with one of the kids at Ciudadela SEDEGES

L-R: Jimena, Percy, Elizabeth, Adrian, Jhuli, Nelson, and Willy

After that we went and visited Manuela Gandarillas, the rehabilitation centre for blind and visually impaired children and adolescents where we also have set up a few projects. The students were already on holidays for the summer break unfortunately so we didn’t get to see them, but we met with Nico, the director of the centre, and he showed us the computers that we set up at the beginning of the year, which were all functioning well and looking good. He said the kids have been getting a lot of use out of them, which was great to hear. The music project has also been going well this year, and Nico gave us a copy of the DVD that we filmed of the music concert they did at the start of November. We will post this video online shortly so that everyone can see the amazing work that the kids have been doing over the past year – their talent and dedication never ceases to amaze me! We also checked out the sensory garden that two of our volunteers Joey and Ruby set up when they were here a few months ago. It looks great! We then had a look at the new shopfront they’ve constructed. They’re planning to open a small shop to sell the amazing products that the students learn to make in workshops, as well as food and drinks, which will provide them with a bit of an income and will bring in some funds for the centre. We are looking at ways to support this project.

L-R: Nico (Director of Manuela Gandarillas), Stacey, Tessa, Kelly, and Jimena in the Computer Room at Manuela Gandarillas

Nico and Jimena and the new shopfront at Manuela Gandarillas

That concludes our first blog post! Stay tuned for more exciting happenings from the Terrific TIA Team in Cochabamba, Bolivia!

Working from a model of empowerment, we concentrate on working in collaboration with the community. We have no religious or political affiliations, a philosophy which fosters and respects diversity within our team.