Talita Cumi Childrens Home

Tia Heidi

Tia Heidi has been working at Talita Cumi for the past nine years and has lived in Bolivia about that long with her husband, a veterinary missionary, and their children. Tia Heidi uses her artistic abilities to lead the kids in creating beautiful scarves, articles of clothing, and framed artwork that both generate income for the home and give the children a chance to express themselves artistically. Tia Heidi's ability to connect with visitors, interns, staff and the children of the home is a beautiful expression of her faith - Talita Cumi simply would not be the same without her!

Tia Shirley

We are thrilled to have our psychologist, Shirley, working full time at the home. There is so much more to caring for the children than simply feeding, housing, and clothing the kids. And while each Tia offers emotional and spiritual support, Shirley's group and individual therapy sessions go even further in this respect. These sessions can focus on a variety of topics, from anger management and conflict resolution, to many other harder and more serious topics. Our aim is to bring our kids healing from the trauma they have experienced, all from a Christian perspective.

Tia Esther

Tia Esther is truly an incredible woman, who serves in our boy's home. She is the primary and faithful caregiver of the boys that live there, even at times when the word "hectic" is an incredible understatement. Esther's work ethic, fantastic sense of humor, wisdom in discipline issues, and genuine heart to serve God make her a fantastic role model for our boys. We are truly so blessed to have her!

Tia Lineth

Tia Lineth is the newest Tia to join the home and is now the "house mother" to our girls. During the day she works mainly with our youngest girls, and gives her nights to the whole houseful. Lineth also works with Tia Maribel in the area of Health. Together the two of them coordinate our doctor visits, medication supply and general health practices. She is a recent college graduate with a degree in teaching, and we are blessed to have her in our Home.

Tia Katy

Katty's main responsibility here at Talita Cumi is one-on-one care for Fanny, one of our children here at the home that has special needs. Katty helps Fanny with daily tasks of life, basic school skills, and aids her in maintaining her fine motor skills by making beautiful beaded jewelry, which is available for purchase as a way to support the home.

Tia Fanny

Fanny joined the Talita Cumi team in early 2009 and serves mostly as the "education specialist". She is in charge of the academic aspect of our children's lives - a rather large undertaking. She is especially talented at explaining tricky math concepts to our high school students and has spent many hours of her time doing so.

Tia Maribel

Tia Maribel is one of our newer Tias and has been a huge help to us over at the boys' house. Along with Esther, Maribel keeps the boys clean, organized and well-behaved. She has a gentle spirit, but also a firm hand, which our boys need from time to time. As well, she is trained in the area of psychology and has lent her expertise to Tia Shirley, assisting in some group therapies. She has also undertaken the area of Health along with Tia Lineth.

Tia Teresa

Tia Teresa is our gourmet chef! She works hard everyday to supply us with tasty and nutritious meals and her gentle spirit lends itself to endearing her to each one of us. We (and our stomachs) are very grateful for the work that she does!

Interns

For many years, Talita Cumi is blessed by a one-year intern from Mennonite Central Committee's SALT Program. More recently we have also received many interns through other mission organizations, most notably the Evangelical Free Church of Canada Mission (EFCCM). These interns live in Bolivia and help fill the gaps, spending time with the children, giving homework help, writing newsletters, teaching English & music, and performing other administrative tasks as needed. They are always a huge help and a wonderful part of Talita Cumi's family.

Board of Directors

Talita Cumi is governed by a board of directors that meet regularly to seek God's guidance in discerning the best choices for the home. The board is made up of Bolivian nationals as well as missionaries that have come to Bolivia from other parts of the world. To contact our board members, check out the "Contact Us" page. We also have a California Board of Directors which manages our American donations.