tia international aid, adelaide nfp helping bolivian youth

7/29/2019 Tia International Aid, Adelaide NFP helping Bolivian youth

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Can you tell us a bit about what prompted you to start Tia International Aid?

As a very fortunate young person with all the opportunities I could ever dream

of right at my feet, when I rst volunteered at an orphanage in Bolivia in 2008,

I felt such a sense of injustice and frustration that the children there didnt have

the same opportunities Id had. It was a feeling that I cant describe, but I knew

then that I couldnt return to a life in Australia that was materialistic and egocen-

tric when I had the power, time and resources to do something to improve these

childrens situations. I felt such a sense of social responsibility to try to make a

change, no matter how small, in the lives of these children and young people.

So, in 2009 I came back from Bolivia with a passion and a purpose to create some-

thing that would improve their opportunities. 2 months later, Tia International

Aid was born!

Can you describe some of the challenges and difculties that a young person in parts

of Bolivia faces in their daily life?

In Bolivia, 60% of the population are of Indigenous heritage, and 60% of the pop-

ulation are living under the poverty line. So it can be seen both in the statistics

and in day-to-day life that the Indigenous population are severely disadvantaged

when it comes to economic opportunity. The frustrating thing for youth in Bolivia

is that there are so few opportunities to move out of whatever position theyre

born into. If theyve been born into poverty, its extremely difcult to escape it.

Theres also a lack of social services to support people in disadvantage, and so

children and young people receive very little support.

A youth-led Adelaide non-profit making adifference for children and young people in Bolivia

Adelaide is home to a host of organisations making a difference in the lives

of disadvantaged people overseas. One of these is Tia International Aid.

Tessa Henwood-Mitchell filled us in on TIAs achievementsand on TIA projects underway for 2013.


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Another element that specically affects young people growing up in orphanages

is that normally a young person would stay with their family and be supported un-

til they get married; but young people who have grown up in social services dont

have a family to support their move to independent living. The family culture to

encourage them to succeed just isnt there for those young people.

So TIAs aim is to develop young peoples skills and opportunities so that they can

avoid the poverty traps they might otherwise face.

Yes, absolutely. This is the main focus in all the work we do. We believe in em-

powerment above all else, and enabling these young people to help themselves is

the best kind of assistance because it gives them the tools and the condence to

reach for their full potential.

The skills they develop could help make them the community leaders of tomorrow.

Young people all over the world are the leaders of tomorrow, and this is why there

should be so much more invested in them.

We truly believe that each and every young person in the world deserves the

chance to reach their full potential, and through this theyll in turn be the

change-makers within their own communities.

We believe in breaking the cycle of poverty through education and empowerment

of young people, and that through investing in Bolivias young people well see

a change in the whole country, and Bolivias future will be brighter as a result.

How many projects is TIA supporting or managing? Can you tell us a bit about the

particular issues they deal with?

TIA has worked on a number of different projects, ranging from developing mu-

sic and computer projects with a rehabilitation centre for blind and vision im-

paired children and young people, to creating a child care centre for young single

mothers at an alternative education centre to enable them to complete their high


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school education, to working on nutrition and health projects at an orphanage.

Our focus is always to create opportunities and enable change in the lives of the

children and young people we work with.

Were also now creating a project that focuses on supporting young people who

have grown up in childrens homes in the transition to living independently.

And this is all run from a head ofce here in Adelaide? That must be a challenge to

coordinate, given the projects and distances involved.

Yes, it can be extremely challenging! I travel to Bolivia at least once a year for a

minimum of 3 months, so that Im available to support both teams, and weve had

some of our Australian volunteers visit our projects and team in Bolivia.

The main focus of the Adelaide team is to raise the funds we need for the work in

Bolivia, and to raise awareness both about the situation there and the amazing

things we have been able to do with the support of the Adelaide community.

If someone in Adelaide wanted to become involved, could they? For instance, do you

have volunteer positions that people can put themselves forward for?

Yes, volunteers really are the lifeblood of TIA! Wed love everyone to become in-

volved in our amazing team here in Adelaide. There are currently a number of

vacant positions on our team, so all anyone needs to do if theyre interested issend an email to [email protected] and well direct them to the right person!

We noticed that, being a non-prot, folks are also contributing through fundraising.

Yes, weve been extremely lucky to have people believe enough in the work that

we do to raise funds for us through various activities, the most recent being a

wonderful man from Melbourne, James Wright, who did the Sydney to Hobart

Yacht Race and raised over $1,000.

Then there were the two incredible Adelaide to Anchorage guys who embarked


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on a 10-month motorbike journey acr

oss South, Central and North America and

Alaska, who raised almost $20,000 for TIA!

Are there new projects in the pipeline for 2013, or developments to existing ones?

You mentioned a transition project earlier...

Our biggest project in development is a Transition Centre and Program that were

aiming to open in July 2013. The focus is to support young people turning 18 who

have grown up in childrens homes and now have to leave those homes. This is a

very scary time for them as they have no support, nancial or otherwise, and they

have no family to help in the transition to independent living.

The rst part of the project is an Early Beginnings Transition Program, a series of

workshops which we take into childrens homes to begin preparing young peo-

ple emotionally and mentally for whats to come. The workshops also help equip

them with basic living skills, nancial management, and some work skills.

The second stage is the Transition Centre, where well offer accommodation, skill

building workshops, and basic support in the form of counselling, tutoring and

mentoring to help these young people reach their full potential as young adults.

Its an exciting project and so necessary in Cochabamba as there are thousands of

young people in state care who need this kind of support every year. Right now,

theres nothing available like this, which means that many end up on the streets,

involved in drugs, alcohol and crime, and with a high rate of young pregnancies.

The impact is huge.

Its also the most ambitious project weve ever undertaken, so any support we can

get would be hugely appreciated!

For more information on Tia projects, and opportunities

to become involved in their work or to support Tias

work, visit www.tia.org.au, or email [email protected].
http://tia.org.au/mailto:tia%40tia.org.au?subject=mailto:tia%40tia.org.au?subject=http://tia.org.au/http://tia.org.au/

tia international aid, adelaide nfp helping bolivian youth

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