Archive of 2022 Activities and News
December 2022
With great enthusiasm, the Christmas Club called “Club de Exploradores” was held from December 12 to 16 with the participation of an average of 85 children from the community. The theme was all about Christmas: “Love, hope, joy and peace”. It was a wonderful time of teaching, games and crafts. We thank El Jireh church for all the support and the volunteers who collaborated in carrying out this activity.
With the support of the El Jireh Church, we built a wooden house to shelter the Cartajena Manú family, made up of our Ecilda’s sister, along with her mother, father, brother and nephews. We are grateful to God for what we have been able to do to help this very poor family. There is still more to be done as some basic services are still required.
Our community classes closed for the end of this term and there was both much enthusiasm and a little sadness as the children celebrated another milestone. Our children were entertained with a delicious snack in addition to receiving a small gift to mark their attendance. We want to thank God for this past year and we pray for a 2023 full of many good things.
November 2022
With much expectation we carried out an ear surgery campaign that we made affordable for our patients. We thank Dr. Carlos Orrego Molina who volunteered to come from Argentina to support us in this campaign. 8 patients benefited and health personnel were trained in new techniques used in this type of surgery.
Daniela (14a) and Jael (15a) are two girls who have been taking part in the craft classes that we develop once a week, demonstrating their skills and creativity to make jewellery products. On this occasion we held a fair at the institution so that they can exhibit and sell their products. It went very well since they were able to sell various accessories and with that support themselves financially.
The Confederation of Women’s Institutions – Trinidad Branch, presented an award for the work of the Totaí Foundation, in the 15th anniversary of the “Manitas Creativas Arts and Crafts Program”. This recognised the excellent service provided to the community and the constant support for women entrepreneurs.
October 2022
On October 29, the 18th anniversary of the Totaí Foundation was celebrated, in which we shared a delicious fellowship lunch among all the workers. It was a propitious moment to thank God for this time, at the same time reaffirming our commitment to continue working in benefit of our community.
We had an afternoon of crafts among the mothers of the community. They enjoyed developing their skills and creativity in works that will be exhibited for sale very soon in the FT facilities.
Encouraging the creativity and ability of our community children, craft classes are carried out with great enthusiasm, making very beautiful works. These classes take place once a week with materials provided.
Marking the International Week of the Deaf Person, our health team participated in the fair organised by the Association of the Deaf Persons of Beni (our region). We carried out hearing check-ups and promoted the importance of hearing health care.
In order to contribute to the visual health of the people of our community we carried out eyesight and spectacle checks. We were able to help supply very good quality and low cost lenses. We want to thank the Claro Vision optician of the city of Santa Cruz .
September 2022
We recently celebrated student’s day and spring. We spent a nice afternoon with our community children, with prizes, contests and a delicious snack. We thank God for these moments.
With great enthusiasm our children develop their creativity and ability, thanks to the drawing classes that our teacher develops through learning on the tablets of the virtual classroom. Parents are very grateful to the Foundation for this support given to their children. We feel very happy and grateful to God as we hope that a future artist can emerge from this group of children.
August 2022
August 13 was the 15th anniversary of the arts and crafts programme called “Manitas Creativas” aimed at mothers of families in our community. The founding mothers who were in the programme since its inception were recognised and thanked. We are very happy and grateful to God for the success of this initiative.
Andrés Torrico Franco, an 18-year-old, trained in our START Totaí soccer school from the age of 5 years. Thanks to work, sacrifice, perseverance and discipline, today he triumphs in the Bolivian Professional Soccer League in the National Potosí team. As a boy Andreco, as they called him by nickname, lived three blocks from the Foundation and attended El Jireh church. In due course paths were opened for him to integrate into larger local teams in our city and today at the national level. We are delighted to have trained him in the beginning and to see him now in the Soccer League. We wish him the greatest success. Congratulations! We give thanks to God who enables us in all things.
We were invited to return to San Borja, 233Km away, on Aug 10 to carry out hearing checks and audiological tests. We were able to help 30 people with hearing disabilities. This means they can be registered with the Ministry of Health and can receive their disability support.
Continuing with our community outreach work, our health team moved on August 8 and 9 to the town of Rurrenabaque, 387 km away. We provided medical consultations in ear and hearing care, carried out audiological tests and medication delivery. We had never been to that town before because it is so far away and so the local people were especially grateful to the Foundation for the attention given.
Some of the local mums are being supported through the Fundación Totai Crafts work. They recently received recognition from the Municipal Government of Trinidad as “women entrepreneurs” in the city and participated in a fair showing the products they make in the weekly classes. Some of the items included up-cycling glass bottles and other items.
July 2022
With great joy we organised the 5-day Holiday Club called “The Gospel of Power” for the children of the neighbourhoods near Totaí Foundation. We had an average of 70 children participating and we spent 5 incredible days of games, crafts and lots of fun – but mainly learning the word of God. We thank all our volunteers who helped us to make this activity possible, mainly Rachel Peebles, organiser of this event.
Rachel Peebles (FT UK Director), her baby Isaac and Niamh Mclvor visited FT this month. The FT team were delighted to host the visit. They said “Very pleasant time together, we hope that your stay in our city has been very pleasant and we pray that God continues to bless your lives and have a good return. We hope they come back soon!”
June 2022
With a lot of effort and sacrifice, our children in the 7-year-old and 15-year-old categories won 3rd place in the municipal futsal championship. We thank the coaches and parents for all the support given and we congratulate our athletes on their achievements.
The Government Health Service (SEDES) carried out the annual evaluation of our organisation. We received a very high score and was congratulated on being one of the few health centres of our city that complies with all biosafety and quality protocols. We are thankful this process went well and for being authorised to continue.
May 2022
We give thanks for volunteer Abel Arauz, who in a very committed and enthusiastic way is giving chess classes to our children one day a week. This type of activity has been found to improve children’s attention span and their ability to concentrate while learning.
Our girls continue to learn and develop their craft skills by making various jewellery and ornaments. In the same way we have been developing school support activities helping our children with their homework. For teacher Carla Camader it is a pleasure to be able to help them in the preparation of their display flip charts and to provide them with some materials.
In commemoration of Workers’ Day, a delicious breakfast was organised for the workers of FT. The staff came together to reaffirm their commitment to the work. Our president, Dr. Miguel Angel Arauz, expressed congratulations on behalf of the entire Board.
On their time-off the staff painted some of the rooms and cultivated a garden to improve FT’s facilities. We are very grateful to the staff and this clearly demonstrates the attitude and commitment of each of the workers for the Foundation.
April 2022
Celebrating the Bolivian Children’s Day on April 12, the community area prepared a treat for all our children. They spent a splendid afternoon with various games, prizes and a delicious snack. We thank God for this beautiful time.
March 2022
19 March is Fathers’ Day in Bolivia. To celebrate this we ran a health campaign. Many dads came along and took advantage of the opportunity to get a medical and dental check-up. We were also able to give small gifts to some of the parents who came to our facilities.
New soccer strips were made for each of our training groups. The designs include player names and the logo of the Totaí Foundation. Our athletes were delighted with their new look.
With the purpose of incorporating our children into the world of technology and information management, classes are being organised for the management of mobile equipment and the correct way to search for information that will help them in their school classes. Some children are using a tablet for the first time. They were very happy with this new experience.
One of the new activities scheduled for this year by the community area is craft classes for our teenage girls. The aim is to develop their creative potential and skills. They were very happy to learn this new pursuit.
World Hearing Day was established by the World Health Organisation and to celebrate this locally, FT carried out a local campaign to raise awareness and promote healthy ear care. The staff carried out a campaign of cleaning and audiological tests to promote good health and prevent hearing loss.
February 2022
On Thursday 24 Feb, we started a basic sign language course for our community children with the aim that they communicate effectively with deaf people. There is a lot of expectation and acceptance on the part of the parents of families and a lot of enthusiasm on the part of our children in learning a new language.
On February 16 we started our activities in the Community Area. The children were very happy to return to the activities. This year there will be many surprises!
On February 11 and 12, our health team traveled to the town of San Borja, 233 km away. of our city, to perform ear otoscopy and audiological tests to the residents of that town, who were very grateful to our staff and the institution for getting there.
January 2022
Planning has begun for community activities which are scheduled to start mid-February. Likewise, our rooms are being painted to start classes. The children and parents of families are excited about the new year and for the surprises it will bring.
The activities of the Sports Area began on 18 Jan with the training of the soccer school. All the boys and girls were very enthusiastic and looked forward to a year of great success.
From January 10 to 12, the Rheumatology campaign was carried out by Dr. Beatriz Rodriguez; they mainly treated elderly patients with problems of rheumatism, arthritis and osteoporosis.
From January 10 to 12, the Rheumatology campaign was carried out by Dr. Beatriz Rodriguez; they mainly treated elderly patients with problems of rheumatism, arthritis and osteoporosis.