Testimonials

WHAT PARENTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT TALITA KUM

My name is LEIDY BOLAÑOS I am the mother of MARIA ALEJANDRA ILES, who entered the Talita-kum Educational Center from the age of four and a half till trnasition, which allowed her to integrate and develop as a person and acquire knowledge that helped her to learn values such as respect, companionship, and love for others, especially children with special educational needs.

In 2012, I joined as a member of the JUNTA DE PADRES DE FAMILIA (the parents’ council ) where we work together for the school and fight to keep it alive.

In 2013 I joined the Institution as a volunteer and I found a friendliness from the teachers and the Director making me feel part of a family which made me want to stay; where we recognised a need to create a school restaurant and in collaboration with another mother who supported the idea, we succeeded in establishing one which is good for the kids.

And as a mother of a family I thank God for giving me the opportunity to work in this school where there are many achievements, it fills me with great satisfaction: It is inTalitá-kum where my work and professional life began. In 2001, my work began as a teacher at the Talita-kum Reception and Protection Center where I had the opportunity to work with young people who were being rehabilitated at the time, I acquired many experiences among which:

Thank God I had an excellent work team where charisma, will, solidarity and love for others always prevailed. They opened their doors and their hearts to me so that I feel very well and so together we formed the Talita-kum Family.

I also met people whom I could share my knowledge, my experiences and you see being willing to learn from them.

It was in 2005 that the project to work with young people ends and the TALITA-KUM SCHOOL is born, where I began to work as a teacher of children who have different disabilities, whether physical, learning, timidity or socialising. I feel very happy to work with this group since I share my knowledge, I give them all my love, my patience and I surrender totally to them with the aim of helping them, that they feel very well, that they learn, that they love themselves and in the same way can love others. I love my job and these children are part of my life especially children who need more of my care.

I then share the experience of some children and young people with special educational needs.

ANDERSON JAVIER Y KAROL ALEJANDRA FERNANDEZ PINTO: Who has been diagnosed as having cohen syndrome.

This syndrome is a rare developmental genetic disorder characterized by microcephaly, characteristic facial features, hypotonia, progressive intellectual deficit, myopia and retinal dystrophy, neotropenia and truncal obesity. They are very loving, respectful children, they like to share with their peers. Their learning is slow, they learn for the moment, for that reason you have to motivate them day by day. They like to make simple strokes, to paint with the fingers, to sing, to laugh, and to dance.

DIANA CAROLINA ALMEIDA VASQUEZ: 

She is a girl who comes from a humble family and likes to play with her classmates, has learning problems, and does not like to participate in class since she is a very shy girl. In relation to teaching her a lot of patience is needed,  lessons need  repeating often, and use made of extra activities in which her parents can take part in. She has worked on her shyness by carrying out simple activities where she could express her feelings easily, not having to do things she did not want to do, to value what the child does and to be with her companions a pleasant atmosphere, doing playful activities and naming her class..

JAMES SEBASTIAN PAZ: He is a very affectionate child, who was rejected by his companions because he could not learn. When we arrived at Talita Kum School, his life changed because he found a teacher and colleagues who were willing to work together in what was most difficult for him, accepting him with much love, charisma and including him in the activities either both inside and outside the classroom. He is a very intelligent child, the only thing he lacked was someone to guide him, to have patience in teaching him, to teach him with love and to value everything he does, making him feel that he is a child capable of learning without any difficulty.

ABNER SEBASTIAN OJEDA PINEDA: Is a child with attention problems, because he is distracted and distracts his colleagues, he does not work and if he does it properly and slowly, he gets bored very easily and his performance is inconsistent. To keep his attention, he does different activities: puzzles of letters and figures, complete sequences, drawing exercises, coloring, drawing, lver labyrinths, letter soup among others.

In conclusion, working with children like this  fills me with a lot of satisfaction, makes me fall in love with my work every day and flourish in me that give and share everything I have like love and being able to serve the people that most they need it. How can you not be proud to know that you are putting a grain of sand and taking a beautiful smile on these beautiful children. Teaching them values, to stand on their own as they are the future of our Colombia. And how not to think that we can all make a better world. Thank you God for giving me the opportunity to work in this School and that you are the one who strengthens us to get ahead and continue with this beautiful work that we are doing. With love, MONICA LUCIA DIAZ RIVERA Teacher Talita-Kum Education Center

THOMAS

Iknew Thomas, a child who could not speak but who understood everything I taught him; As he was in the first grade, he begun to write and smile, he learnt to pronunce some words like “tote” (profe, teacher) “puta” (sacapuntas, pencil sharpener… and this was “funny”, ’cause “puta” means prostitute, so that everybody thought he was insulting me). Day after day,  Thomas learnt to make some particular sounds with which he could communicated with me and let me know what he needed. Everyday we worked on reading and writing, with emphasis  on the pronunciation and it was a great surprise for me and for everybody when, at the end of the year, Thomas could read everything that was written on the board and he received the applause and congratulations of all his companions.

The next year he moved to another town in Colombia (Neiva) and in the school he and his mother were congratulated for their achievements and significant advances.

(Sonia Fernanda Díaz Morales, Director)

MANUELA

… after two years,  Manuela arrived , a girl with cerebral palsy who did not walk or spoke; we begun to make therapies so that she would be seated every day and we helpedher to make exercises and she succedeed to take some little steps and from there weworked until she begun to walk, although her balance was not so good. Now she is in the fifth grade of primary school. She speaks with difficulty, but she walks and she, even if with some fear. That is why I intend to continue with the high school so that she continues to study in the 6th grade, since in public school it would be very difficult for her because of her balance and, moreover, she would not have the care she needs.

(Sonia Fernanda Díaz Morales, Director)

JOSE MANUEL BOLAÑOS

José Manuel, has severe autism and he could not bear to be with anyone else, any noise made him despaired; he was 4 years old and used diaper, he did not eat anything except water and lemon… Slowly, he learned to relate and endure the noise, he let the diaper and he learned to communicate and eat all class of food.

Now heis affectionate and tolerant and he has let himself be loved by all the classmatesand and by the teachers, who miss him when he doesn’t go to school .

(Sonia Fernanda Díaz Morales, Director)