Overall Update Spring 2024

Tatenda Update: Spring 2024

Tatenda’s leadership consists of a Board of Directors which meets four times a year to guide the
organization’s activities. The most recent meeting of the Board took place on April 20 and
included reports on recent retreats, plans for upcoming retreats, a report on the organization’s
finances, conversation about how the organization communicates with its benefactors and other
supporters, and fundraising.
Border Retreats: Tatenda Board members Nicki Verploegen and Wilson Villamar led two one-
day retreats for the parish and shelter staff of Sacred Heart Parish in El Paso, Texas in February
2024. Sacred Heart, the oldest Catholic parish in El Paso, operates a temporary shelter for
migrants who have been released from U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE)
detention and are on their way to various parts of the U.S. where they will await their asylum
hearings. The day before the first of these retreats, the Texas Attorney General had sought an
injunction to halt the operations of Annunciation House which coordinates the network of
church-based temporary shelters for migrants in the El Paso area, a move that would impact
many of the people who participated in the Tatenda retreats.
Wellness Center Retreats: Tatenda Board members Nancy Sheridan, SASV, and Regina
O’Connor led two retreats for the staff of Marie Esther Alliance Healthcare in Marlborough,
Massachusetts in March 2024. Feedback from the staff and supervisors who participated in the
retreats was very positive, and Tatenda has been invited to offer another retreat that would
guide the staff in the creation of a mission statement.
International Retreats: Tatenda Board member and co-founder Nicki Verploegen has had
conversations with two congregations of Catholic women religious about possible retreats in
2025. If these plans move forward, it would represent the first international Tatenda retreats
since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Finances: Thanks to a couple of large donations and several other donations, Tatenda’s annual
“30 Days of Thanksgiving” fundraising campaign in Fall 2023 raised $10,769, exceeding its goal
of $7,500. Several of these donations were made in memory of former Tatenda Board member
Mary Lou Verla who died in December 2023.
Communications: Tatenda has migrated its email to Constant Contact, making it easier to
communicate with benefactors and other supporters. New Tatenda Board member Regina
O’Connor is working on updating the Tatenda website.
On behalf of my colleagues on the Tatenda Board of Directors, “Tatenda” (that is, “thank you”
in the Shona language of Zimbabwe) for joining us in Tatenda’s mission of caring for caregivers
in established relief organizations internationally and in the U.S.
Paul Covino
President, Tatenda Board of Directors
PS: Donations to support Tatenda are welcome at any time during the year. Go to
https://tatendainternational.org/donate/ to make a secure online donation. Thank you!