Following in the footsteps of those who participated in the past four courses offered by Talitha Kum, 30 members from 27 countries took part in the 5th Leadership Training Course. The course took place in Lima, Peru from 23-30 March 2025. Red Kawsay Peru, the local Talitha Kum network, hosted the course. It was organized by Talitha Kum International, in collaboration with Tangaza University, Nairobi and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, who designed the course and tailored it to the network’s current needs.

Talitha Kum offered its 1st training course in Rome in June 2018 in Rome under the leadership of Sr. Gabriella in order to offer adequate leadership training. “We needed to form leaders, not isolated leaders, but leaders capable of weaving a network,” she says. 

Sr Abby Avelino now carries the initiative forward. During her opening remarks on Sunday evening, March 23, she said, “As we gather today, I’d like to reflect on the profound Japanese concept of ‘ichi-go ichi-e,’ which translates to ‘one encounter, one lifetime.’ This beautiful phrase speaks to the uniqueness of each moment, emphasizing that every encounter we have is irreplaceable, never to be repeated in exactly the same way.” She then encouraged the participants to be open to the unrepeatable experience the week would offering them. “What we share here, in this space and time, is something special. The wisdom, experiences, and insights exchanged during this conference will be shaped by our individual and collective perspectives, and once this moment passes, it will never come again in the same form,” Sr Avelino said.

Throughout the week, interactive presentations on leadership models, synodality, qualities necessary to lead oneself and others, communication skills, integrative leadership, and advocacy for victims and policy making in Peru, as well as role playing, group work, problem solving, and conversations in the Spirit, provided those participating with opportunities to stretch themselves across cultural and linguistic challenges, as well as to begin to envision a synodal model of working together as a network. 

The group also visited the Sor Rosalía Rendú shelter operated by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in the heart of Lima. Not only did the sisters explain the details of the services they offer victims of human trafficking, but representatives of Peru’s Public Ministry and a representative of the NGO Our Rescue were also on hand. They explained how they respectively depend on and support the services offered in the shelter and how they collaborate with the sisters. One representative from Peru’s Public Ministry explained how work closely with the Vincentian sisters because they understand the particular type of intervention victims of trafficking need in respect to the victims of domestic violence.

In addition to members of the Red Kawsay Peru, representatives from the Conference of Major Superiors of Peru, from other social organizations, NGOs, and Government Ministries joined those taking part in the leadership training course for the closing ceremony on Saturday evening. This provided the participants with the opportunity to express publicly what they personally learned during the week and the skills that will help them to better carry out their leadership roles. Sr Luz Elena Giraldo Zuluaga, an Oblate of the Most Holy Redeemer from Colombia says, “I learned that being a leader is learning how to listen with one’s soul, to observe empathetically and to accompany with humility.” Vincentian Sister Tsige Petros from Ethiopia says that the training “empowered me to apply the skill of self-leadership, mastering myself by owning my thoughts, actions and emotions.”

Everything planned during the week, including a culturally enriching evening of recreation and fun, and a visit to the beach and downtown Lima, was directed toward enhancing the unique leadership skills each participant offers for the benefit of the Talitha Kum network, and the people it serves. 

But the training course did not end on Saturday evening. Participants will continue working within project groups formed during the week. In these groups, they will together continue to apply the intensive training they received in Lima. Together, they will develop an anti-trafficking project that can be implemented in their own territory. In addition to a group project, each individual participant will present a 15-page thesis in September. This exercise will allow them to reflect on and express the experience of leadership they lived during this week’s course and to frame this experience in a theoretical/practical context. 

Talitha Kum is indebted to the support of the International Union of Superiors General who is firmly dedicated to promoting the formation of leaders. The Hilton Foundation has been very generous in providing the resources necessary to bring participants from all over the world together to benefit from this training.