Country Director

Teima has been with ChildFund Kiribati since it was established in 2017. With a background in administration finance, she saw the establishment of CFK as an opportunity to be involved in fulfilling the requirements of international funding organisations and supporting the needs of the people of the project area, Betio, where she lives.

“The best part of my job is working with communities and knowing that families are genuinely content, children are healthy and eating well and that they are aware of our programs such as WASH (Water and Sanitation Hygiene), good nutrition, gardening; and that they are sharing with their neighbors to become self-sufficient, ” she says.

Head of Programs

Rubee joined ChildFund Kiribati in April 2024. With a background in teaching, management and leadership, business administration and project management, she wanted to contribute to the development of CFK and the improvement of the livelihoods of the people of Kiribati..

Her role is to manage our Programmes team to oversee our development and humanitarian programs and projects. She will also take a leading role in building and fostering relationships with donors, government ministries and other partners.

“The best part of my job is working in a new organisation with new colleagues, developing new ideas and initiatives which will contribute to the improvement of the livelihoods of the children, youth and the people of our beloved country, Kiribati,” she says.

Emergency and Resilience Project Manager

Meet Okoro, born and raised on Tabiteuea South, she joined ChildFund Kiribati in April 2024. Her previous work with the Kiribati Outer Islands Food and Water Project (KOIFAWP) was working with the community to strengthen and enhance the ability of the community to work together to achieve the intended goals from available resources.

As our Emergency and Resilience project manager, Okoro’s roles is to oversee the implementation of initiatives, including existing projects relating to climate change,water,sanitation, and hygiene.

“Working in a team to achieve the organization's goal is one of the best parts of my work,” she says.

Youth Program Manager

Meet Selima, our youth program manager, and an accomplished table tennis player who has competed in international tournaments, including the Commonwealth Games.

Selima joined ChildFund Kiribati in 2017 after completing a Community Services qualification at Kiribati Institute of Technology.

Her role is to design and implement youth programs as well as support staff and program participants. She says the best part of her job is working in the community with diverse people, facing new challenges, learning new skills and being adaptable.

Communications and Advocacy Officer, Program Officer

Born in South Tarawa, Julina came to ChildFund Kiribati (CFK) on work experience in 2017 after studying community service at KIribati Institute of Technology – and she’s still here!

Her work as a program officer includes doing household visits and water testing. She also runs mini workshops and does presentations. As communications and advocacy officer, Julina is responsible for making videos, taking photographs, writing case studies and social media posting.

“I found that I like working with people because they trust you and share their different issues and you can try to find a way to help,” she says.

Finance Assistant

Temeeua joined CFK in 2019 as an assistant finance officer. She enjoys working with numbers and was in the accounting stream at school. She previously had a similar role at Kiribati Family Health Association for about nine years.

Temeeua’s role is dealing with processing payments which are needed for the office, and this includes filing, making payment vouchers, documenting staff leaves and banking.

Temeeua says the best part of her role is to support and assist all ChildFund work, especially when it comes to finances and money matters.

Program Officer, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

Teborataake joined the ChildFund team in 2017 as a program officer. This role includes assisting in planning and implementing activities. She also visits homes to deliver messages on money management, WASH, positive parenting, disaster risk reduction and water testing.

As monitoring and evaluation officer, Teborataake is responsible for designing surveys and she compiles and organizes the data collected.

“Sometimes working with different people who have their own ideas and beliefs can be challenging, but through good communication skills, you can build a strong relationship and trust with them,” she says.

Program Officer

Aroito first joined the ChildFund Kiribati team in 2018.

His role includes conducting workshops on positive parenting, roadshow awareness and visiting households to conduct mini workshops on WASH, disaster risk reductions, budgeting and being money minded and water testing.

“The ability to change people’s lives is the finest aspect of my profession as a community worker. This results from raising awareness and supporting them with positive parenting, which is something I have personally witnessed that helps lots of families, particularly those who are strict with their children,” he says.

Youth Program Officer

Famelea was born and raised on the island of Nikunau and first joined the ChildFund Kiribati team in 2019 as a youth program officer.

Her roles include recruiting youths to join CFK programs (Building Blocks and Life Skills) and KIT programs (Bridging course and Basic Business), taking attendance, providing pastoral care and supporting other ChildFund activities.

“The greatest aspect of my job is to engage youths into Childfund’s program and to support them through their learning journey,” she says.

Program Officer

Tabiria first came to Childfund Kiribati as a Basic Business student in 2017 where she was selected to study basic office skills at Kiribati institute of Technology.

Through her capability and commitment, ChildFund recruited her to help construct mini playgrounds in communities. She was then employed as one of the program officers at ChildFund Kiribati.

Tabiria enjoys working with communities. Her role includes visiting households to conduct mini workshops on positive parenting, water testing, road show awareness and cleanup campaigns.

Program Officer

Born and raised on south Tarawa, Antipa first joined ChildFund Kiribati team in 2022 as a program officer.

His role includes, visiting households to deliver messages on positive parenting, water, and sanitation hygiene, testing drinking water and conducting workshops on positive parenting.

“The best aspect of my work is supporting parents in the community, by sharing important messages on positive parenting to parents through workshops,” he says.

Program Officer

Erenua began working with ChildFund Kiribati in 2023, having been recruited in 2021 as a support staff member to participate in CFK Family Hub activities involving drama, roadshow public awareness, and narrating CFK videos.

Through her social ability, commitment, and knowledge, she was recruited to join the CFK team as a youth program officer.

Her role includes recruiting interested youths to join CFK programs, taking attendances, providing pastoral care, and conducting surveys.

“I was so proud to join the CFK team, as I really love working and helping people in the community, especially youths,” she says.

Youth Program Officer

Tooma first came to ChildFund Kiribati as a support officer in 2023 and now he is one of our Youth Program officers.

His roles include recruiting youths, pastoral care and conducting surveys.

“I have been so passionate about helping people especially children and youths.

“The most enjoyable aspect of the work is conducting a survey and receiving insightful feedback from past participants in the youth program, “ he says.

Program Officer

Born on South Tarawa, Kireata came to ChildFund after completing the Basic Business course at KIT where he was contracted to join our community team in conducting household visits. After his contract ended, Kireata studied construction at KIT in 2021-2022.

In 2023, Kireata rejoined ChildFund as a program officer. He especially likes working with people in the community and this includes doing cleanup campaigns, testing household drinking water and visiting households to conduct mini workshops on positive parenting.

“I am a very shy person and working at CKF has built up my confidence in my communication skills,” he says.

Project Officer

Tiebane comes from Aranuka Island. She first joined ChildFund Kiribati in 2022, when she was engaged to assist with humanitarian drought project activities.

Her role includes conducting consultations with communities in Betio, as well as the outer islands, sharing messages about Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) , organizing activities related to drought, assisting communities to collect and report data on their usage of Solar water distillation units(SWDU) .

“I really love working with people in the communities in which you can know their problems and you can find ways to support and help them to access fresh drinking water,” she says.

Project Coordinator

Bwaraam joined ChildFund Kiribati in 2019 as a program officer. In 2022, he was selected to co-ordinate the Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AHP) Kiribati drought response project.

As a project co-ordinator, Bwaraam’s s role includes household visits, conducting workshops, roadshow awareness, and cleanup campaign.

As well as coordinating the AHP Kiribati drought project, he is responsible for implementing and organizing project activities including conducting consultations with communities and reporting the project’s activities.

Volunteer Service Abroad

Carissa, a native of Aotearoa New Zealand, joined the ChildFund Kiribati team through the Volunteer Service Abroad program as part of the New Zealand Aid Programme. Her tenure with ChildFund began in February 2023 and will continue until August.

In her role, Carissa supports the Nutrition team in their Infant Nutrition Campaign, collaborating with mothers in Betio to enhance nutrition outcomes for infants.

“I love the upbeat and positive work environment at ChildFund Kiribati, the people I meet every day in Betio community, and doing meaningful work to prevent the lifelong negative impacts of infant malnutrition,” she says.