Overcoming Challenges and Keeping Family First

Mulisa Teta reading to 3 children

Meet Mulisa from DRC

Everything single-mom Mulisa does, she does for her family. She’s a devoted mother of four boys; her youngest is 16 and the oldest is 24. “I love raising boys,” she said. “My family is everything to me.”

Mulisa, who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), came to Idaho in 2014. “We feel safer here,” she said. “We had quite a journey getting here, but we are happy to be in Boise.” She and her boys left the DRC years ago because of fighting and violence that was happening all around them.

Life in the DRC

While Mulisa was in the DRC, she went to college to be a nurse. She was only able to complete a year and half of her studies before the war halted all schooling. Mulisa also worked as a high school teacher while studying to become a nurse. She is the oldest of six children and her brother and sisters still live in the DRC. After Mulisa and her boys left Congo they lived in a refugee camp in Zambia. “Life in the camp was very challenging,” she said. “There was never enough to eat or clean drinking water, and it was very difficult not to have our own home.”

Starting a childcare business

Today, Mulisa has her own childcare business here in Boise, which she started about five years ago. “I’ve become best friends with many of the families who bring their kids to me,” she said. “I go to birthday parties at their homes, and we enjoy spending time together.” Mulisa has five children in her childcare business and teaches them to identify numbers and letters and even to read. “I especially love to care for and hold babies,” she said. “They are wonderful.”

Looking ahead

In the future, Mulisa wants to buy a home and continue to help her boys go to school. “I want them to be successful in life,” she said. “They are very talented and I am so proud of them.”

EO is grateful to have the partnership, collaboration and support of our work with refugee childcare providers from Latter-day Saint Charities and CapEd Credit Union.

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