Greetings!  My name is Efrain Diaz, and I will be serving as Fundraising Intern for spring 2010.  Upon entering Thunderbird as a Master’s candidate in Global Affairs and Management in the fall of 2009, I became acquainted with the Tia Foundation and was immediately impressed by their efforts to create sustainable health strategies in rural Mexico.  I was especially moved by their work in my family’s hometown of Guadalajara.  I am greatly looking forward to this new experience and hope to contribute to the success of the organization!

In La Presa, Jalisco, Guadalupe receives the first bag of medical supplies.   Inside, Lupita found a large supply of Tylenol and Ibuprofen, very useful during this bad influenza and cold season.  She received lots of extra lancets and glucose tests strips for her glucometer, since diabetes is a major chronic problem among her neighbors.  We also stocked her up on other commonly used medicines and first aid supplies.

Still more to come…

Our old friends from the municipality of Ojuelos de Jalisco were there not only to greet us, but to lend a hand too!  Above, you can see Maurilia Huertas Salas and her mother counting out sterile gloves for the holiday care packages.   Patricia Garibay and Laura Libman delivered the parcels to all Tia’s Promotoras in the area, which includes La Presa, Morenitos, La Granja and La Paz.

More to come…

Patricia Garibay smiles as she goes over the list of medical supplies that we will be taking to Tia’s Community Health Workers beginning tomorrow.  Laura and Paty will be visiting all the Tia villages over the next four days to do follow up surveys, visit with our Promotoras and surprise them with some extra stock of medical supplies.  As bad as the economy is in the U.S., most of our communities suffer from tougher times.

Tomorrow the two Santas will be heading to the villages near Ojuelos de Jalisco, on the border with Zacatecas.  Keep checking back for updates and pics from the visits!