Our brand-spanking new Tia Noticias Spring 2016 is out and ready for you to read (https://tiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/noticas040116.pdf).  You’ll find details about the last project we completed in Tizapan El Alto, info on how to become a Tia VEA (Volunteer Expedition Adventurer), a sneak peek at our next project in Tuxcueca, and an introduction to our new Board Member.

After Tizapan el Alto, the Tia Foundation now has 376 Promotores (Community Health Workers) working in Mexico and caring for 140,000 rural villagers.  These unpaid volunteers study hard to pass their examinations and often sacrifice sleep to come to the aid of their neighbors, night or day.  They are true heroes and heroines!

Check out this crowd of smiling faces in Tizapan el Alto, Jalisco!   The brigade members are in the front row, wearing their UVM white coats and the rest are our proud graduates.  The completion of this project means that we are now serving more people than the population of Savannah, Georgia.  Since Laura missed the graduation due to knee surgery, she will be meeting the brigade members and new Promotores next month.  Now cleared for travel, she will be doing the advance work for Tia’s June project and will make a special trip to thank the municipal officials in Tizapan and congratulate the new grads in person.

We have a record number of graduates today in Tizapan el Alto, Jalico, a municipality south of Lake Chapala, the largest lake in Mexico!    So many volunteers attended our courses simply because they wanted an opportunity to learn and be of help to their friends and neighbors.  Tia is always happy to accept more students because they share their knowledge with others and can work in tandem together, as you see in this picture.  They are learning how to carry a patient who needs cervical spine precaution.  After their rigorous exams, the graduation ceremony will take place, followed by a big party to celebrate their achievement.  Check back soon for pictures from the graduation…

After learning how to take vitals, many of the Promotoras volunteered to help with the free consultations being offered in the communities.  The woman on the left with the stethoscope, is being guided by one of our UVM brigade members.  She won’t be graduating till late on Friday, but already she has mastered CPR, injections and IV setups.  Today, she’ll be learning how to use her glucometer, first aid for cuts, burns and other injuries.  Usually, we train around 25 Promotoras, of whom 20 are chosen by their neighbors, the rest are volunteers who just want to learn and help.  This time we have over 60!