Tia and the UVM Brigade have been eating many of their meals at the Corazon de Angel orphanage, so we have gotten to know the children quite well.  Little Luzma (above) migrated from lap to lap.  She ate a second breakfast with us, including one of her favorites, a bowl of fresh guava.

We are extremely pleased that the director, some staff, and two of the older girls who live at the orphanage have come to our training course.  They’ll be ready to handle an emergency when it arises.  And who knows…maybe the older girls will decide to pursue a career in nursing, medicine or an allied health field.

Our Promotoras will be getting baumanometers (blood pressure cuffs) in different colors in their medical kits.  A baumanometer is an essential tool in the villages, because sometimes the Promotora is able to catch hypertension (high blood pressure) and begin dialogue with the patient , possibly saving their life.

Hypertension is known as the silent killer.  We give them the traditional cuffs, which are much more accurate than the electronic kind.  Since our villagers don’t often see a doctor until they are already quite sick, this skill is vital for our health workers to master.

Tia’s brigade from Universidad Valle de Mexico spent the day doing training and consultations at Corazon de Angel, an orphanage for abandoned and abused children.  This darling little girl is showing one of the doctors the condition of her teeth, while drawing a picture.  Their director was invited to take our Promotoras (Community Health Worker) course and she eagerly accepted so she can provide better and more immediate medical attention to the children in her care.

The UVM Brigade (Universidad Valle de Mexico) and Tia staff were loaded up and ready to go early this morning.  From left to right, Nate Harris (Tia’s Program and Marketing Director), Dr. Roberto Martinez (UVM Brigade Chief) and Laura Libman (Tia’s Founder and President).  We arrived in Ciudad Guzman in time for a lovely breakfast.  More to come…

As you do your normal holiday shopping, or any shopping for that matter, you can help Tia just by selecting us as your charity of choice when you buy from Amazon or Goodshop.  It is very simple and doesn’t cost you a penny!

Just go to http://smile.amazon.com/ and on your first visit to AmazonSmile, you are prompted to select a charitable organization from our list of eligible organizations. You can change your selection at any time.  AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice.

Or go to Goodshop and select Tia Foundation as your charity of choice.   Goodshop is an online shopping mall that donates a percent of your purchase price to your cause when you shop at one of 3,000+ partner stores including top retailers like Amazon (1.5% donation), Expedia (up to 5% donation), and Staples (2.5% donation). You can also find 25,000+ active discounts and money-saving coupons so you can save money and give back at the same time!

You can also go to eBay and choose Tia Foundation when buying or selling items.