Our last project launch, in mid-May took place in Zacoalco de Torres.  This historic town is famous for making equipales, which are handmade pieces of furniture made of leather and wood.  The Municipality of Zacoalco is an extremely poor area. Many of the kids and their families do not have shoes and can only afford to eat meat a couple of times a year. They are farmers who have little access to water. Our graduation was held at Parroquia de San Francisco de Asis and was followed by a lovely potluck, made by Promotoras and friends, at our graduation party.

On this trip we trained our youngest Promotora, Maria, who is only 14 years old but a very sharp young lady! We trained 38 new Promotores, including three more males. Now we have a total of 245 Promotores, 224 women and 21 men, serving over 90,000 villagers. Our next launch will put us over 100,000 people served! The Tia Foundation would like to give a special thanks to Dr. Roberto Martinez and Dr. Nina Castro, our brigade leaders from UAG’s Programa de Medicina en la Comunidad.

Tia and PMC plan to do a mini-project together next month in the Municipio of Zacualco de Torres.  Because this area is close enough to Guadalajara, the majority of our costs are just the medical kits.  Each kit costs approximately $500 each (valued at more than $1,000 USD) and contains enough supplies for 300-500 people for a year. We need no less than 10, but are shooting for 15.  That means your donation for this project will provide permanent, sustainable care for less than $2 per person!!!!

Your donation will go farther than ever since we will not have the costs of feeding and housing our brigade of 30-40 medical students and their professors.  Simply click on the yellow “Donate” button on the right or mail a check to Tia Foundation, P.O. Box 36203, Phoenix, Arizona 85067.  Your contribution is fully tax deductible.

Our kits contain lifesaving items like physician’s grade stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, manual respirators, IV and rehydration solutions, glucometers and testing materials, medicines, bandages, antibacterials, and other items customized to the needs of each of our communities.