Blog

New Office Space for Tia!

We are beginning to settle into our new office space which has been generously donated to us by C3 Construction.  The new space is very conveniently located at 3335 East Indian School Road, though we have a separate Post Office Box to receive our mail.  Laura and Alexandra are quite happy in our new place! We would really like to thank C3 for their donation!

C3 Construction is a Client Committed Company based in Arizona who has successfully completed projects in 15 states since opening its doors in 1994.  Over the years, their new and loyal repeat clientele have allowed them to grow to a company with annual revenues between $15-20 million.  They specialize in Medical/Life Care Centers, Financial Institutions, Office, Regional Operations/Call/Data Centers, Hospitality, Retail/Restaurant, and anything their clients may need.

WHO Studies Reinforce Tia Model

Published in July of July, 2010, WHO’s Global Policy Recommendation states that, “Globally, approximately one half of the population lives in rural areas, but less than 38% of the nurses and less than 25% of the physicians work there. ”  This 79 page comprehensive study makes a convincing, evidence-based argument in favor of models like Tia’s.

“This imbalance is common to almost all countries and poses a major challenge to the nationwide provision of health services. Its impact, however, is most severe in low income countries. There are two reasons for this. One is that many of these countries already suffer from acute shortages of health workers – in all areas. The other is that the proportion of the population living in rural regions tends to be greater in poorer countries than in rich ones.”

This is not the only study where the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends training Community Health Workers that are lay people to make up the deficiency.  Tia’s Promotoras (Community Health Workers) serve  rural Mexico where health care is scarce and is the best and most cost effective way to bring these services to the poor in remote areas.  We thank the WHO for their ground breaking research validating our model!

Why Focus on Women and Children?

Empowered women become the building blocks for higher standards of living for their families and their communities. Through education programs like Tia’s, investing in women can produce gains in GDP growth.  Multiple studies published in just the last year by the Clinton Global Initiative, the United Nations, Save the Children and the World Health Organization reinforce the cost effectiveness of projects that focus on women partly because they have the broadest reaching results.

Women-led approached to development improve health, economic and quality of life outcomes for everyone, especially children.  Though Tia does not influence our villages or impose any gender bias on who to choose as Health Workers, so far, they have all chosen women.

Tia empowers women to become instruments in solving long-term challenges in their villages. By enabling women to be their own instruments of change, they become the mechanisms of poverty eradication through community leadership and development.

Graduating Class from Ixtlahuacan del Rio

Here is the graduating class from Ixtlahuacan del Rio.  Standing in the back is Dr. Roberto (the tall young man), to his right is Dr. Rico.  Next to Dr. Rico is the Municipal President Roberto Martinez and his wife, Sra. Maria Teresa, the President of DIF (Desarrollo Integral de la Familia), and then Laura Libman (Tia).  Many of the Promotoras proudly display their framed diplomas. For a list of the graduates and the communities they represent, click here: List of Promotoras Ixtlahuacan del Rio Jalisco.

Historic Graduation for Tia!

Today in Ixtlahuacan del Rio, Tia passes the 100 Promotora mark by quite a bit; now there are 120!  At the lovely graduation ceremony, a spokeperson for the Promotoras gave a heartfelt speech thanking UAG’s PMC Brigade, the Tia Foundation and its generous donors, and the municipality and explaining the importance of the accomplishment for each of them.

From left to right seated at the table is Dr. Miguelangel, Dr. Roberto, Dr. Rico (all from PMC), Laura Libman (Tia), Sra. Maria Teresa (DIF) and Presidente Municipal Roberto Martinez Delgado.  The Municipality threw a big party for everyone afterward with delicious tacos and torta ahogadas.

More pics to come…