Want a way to give back to the community in relaxed, air-conditioned comfort? Tia is hosting a volunteer event with coffee and envelope stuffing fun.  Our last party was a huge hit! The DeSoto Central Market at 915 N. Central Avenue in Phoenix has generously agreed to provide us with space upstairs on their mezzanine.  Get out of the heat, enjoy great coffee, nibbles and conversation with other friends of Tia.  We will be there from 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, August 19th (this Sunday) until all the envelopes are stuffed.  Message Nate Harris at tionate@cox.net or call him at 602-601-6056 to RSVP.  Thank you!

On July 27th, 84 people from Zapotitlan de Vadillo graduated from Tia’s Promotores course making it the largest graduating class in our history!  We were quite spoiled and treated as honored guests in this gorgeous municipality.  Tia is now serving 198,000 people through our 676 Promotores.

Above, you can see VEA (Volunteer Expedition Adventurer) Linda teach our class how to set up an I.V. with the help of her daughter Berkley (background) and Dr. Cuauhtemoc (far right).  Linda is a nurse and clinician in California and Berkley is studying nursing.  It was great hands on experience for both of them who performed triage for around 300 patients while we traveled from town to town.

If you are interested in a VEA experience, contact Nate Harris at 602-601-6056 or tionate@cox.net .  We have another trip being organized for November.

The VEAs (Volunteer Expedition Adventurers) are arriving this afternoon.  We will be heading out to the field before the sun comes up on Monday morning.  Because we are unlikely to have either wifi or cell signal while we are there, our fun updates and pictures will be delayed a little bit.  Dr. Frances, our public health specialist, designed these great stickers for the front of our medical kits.

We are very excited to greet Linda, Berkley, Matt and Kathryn at the airport.  A great mix of people!  A nurse, a nurse in training, a Tia Board Member and a freelance writer, all with something of true value to offer.  Tomorrow morning, they will meet our world class medical brigade, made up of doctors, nurses, nutritionists and allied health professionals, led by our own Director of Medicine, Dr. Roberto Martinez.  All of these marvelous people are giving up their time off, and their comforts of home, to change the lives of thousands of often-forgotten farmers and their families living in rural poverty.

We could not be more honored to have such a fine group of people, from both the U.S. and Mexico, join us to change the world, one village at a time.