Some of the most important skills are learned first and Dr. Francisco Rico from Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara’s (UAG) Programa de Medicina en la Comunidad offers his arm and his teaching skills. The Promotoras in training hit the ground running today! They learned how to take temperatures, blood pressure and how to do a preliminary assessment on the patients who are also their neighbors. There will be 22 new Tia Promotoras at the end of the week, bringing the grand total to 120! More pictures and updates to come…
Practice Supplies are Packed and Ready to Go!
All our practice supplies are ready to go. On top of the big blue box are bandages, IV supplies, ampules of saline solution and other real medical items for the Promotoras to use. They will practice on each other under the observation of the great PMC brigade of approximately 40 people, including students, doctors and medical school professors.
The big blue box contains air mattresses and 30 manuals for the Promotoras, called “Donde No Hay Doctor” published by the Hesperian Foundation. Next to the box is a large blue bag containing CPR practice dummies, three adult and one child. We will leave to meet the brigade bus with these items at 5:30 tomorrow morning.
Preparing for Project Next Week
This week, Tia and their friends at the Community Medicine Program at UAG are preparing for our project next week in Ixtlahuacan. While there, we stopped at a marvelous restaurant for lunch called El Minimo. Above is Dr. Francisco Rico, El Minimo and his wife, Laura Libman and Dr. Michelangelo Marquez. By the end of next week, Tia will have more than 100 Promotoras (Community Health Workers) serving the rural poor of Mexico. Keep checking back as we post pictures of our progress.
Tia’s New PT Administrative Assistant
We are proud to welcome Alexandra Harris to our team! Alex has been a long time volunteer for Tia, helping with envelope stuffing, event coordination, and volunteer recruitment, so she was a natural choice for our part time Administrative Assistant. Alex enjoys practicing her Spanish, visiting her cousins in Central Mexico, dancing, camping and playing with her adorable dog, Rex.
Visit to San Antonio de los Vazquez
Dr. Francisco Castañeda Rico and Dr. Miguel Marquez, from the Programa de Medicina en la Comunidad at Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, pictured on the left, chat with the Delegate from San Antonio de los Vazquez and our friend Ezekiel in preparation for our project. Ezekiel (in the white hat) accompanied us as we reviewed the accommodations in each village. He met us at the Municipal President’s office and guided us all over the region.
Tia Foundation 