News From Tepehua, Mexico
Community Services Director, Veryl Ann Duncan, has exciting news to share from our partner club in Mexico...
Construction of the Maternity Clinic, built on the site of the playground at the Tepehua Community Center has been completed. Through donations from the private sector and Rotary International, spearheaded by the Ajijic Rotary Club (thank you Joan and Bernie Suttle!), the building was completed and survived the heavy rains during the recent rainy season. The Clinic is changing the lives of many local people.
The purpose of the Clinic is "to change the way Mexico views rural women's health, specifically during and after pregnancy. The Clinic will be a pilot program for local clinics to take the initiative without government aid."
Although the Clinic will be for pre- and postnatal care primarily to lower the maternal mortality rate in the local barrios, the laboratory will meet the medical needs of the entire family. The Dental Clinic (our Club donated a dental chair) is the busiest area at the Community Center. Other programs at the Community Center include:
- The sewing center and jewelry making center so women can sell their products at local markets and small stores;
- Counseling done by volunteers offered several times a week;
- Continuation of the Friday Social Brunch (meals served for families);
- Habitat Tepehua program that helps very poor residents repair their "shacks" to keep the rain out of their homes.