The board of the Tepehua Community Center is looking for fools.
April fools that is. The energetic group is holding a fundraiser, Friday, April 1 at the Sunrise Restaurant in Riberas del Pilar to help them to equip a newly finished maternal clinic and laboratory and expand the existing pharmacy located there.
The clinic, located in the Tepehua barrio of Chapala (about a kilometer up the hill from the Chapala bus station), will focus on post and prenatal care for mothers and infants. Cancer checks, family planning education and laboratory tests will also be available. The new Maternal Health Center will house the only sonogram unit at Lakeside.
The clinic opening caps five years of dedicated service to the Tepehua community center by Moonyeen King, the current president. In that time, the Centro Communitario has grown from its beginnings as a soup kitchen to offer family, nutrition and substance abuse counseling, as well as nursery and child care services, and a clothing store run by community members. There are also school programs for children and adults, inoculations, and now with the new clinic, medical screening, referral and treatment services.
The April Fool’s fundraiser, which includes lunch, runs from 2 to 5 p.m. Music for dancing will be provided by a DJ and live music by guitarist Jerry Forman. A prize will be given for the best fool’s costume. Tickets, 150 pesos, are available at Sunrise Restaurant and Tepehua Treasures, both in Riberas del Pilar, and by calling Harvey Bernier, 765-7027.