Good for the Heart

By GINA CACECI
Falls Church Times Staff

January 31, 2010

Aerobic exercise is good for the heart. Every day of the week, you can have fun exercising your heart at Falls Church Jazzercise. This Friday, without breaking a sweat or even putting on sneakers, you can do something good for your heart – and even do something good for your sweetheart — at Falls Church Jazzercise.

Falls Church Jazzercise (513 West Broad Street at The Byron) is sponsoring a Design and Dine Celebration benefit from 5:30-8:00 p.m. on FIRSTfriday, February 5.  The event will raise money for HEARt of the Village, an organization founded by a local audiologist, Dr. Tomi Thibodeaux Browne that provides ear and hearing care to HIV-positive children in Kenya.

The FIRSTfriday event will begin with African dancing, led by master instructor Nadine Alameh, followed by exhibits, crafts, and jewelry for purchase.  A special feature of the evening will be the opportunity to actually make jewelry from the handmade and painted beads that Dr. Browne has brought back from Kenya.  Light refreshments will be served, and a video of the work being done by HEARt of the Village will be played on continuous loop throughout the evening.  Everyone is invited to enjoy the beauty of Kenya while contributing to a worthy cause.

There will be no charge for admission to the Design and Dine Celebration, but a $15 minimum donation is requested.

HEARt of the Village is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Three times a year, Dr. Browne travels to Kenya with volunteers and student audiologists to provide direct care to orphaned children and children living in slum communities. HEARt has provided life-changing services including cochlear implants.  Dr. Browne and her colleagues diagnose and treat the children, beginning with routine ear examinations that often lead to amplification, but sometimes reveal far more serious health issues requiring immediate attention.

Retired banker and Falls Church City resident, Anthony D’Ermes traveled to Kenya last October with Dr. Browne and worked alongside her and the other volunteers at the clinics outside Nairobi. He said that “because of my gray hair, people thought I was a big shot.”  D’Ermes went on to say that “Dr. Browne works really hard and is 100% dedicated.  It’s not the kind of volunteering for the faint of heart.”

Dr. Browne stated that “all of the HIV-positive children we work with are provided with antiretroviral medications which give them the opportunity to live long healthy lives.  Introducing basic ear and hearing care improves their health, enhances their quality of life and boosts their academic performance.”

See www.heartofthevillage.org for details about this organization and the work it is doing.  For more information about Falls Church Jazzercise, see www.igetfitnow.  To find out about FIRSTfriday and the other events being held around town on February 5, check out www.FIRSTfridayoffFallsChurch.com