Who is Tia from Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior and what is their importance?

Tia is a woman in her thirties, with a crippled hand and bandaged arm, Tia is the youngest person in the leper colony at Kalaupapa on Molokai Island. Six-months pregnant, Tia hugs obese Mama Chia "like two blimps trying to dock." Tia must leave the colony to deliver her baby and then give him or her up for adoption. Mama Chia arranges the adoption near-by so Tia can visit.