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

Also known as Ruth Johnson on Oahu, Mama Chia is overweight, maternal-looking, and walks with a decided limp using a bamboo cane, a result of a stroke suffered years earlier. She has the same intense eyes as Dan Millman's former teacher, Socrates. Ruth finds Dan sitting dejected outside a bank from which he has been evicted, shares a glass of juice with him, and invites him to visit her house, to talk with her godson, who wants to attend Oberlin, where Dan teaches. Ruth knows she has seen Dan before and senses he is a good-hearted person but too hard on himself. Ruth slips Dan instructions to find a surf board and ride it out to sea. Somehow, page two, telling him to take food, water, and suntan lotion, is lost.