Your Donation Pays for Infrastructure Projects that Improve Bolivian Communities’ Lives

We work in communities that have little to no access to the most basic services necessary for a decent standard of living – education, health, transportation, sanitation, water – and build infrastructure projects.

Small Budget, Big Results

Mano a Mano has been committing to doing as much as possible with a very limited budget. In the US, we have a small staff of 2 that still work out of the Velasquez’ home, supporting our programs in Bolivia that are implemented and run by Bolivians. We are able to construct so many infrastructure projects each year because of our collaborative approach which brings together our staff and volunteers in both countries, the local communities, and local/national governments to achieve shared goals.

Measurable Success

For our 3 large water reservoirs, average income for families has doubled or tripled as a result of improved crop quality and quantity; our water projects also provide a means to store water long-term, which is critical these past few years with drought conditions. Water projects also greatly contribute to improved diets.

Mano a Mano’s road projects allow isolated communities to take advantage of increased crop harvests by transporting them to city markets and also dramatically reduce travel time. The clinics have remarkably improved child mortality outcomes – on average the rural child mortality rate is 8%, and in our clinics it is 0.48% – a 94% reduction.

The Need is Great

We still need your help to be able to reach into more communities that are asking to partner with us (currently we have 272 communities with active requests for clinic projects alone). The communities and the local governments in Bolivia do their part – they fund anywhere from 30% to 100% (in some cases) of the total cost and provide all the unskilled labor. We provide the technical and administrative support needed in order to make the project happen. Without Mano a Mano in the US and Bolivia, almost none of these projects would have been completed. Our track record of building low-cost, high-quality infrastructure projects – that have the community and administrative support necessary to be sustainable over the long-term – is unparalleled. In the past decade, we have built more than 300 infrastructure projects, and all of these projects are still in operation today.

We have the infrastructure in place in Bolivia to reach many more communities; all we need is the financial support to get these projects off the ground. Everything we do is based on partnerships – with local communities, municipal and national governments, our staff in the US and Bolivia, other non-profit organizations and businesses, and most importantly with volunteers and donors like you.

Please join us in our efforts to improve the lives of impoverished Bolivians.