Across 5 counterpart organizations in Bolivia and Minnesota, working across many projects and programs in many different places, Mano a Mano always has a lot going on! Check out a few stories from 2024 to get a more direct idea of our work (and here is our 2024 Annual Report for an overall snapshot):
Jhostin – One Physical Therapy Program Beneficiary

When Jhostin’s parents brought him to Mano a Mano’s physical therapy program eight months ago, he had the psychomotor development of a 2-month-old. He was unable to lift his head, sit, extend his legs, or feed himself. His parents had sought treatment for him but couldn’t afford private therapy, and no public program was available. Then they heard about Mano a Mano. Without fail, they bring Jhostin to our physical therapy program three times weekly, using whatever transportation they can find. The physical therapy staff and volunteers draw from a variety of specialized equipment, shipped to them from our St. Paul warehouse, to help Jhostin reach a higher level of development and gradually become more independent.
Preparing Wheelchairs for Distribution in Bolivia

In 2023, Mano a Mano shipped 9 containers from Minnesota to Bolivia (in 2024 we shipped 7 containers), which included thousands of pieces of mobility equipment and hundreds of wheelchairs. In St. Paul, we break down wheelchairs as much as possible so that we can maximize efficiency and send as much as possible in each container – no wasted space! In Cochabamba, because wheelchairs must be reassembled, repaired as needed, and thoroughly cleaned before being distributed, Mano a Mano staff have a wheelchair repair space set up in their Cochabamba warehouse.
Weekend Health Clinic in San Francisco de Moxos, Bolivia (May 2024)

Over the weekend of May 3-4, 2024, Mano a Mano flew a group of volunteer healthcare professionals from the city of Cochabamba to the remote community of San Francisco de Moxos in the Bolivian tropics. Each volunteer came prepared to spend two long, busy days providing healthcare that is not available in the municipality’s small public clinic. By the end of the weekend, the 11 Mano a Mano volunteers had directly served 219 people. The general medicine volunteer physicians and gynecologist had served 118 patients. Physical therapists had treated and taught exercises to 48 individuals.
Health Education Workshop: Training Physicians to Use Bakri Balloons in Bolivia

On April 4th-5th, our counterpart organizations Mano a Mano Bolivia and Mano a Mano Internacional, in collaboration with the Bolivian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology – Cochabamba and the Hospital Materno Infantil German Urquidi, delivered a two-day workshop on “Zero Maternal Deaths due to Hemorrhage.”
Communities Sustain Their Mano a Mano Projects Over the Long-Term (May 2024 Trip to Bolivia)

Mano a Mano’s May trip to Bolivia, titled “Water, Food, Health, and Education: A Journey to Celebrate and Learn,” introduced 15 US travelers to each type of project that Mano a Mano undertakes at the request of the communities they will serve.
These project visits were just a small sample of Mano a Mano’s hundreds of community-based projects completed over the past 2+ decades, and travelers also packed much more into their visit! The opportunity to visit projects that beneficiaries have sustained for many years, as well as those that were completed recently, inspired our travelers (and Mano a Mano as an organization: we are pleased to see projects working as intended over the long-term). “When I look into the faces of the children and youth of Bolivia, I see a brighter future because of the work of Mano a Mano. They will experience a better education, cleaner water, healthier foods, and an all around better quality of life due to the efforts of this organization!” – Traveler Randy C.
Dedicating a Water Distribution System in Chirusi Rosario, Bolivia
Residents of Chirusi Rosario, Bolivia gathered on February 16th, 2024 to give thanks and to dance in celebration as they dedicated the final phase of their deep well project in partnership with Mano a Mano. This was a 4-phase project (water well, water tower, water piping distribution network, piping water to households) over the past 4 years, one which makes clean water available throughout this community of about 1,300 people. “Having water piped to our homes is a miracle. We didn’t know anyone who has such a luxury,” they told us. “A few years ago we were buying water from a truck because we didn’t have a well. Now we have water every day, just like the city.”
Fight until the End, Give All You’ve Got — Lessons and Stories from CEA Senior Agroecology Technician Rubén Jesús Cotrina

We are so grateful to have Rubén as a part of the CEA team; learn about his time with Mano a Mano.
We were happy to have Grace Jones back for a second summer (summer in the US, winter in Bolivia) volunteering with our counterpart organization Mano a Mano Internacional! There are links to some of Grace’s newsletters and updates during her time with Mano a Mano this year and last year below. Thank you Grace! Mano a Mano is always interested in working with volunteers like Grace that will be spending some time in Bolivia; feel free to contact us. (As a general rule, we are looking for volunteers that will be in Bolivia for a month or more, are independent and have their accommodations mostly figured out, and speak at least some Spanish.)
- Fight until the End, Give All You’ve Got — Lessons and Stories from CEA Senior Agroecology Technician Rubén Jesús Cotrina
- From Trainee to Trainer — Personal Transformation at the CEA by Senior Agroecology Technician Feli Garcia
- New Beginnings – Inspiration All Around (Mano a Mano Internacional Weekly Bulletin: July 29-August 4, 2024)
- Spotlight: A Center for Sustainable Solutions (Mano a Mano Internacional Weekly Bulletin: July 22-28, 2024)
- A Week With Mano a Mano Internacional: July 15th – July 21st, 2024
- View at Mano a Mano’s Center for Ecological Agriculture in Cochabamba – July 2024
- Mano a Mano Volunteer Grace Shares Her Experience in Bolivia from June-August 2023
- Health & Agriculture Workshops at Mano a Mano Internacional – August 2023
- Containers From Minnesota Arrive in Bolivia
- Students, Sheep, & Supplies – How Mano a Mano is Developing the Next Generation
- Donating Medical Supplies and Equipment to Municipality of Vacas in Cochabamba
- Local Students Tour the Center for Ecological Agriculture in Cochabamba
- Hosting our 6th Physical Therapy Workshop for 25 Bolivian Medical Professionals – June 30,2023
- New Baby Llama Born at the Mano a Mano CEA in Cochabamba
- Recent Weekend Health Clinic in San Lorenzo, Bolivia
Dedicating a New Health Clinic and New School in Bolivia (September 2024)

In late September, our counterpart organization Mano a Mano Bolivia dedicated a new health clinic and a new school in Bolivia! With Mano a Mano clinics, they become part of the Bolivian healthcare system and are the official provider for their catchment area, making them eligible for services and reimbursement through Health Ministry-funded programs. All staff salaries in Mano a Mano’s clinics are paid for by sources within Bolivia (we currently have 546 medical professionals – 200 doctors, 266 nurses, and 80 dentists – working in Mano a Mano clinics). Our clinic program’s approach is that health outcomes can be dramatically improved with simple yet effective interventions, beginning with the basic ability to consistently access quality services in their own communities. Every project is a partnership; our counterpart organization Mano a Mano Bolivia oversees the process of building clinics from start to finish; the local community and municipal government are involved throughout the process and take over management of each project once they are complete; and US funders provide the seed money that make each project possible. When Mano a Mano dedicates a clinic or school project, it is always fully furnished and equipped. Many of the furnishings are constructed by Mano a Mano Bolivia in their workshop in Cochabamba.
In 2024, Mano a Mano Bolivia dedicated 3 new clinics (187 clinics built to date) and 2 new schools (70 clinics built to date).
The video below is visiting a Mano a Mano clinic in Palca in 2024, a clinic project that was completed in 2019:
Emergency Flight From Beni to Cochabamba – Early October 2024

In early October, our counterpart organization Mano a Mano Aviation received a call about a young man that had been gored by a bull in Puerto San Lorenzo in the department of Beni, resulting in a chest puncture. We flew to San Andres (we were planning to fly to San Andres, which is nearby Puerto San Lorenzo, the following day to deliver supplies, and had already received approval for that flight), picked him up, and coordinated his ambulance transfer from the Mano a Mano hangar at Jorge Wilstermann airport in Cochabamba to Hospital México in Sacaba, where he received immediate medical attention. He is recovering well and Mano a Mano flew him back home! All of Mano a Mano has been processing the tragic loss of Pilot Ivo Daniel Martínez Velásquez in a plane crash while flying his personal small acrobatic plane earlier this year. Ivo worked with Mano a Mano Aviation for nearly 2 decades and was the lead pilot for more than a decade, personally flying hundreds of flights annually (and more than half of Mano a Mano Aviation’s flight hours). Ivo can never be replaced and will never be forgotten, but we are working to get back to the mission of Mano a Mano Aviation to consistently provide emergency flights, weekend health clinics, and transport of cargo to isolated Bolivian communities.
Distributing 10,000+ Pounds of Medical Supplies for 11 Municipalities in Bolivia – December 4th, 2024

On December 4th, 2024 Mano a Mano hosted our final large distribution event of the year to provide medical supplies, mobility equipment, and other items to 25 health centers from 11 Municipalities throughout Bolivia: Pampagrande, Postrervalle, San Pedro, Montero, Monteagudo, El Torno (Santa Cruz), Villa Abecia (Chuquisaca), San Pedro (Pando), Baures (Beni), Cercado, and Tapacarí (Cochabamba). Representatives from each Municipality, including doctors, nurses, mayors, and Municipal officials, came to Mano a Mano’s warehouse in El Abra, Cochabamba to receive supplies; more than 10,300 pounds (4,710 kilograms) were distributed.
All of these supplies were shipped from Minnesota, where they were destined for the landfill; instead, they get put to good use for people and organizations in Bolivia. In 2024, Mano a Mano shipped 7 containers with 182,317 pounds of donated medical supplies, mobility equipment, and other in-demand items from Minnesota to Bolivia (with another shipment planned in the near future).
This distribution event was heavy for Mano a Mano, as our Co-Founder Joan Velásquez passed away earlier that day after suffering a stroke. Joan made a huge impact for many people, and it is a big loss.
Learn More About 2024 at Our “Months in Review”
- Month in Review – January 2024
- Month in Review – February 2024
- Month in Review: March 2024
- Month in Review: April 2024
- Halfway Through 2024: Mano a Mano Mid-Year Update
- Month in Review – August 2024
- Month in Review: September 2024
- Month in Review: October 2024
- Month in Review: November 2024
- Mano a Mano 2024 Annual Report
- 2024 Year in Photos – Mano a Mano
- 2024 in Video