We are grateful to you for helping Mano a Mano continue to partner with Bolivian communities – on projects they request & ultimately own – to improve their lives. Mano a Mano’s biggest strength is our community-based partnership model – bringing many people together to accomplish things that none of us could do on our own.
Every activity, every project new or old, every event, depends on the dedication & effort of many people. As we look back at what we were able to do in 2022, we want to thank you:
the communities & municipal governments in Bolivia;
Together, We Help Hundreds of Thousands of People in Bolivia
Hundreds of thousands of people in Bolivia benefit from Mano a Mano’s health, education, water, road, aviation, food & farming, and medical surplus distribution programs! Below is a summary of our work in 2022:
Provided emergency transport for 155 people (4,543 emergency flights since our aviation program began); provided transport for volunteer medical professionals for 33 weekend health clinics (482 weekend health clinics since our aviation program began); and transported 487,530 pounds of cargo, mostly medical supplies and equipment, throughout Bolivia.
Completed 6 deep water wells providing access to potable water, along with progressing on Mano a Mano’s large Punata Regional Complex that includes a reservoir, road, 6-story water tower, airport, school, and other projects over the next few years.
Provided guided tours to 1,194 visitors (mostly students) and implemented 100 workshops for 2,076 participants, 569 of whom were farmers (the others include professionals, students, teachers, and volunteers). Most of these workshops happen onsite at our CEA in Cochabamba, but we also travel to provide workshops in rural communities or at agronomy institutes in rural areas. We have also provided training and education for many other professions (health, physical therapy, mechanics, etc.).
2022 Annual Reports by Program (We Are 5 Counterpart Organizations)
Continuing Health Education workshop, November 2022.
Wirkini Reservoir at overflow level, September 2022.
The 6-story water tank in Chirusi Rosario was dedicated in October.
San Rafael clinic.
Hydroponic gardens at the Mano a Mano CEA.
Siglo “XX” students at Mano a Mano’s Center for Ecological Agriculture.
Mano a Mano’s new 2-story school in Chirusi Rosario will be formally dedicated in the next few weeks.
Supplies being inspected by FELCN (La Fuerza Especial de Lucha Contra el Narcotráfico). For every Mano a Mano flight,
Mano a Mano Nuevo Mundo staff at our El Abra office/warehouse location welding the sifting screen to sort gravel at the Punata Regional Complex.
Installing tubing to transport potable water in Chirusi Rosario, November-December 2022.
Mano a Mano Co-Founders Joan and Segundo
Mobility equipment donated by Mano a Mano during the Islas Malvinas celebration.
Dedicating the Chirusi Rosario water tower, October 26th, 2022.
Workshop for parents – August 13th, 2022.
These are Mano a Mano’s highest priority items in need currently.
Training workshop for Universidad “Siglo XX” students at the CEA, mid-August 2022.
These are the 3 containers that were loaded with supplies and equipment at our Minnesota warehouse over the past week.
We cut thousands of slots into these 8 section of tubing through which water will filter into the pump area. This large number of slots will guarantee reliable filtration for at least 25 years. An additional 10 pipes are installed above the slotted pipes to carry water to the surface.
Photo Credit: Pollen Midwest
Description of our US garden.
1 of 3 containers leaving our warehouse en route for Bolivia, November 2022.
Supplies arriving in Danli, Honduras
Mano a Mano transported 91,300 pounds of cargo in June 2022.
Dedicating the new clinic in Panama with the community – December 2021.
Mano a Mano heavy equipment digging the channel for the tubing that will provide water for Chirusi Rosario households.
Hosting a meeting at Mano a Mano’s “office” built with containers sent from Minnesota – at our site in Punata where we have many current projects underway.
A week-long agriculture seminar at the CEA in October 2022.
Dedicating a water well in Chirusi in March 2022.
We were happy to be able to have a farewell lunch for our 7 Metro State Social Work interns and St. Kate’s Community Leaders intern from the Fall 2022 semester (and are sad to see them go)!
Farmers travel to visit Mano a Mano water reservoirs in other communities, September 2022.
Supplies ready to transport to Oromomo at the Cochabamba airport, September 3rd, 2022.
Local Witness for Peace delegation destined for Cuba with supplies and equipment donated by Mano a Mano
After motograder spreads rock, smooth, vibrating roller compacts it every 6” until it’s rock solid.
Mano a Mano Nuevo Mundo staff working on the Cliza well at the new Waca Playa site.
The Villa Nueva clinic was dedicated on December 6th, 2022.
Sludge ponds.
Photo credit: Pollen Midwest.
Working on the deep water well in Chaupi Suyu – March 2021.
An emergency flight to El Alto in 2022.
Dedicating the new health clinic in Ayoma, Cliza, Bolivia on December 20th, 2022
Dedicating the San Rafael Clinic on December 6th, 2022.
Mano a Mano staff and volunteers sort medical supplies sent from Minnesota to organize them for distribution throughout Bolivia at our Cochabamba warehouse.
Mano a Mano’s Cessna Caravan parked on the Uyuni Salt Flats.
Chirusi Rosario residents discuss their well location with Mano a Mano Nuevo Mundo staff.
Mano a Mano’s weekend health clinic in Poza Honda on October 8-9, 2022 provided dental care for 96 people.
St. Paul volunteers Marian Heinrich, Mary White, Doug Skelton and Barb Benner sort through and organize mountains of donated infant clothing to create layettes for Bolivian newborns. Currently, three groups take on this volunteer project: one which does its work at the Mano a Mano office; another local group that assembles layettes in their homes; and a third that is located in Utah.
Dr. Jose Velasquez formally turning over the keys during the dedication ceremony with the community of Estano Colorado, March 31, 2022.
From the St. Kate’s Public Health newsletter.
Dedicating a new health clinic in Ayoma – December 2022.
Organizing supplies sent from Minnesota for distribution at our Cochabamba warehouse.
Building the deep water well in Pampa Grande, Bolivia.
Kids in Oromomo.
Rock crusher and four machine operators at work.
Weekend health clinic in Comunidad Bermeo, August 6-7, 2022.
Mano a Mano volunteers loading 3 containers with 68,797 pounds of supplies and equipment for Bolivia at our St. Paul warehouse – July/August 2022.
Dr. Sergio Zegarra (right) providing training during a Mano a Mano Bolivia workshop.
Jazmín and Olivia working on small toys for the layette project, May 2022.
Trucks haul dirt to road and runway surfaces, as other machines spread and compact it.
The 280 foot deep well drilled in the “Lavanderia” area of Cliza in October 2022.
Drilling the bore in Cliza, August 2022.
the mini-kitchen that has been put together as a demonstration at the CEA. The biodigester is producing heat for the burner on which one of the students is boiling a potato-like vegetable. The other shows the teakettle heating. Very creative use of recycled wood, pop bottles and, of course, the biodigestor, and a sink with no plumbing. The students are agronomy interns.
Kids in their new classroom in Chirusi Rosario.
The foundation of Mano a Mano’s new runway at Laguna Sulti.
Wheelchairs from MATTER at the Mano a Mano warehouse, September 2022.
Pamela, one of the 2 physical therapy students that is interning at Mano a Mano, works with 10-year-old Beismar, who is exercising with a standing frame sent from Minnesota.
Machine operators and local residents watch intently as water begins to flow
Distribution of mobility aids in Cuba
Medical professionals in Rurrenabaque for a weekend health clinic – April 2022.
The master builder laying floor tiles in one of the classrooms.
Mushtaq Saleemi, Midwest regional manager for Helping Hand in Elmhurst IL