In addition to keeping busy getting our two new twin-engine planes registered, our aviation program has been hard at work on a variety of projects:
Collaboration with SAR Bolivia
Mano a Mano has partnered with SAR (Save and Rescue) Bolivia, an all-volunteer organization that responds to emergencies throughout Bolivia. In January, SAR put on a training course for members and volunteers from the Bolivian National Police, and part of the course included skydiving practice using Mano a Mano’s plane:
In all there were 14 flights and 48 parachutists for this course; a similar course took place in December (check out photos from the parachuting course HERE). We also have other ongoing projects with SAR – we recently donated supplies to them, and along with A Tu Lado we collaborated on an EMT training course in February.
Emergency Air Rescues
A cornerstone of our aviation program is to provide emergency air rescues thorughout Bolivia. One of our recent flights took place on February 6, when our pilots picked up a 75-year old women who had suffered an accident while climbing the Tunapa Volcano, a 17,817 foot mountain located on the northern side of the Salar de Uyuni.
View from the plane
She was transported from the city of Uuyni to La Paz for treatment, a 5-hour flight at more than 19,000 feet above sea level in our Cessna single-engine plane.
Picking up the patient for transport
Festival 2012 to Support Aviation Program
Our aviation program continues to grow, and next month we are hosting Festival 2012 to help continue this program going forward. You can learn more about the event, as well as purchase tickets, HERE.