At any given time, Mano a Mano and our 5 counterpart organizations have dozens of projects in the works: clinics, schools, water wells and reservoirs, roads, training programs, medical supply distributions, emergency flights and transport, and more. All of these projects are done in partnership with Bolivian communities (and none of these projects are easy). Some projects take place on a daily basis, some are currently underway and will be completed in the weeks and months to come, and some are in the planning stages for this year and beyond.
Just to give one example, here is the upcoming schedule at our Center for Ecological Agriculture (CEA) in Cochabamba, Bolivia over the next few weeks (the CEA is part of the work of our counterpart organization Mano a Mano Internacional):
- August 9th-13th: Unloading three 40′ containers sent from the US with medical supplies.
- August 11th: Workshop at the CEA with farmers from the communities of Colomi, 1 hour away from Cochabamba.
- August 12th: Visit to Corani Pampa, a community where we’re building 28 greenhouses. We’ll be delivering the roof panels to the families.
- August 14th: We’ll send medical supplies from our CEA for 20 hospitals and health centers in the Chapare area.
- August 17th: We’ll travel to Puerto Villarroel, where there’ll be a formal ceremony with these 20 communities to donate our cargo.
- August 16th-20th: There’ll be a flight to the Amazon transporting Mano a Mano staff and picking up ill people from their tribal communities.
- August 16th-20th: We’ll have a donation event to distribute wheelchairs to people with disabilities in Cochabamba.
- Of course, any other day, we’ll be working at the farm with our various agricultural modules (hydroponics, guinea pigs, open field, greenhouses, pigs). And, in our warehouse, we’ll be sorting out medical supplies.
Nursing students from CEFTE-Chapare take a break from their volunteer work with Mano a Mano, sorting supplies sent from Minnesota to prepare them for distribution throughout Bolivia. Medical professionals from Hospital Combase also take part in these volunteer sessions, here providing some guidance and training for the nursing student volunteers.
Center for Ecological Agriculture
Mano a Mano’s Center for Ecological Agriculture (CEA) in Cochabamba, Bolivia provides training and tools for Bolivian farmers with the goal of increasing food security and nutrition using an ecological approach.