Happy Holidays from Mano a Mano – and Thank You

Happy Holidays from Mano a Mano – and Thank You

Happy Holidays from the Mano a Mano Staff and Board of Directors!

Thank You for Making a Difference in the Lives of Hundreds of Thousands of People in Bolivia

During this holiday season, on behalf of everyone at Mano a Mano we would like to wish you a very Happy Holidays, and thank you for supporting Mano a Mano. Support comes in many different forms, and we are very grateful for all of them. Whether you have donated, volunteered, purchased crafts or the Mano a Mano books, traveled to Bolivia with us, or have simply kept up on what we’re up to from time to time, we sincerely appreciate your time and effort.

We simply could not do any of the projects that we do without many people coming together and helping out, in whatever way you can.

Thank you!

P.S. If you would like to make a donation to Mano a Mano before the end of the year to support our work in 2018, you can donate here.

Below are some recent project updates from the past month:

Mano a Mano Project Updates – December 2017

• Maldonado Water Reservoir is Filling with Water. Mano a Mano’s current water reservoir under construction is progressing well, and should be completed by mid-2018. When completed, this project will make it possible for 96 subsistence farm families (about 600 people) to irrigate 250 acres of cropland and to water their livestock, as well as having water for household use. With the severe drought currently affecting Bolivia, water projects like this one are especially important to help rural communities manage their resources.

Water is starting to fill in the Maldonado reservoir.

• Step by Step: Mano a Mano Workshop #3 in Chapare. Morgan Harden is a recent graduate of Kenyon College, and she began volunteering remotely for Mano a Mano after her graduation. This work eventually led her all the way to the organization’s epicenter in Cochabamba. While there over the past few months, she wrote a number of posts about Mano a Mano’s Center for Ecological Agriculture and our surplus program distributing donated medical supplies. Click the links below for Morgan’s other posts:
  • “This is Everything:” Medical Donations on November 17th
  • Where it Starts: Mano a Mano Workshop #1 at the CEA
  • Food for Thought: Mano a Mano Workshop #5 in Japo, Bolivia

• Volunteer Spotlight: Bobbie Baker. Volunteer Bobbie Baker recently moved back to the Twin Cities after retiring from her job as a food co-op finance manager in Northfield. Here’s how her path led to the Mano a Mano warehouse, and her thoughts on the value of her work.

Bobbie Baker, in the Mano a Mano warehouse

• Helping Martha Walk Again. Our volunteer warehouse manager Ray Wiedmeyer just got back from a trip to Bolivia with Mano a Mano Co-Founder Segundo Velasquez, and while he was there he was able to take part in this donation of supplies and support from Mano a Mano to Martha, enabling her to walk for the first time in 9 years.

Martha (second from left).

• Thank You Duluth Harbortown Rotary! Rotary International clubs in the Duluth area have been very generous to Mano a Mano for many years, and our Co-Founder recently went to Duluth to receive a check for a clinic project in Jatun Mayu, Bolivia.

Photo Credit: Duluth News Tribune

• Check Out Our Blog For More Updates & Stories. We post regularly on our blog. Check back on our blog often!