Our counterpart organization Mano a Mano Bolivia partners with Bolivian communities to provide access to healthcare and education through the construction of clinics and schools, as well as providing complementary programs that support these same goals. Mano a Mano’s network of 182 clinics in Bolivia had 1,129,712 patient visits in 2022. We completed 1 new school and 7 new clinic projects.
Mano a Mano Bolivia completed 1 new school and 7 new clinic projects in 2022, in partnership with the local community and their municipal governments, the Bolivian Ministry of Health, and donors in the US and elsewhere.
New Health & Education Projects Built in 2022
- Chirusi Rosario school (our 67th school project)
- Guadalupe clinic
- Estaño Colorado clinic
- Villa Nueva clinic
- San Rafael clinic
- Ayoma clinic
- Paccha clinic
- Pekajsi clinic
Why We Build Health Clinics in Rural Bolivia
With each clinic Mano a Mano builds, the goals are the same:
- Improve maternal and infant health.
- Increase the number of medically-assisted births.
- Easier access to family planning services.
- Access to primary care and immunizations.
- Stronger preventative care and public health education.
- Improve access to government public health programs.
- Permanent training of health personnel.
Mano a Mano’s clinic in Guadalupe was dedicated in March 2022.
Ongoing Funding for Mano a Mano Clinic Staff 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 538 doctors, nurses, and dentists working in Mano a Mano’s network of clinics, and Mano a Mano does not pay for any staff salaries on an ongoing basis. With this partnership agreement, we can ensure that there is stable funding in place, and we can continue to complete new infrastructure projects in communities that currently do not have local access to care.
Continuing Health Education
A critical component of Mano a Mano’s health programs in Bolivia is to provide health education:
- to communities through weekend health clinics providing basic services
- to Mano a Mano’s clinic staff through continuing health education workshops
- to medical professionals from other organizations
These programs are managed and administered by Mano a Mano Bolivia, and serve a complementary role to the construction of community clinics throughout rural Bolivia. Although workshops continued to be somewhat limited in 2022 due to COVID, Mano a Mano Bolivia hosted 17 health education workshops for 1,032 attendees in 2022.
Mano a Mano Bolivia’s health education course schedule for 2023.
Providing Medical Supplies & Equipment
Mano a Mano International (our St. Paul office) provides medical supplies and equipment sent from Minnesota to Mano a Mano’s programs in Bolivia. Mano a Mano Bolivia makes distributions of medical supplies and equipment to Mano a Mano clinics, other hospitals and healthcare organizations, individuals, jails, and other institutions. Mano a Mano Bolivia also has a workshop location where they build desks, chairs, beds, and other needed equipment for schools & clinics so that when we turn the project over to the community it is fully furnished.
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- Kids in their new classroom in Chirusi Rosario.
Thank You!
Every Mano a Mano project is a partnership, with many people working together – thanks to the local communities; municipal governments; the Bolivian Ministry of Health; donors and volunteers in the US, Bolivia, and other countries; and our counterpart organization Mano a Mano Bolivia that oversees and manages these health & education projects!
Dedicating a new health clinic in Ayoma – December 2022.
We are always working to partner with additional communities that are requesting projects; there are 31 Bolivian communities on our waiting list for clinics and another 39 for schools/community projects, and we have 2 clinics and 1 school currently underway in 2023.