Sustainability of Mano a Mano Projects
Mano a Mano has completed more than 300 projects, with a number of new projects underway at any given time. Every new project is a direct request from each community, and they are an active participant throughout the process. There are hundreds of communities on our waiting list for projects, and we are trying to meet the high demand as our resources allow us to.
But the most important aspect of these projects for Mano a Mano is the sustainability of projects that have been built; we want to ensure that anything that we build is used efficiently, is used for its intended purpose, and is in use for a long time. Every Mano a Mano project that has been built continues to be in operation.
One of Mano a Mano’s basic philosophies in our community-based development model is to provide the most basic needs for communities – clinics, schools, roads, water projects, aviation runways, agricultural tools and training – that can serve as a springboard for other projects. (For an example of this, watch this video about our road project in El Palmar, Bolivia.)
Children taking a boat for a ride on the Ucuchi Water Reservoir, part of the San Isidro Ecotourism Park. Photo Credit: Jose Rocha and Los Tiempos
- Mano a Mano’s first major water reservoir built in 2006 is now part of the San Isidro Ecotourism Park
- Mano a Mano traveled to Omereque, Bolivia in March 2017 to spend time with community members and see Mano a Mano projects that had been in operation for many years
- In addition to building new clinics, Mano a Mano makes sure to provide health education & training for clinic staff and medical professionals throughout the country. Here’s an overview of health education programs managed by Mano a Mano Bolivia in the last quarter of 2017.
- Our Center for Ecological Agriculture provides workshops to improve food security & nutrition for rural farmers.
- Medical Educators for Latin America (MELA) hosted their 10th international course on acute care for medical professionals in Bolivia, in collaboration with Mano a Mano, in March 2017.
- Teachers from Minnesota traveled to Bolivia in June 2017 to visit rural Bolivian schools and view teaching methods, develop curriculum with their teachers, learn how they keep parents involved, and have an opportunity to interact with them in informal as well as classroom settings. The 2017 trip was our 5th trip with Minnesota & Bolivia teachers. Check out 31 pictures from their trip here.
As part of a workshop at the CEA, Mano a Mano staff demonstrate the microorganisms that live in different kinds of soil.
2017 Annual Report
This post is excerpted from Mano a Mano’s 2017 Annual Report, which you can read in its entirety here.