Upcoming Events and Project Updates – Early February 2020

Check out some upcoming events and learn about some of our recent projects below. Thank you to the many people involved in every one of these activities!

Upcoming Events in the Twin Cities

• February-March – Andean music duo, Ina Yukka, is performing music of the Andes and teaching typical Andean dances at Wellspring Wednesday evenings at Unity Church in St. Paul during February and March. Their interactive presentations begin at 7:45pm and end at around 8:30pm. On the evenings of February 19 and 26 this mother-son duo will focus on Bolivian music and dance. Visit the Unity Church website for more information.
• March 6-7 – Loading 2 Containers For Shipment to Bolivia
• March 10 (6:30-8pm) – Mano a Mano Speaker Series Documentary Viewing: A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps
• March 13-22 – Mano a Mano Trip to Bolivia with Co-Founder Segundo Velasquez (please let us know by February 15)
• April 14 (6:30-8pm) – Mano a Mano Speaker Series with Segundo Velasquez: What Does It Take To Complete Mano a Mano Projects?

Thank You Volunteers!

Thank you to the many recent volunteer groups that have helped out at Mano a Mano over the past few weeks! In 2019, volunteers contributed 19,092 hours to our projects in the US. We depend on volunteers in every aspect of our work.

Recent Distributions of Supplies in Minnesota & Bolivia

• Distributing Mobility Equipment in the Twin Cities. On Saturday, February 1, 2020 Mano a Mano donated 162 pieces of mobility equipment and medical supplies to people in need in the Twin Cities. The items ranged from glucometers and blood pressure cuffs to canes, shower chairs, and commodes. The estimated total value of these supplies is $16,000. This project was a collaboration with Twin Cities-area physical therapists to help distribute mobility equipment to some of their clients that have difficulty acquiring needed items. Thank you to the many social workers and physical therapists that stopped by on Saturday, and to everyone that helped make this project possible!
• 2019 Summary of Distributions in Bolivia. In 2019, Mano a Mano shipped 9 40-foot containers filled with 203,747 pounds of donated supplies and equipment from St. Paul to Cochabamba. These supplies are distributed to people & organizations in need throughout Bolivia. 232 organizations in Bolivia received supplies and equipment from Mano a Mano last year.
• Supplies Shipped From Mano a Mano Have Arrived in Honduras. In early January 2020, Mano a Mano loaded 30 gaylords of mobility equipment at our St. Paul warehouse to take to MSP airport, where they would begin their journey to Honduras. These supplies have now arrived! Edwards Air Force Base, where the supplies were transported from, wrote an article about the shipment, which you can read at the link above.

Recent Articles About Mano a Mano in January/February 2020

• Water Is Life: What We Rotarians Are Doing To Improve The Lives of Rural Bolivians. Rotary Club 5580 wrote about their partnership with Mano a Mano on projects to provide access to water and health care for communities in rural Bolivia.
• Mano a Mano’s Minnesota Surplus Program Featured on TPT. TPT Originals wrote about our surplus program: “MINNESOTA HAS A WASTE PROBLEM. HOW DO WE FIX IT? One local organization diverts reusable medical supplies from the landfill and transports them to Bolivia.”
• Article in La Patria Newspaper – Distributing Mobility Equipment in Oruro, Bolivia. The local newspaper in Oruro wrote 2 articles about Mano a Mano’s distribution of mobility equipment to hundreds of people earlier this month.
• Edwards Air Force Base Article About Mano a Mano Shipment to Honduras. In early January 2020, Mano a Mano loaded 30 gaylords of mobility equipment at our St. Paul warehouse to take to MSP airport, where they would begin their journey to Honduras. These supplies have now arrived! Edwards Air Force Base, where the supplies were transported from, wrote an article about the shipment, which you can read at the link above.

Many Other Projects Underway…

Mano a Mano consists of 5 counterpart organizations, each with our own focus areas and projects underway. To give a snapshot of what we are all up to currently:

• Mano a Mano Bolivia has a number of clinic & school projects planned or underway in the coming months, including a new school in Qhapajtala. Community members have been assembling their contribution of local materials such as sand and rock, and Mano a Mano Bolivia bricklayers were scheduled to travel to Qhapajtala at the end of January to begin work.
• Mano a Mano Internacional has been busy organizing and distributing supplies shipped from Minnesota, as well as providing training and tours of the Center for Ecological Agriculture in Cochabamba. (5,359 People Visited the Center for Ecological Agriculture (CEA) in 2019 – an average of 103 visitors per week.) The CEA is a fully functional farm; watch the video below about the hydroponic lettuce grown at the CEA that is sold in the local market.
• Mano a Mano Nuevo Mundo is preparing to dedicate the Laguna Sulti water reservoir expansion in March 2020, and has multiple upcoming water and economic development construction projects underway.
• Mano a Mano Aviation provides emergency air rescues and transport on a near-daily basis.

Playing Impact: Forestry Edition at Mano a Mano Speaker Series on February 11

Join us for a fun evening (6:30-8:00pm at Mano Mano, 925 Pierce Butler Route, St. Paul, MN, 55104) to play an interactive board game designed to expand the ways we think about the future of natural resources and society. Mike Dockry, University of Minnesota Assistant Professor, will lead participants in playing Impact: Forestry Edition. Impact: Forestry Edition was developed by Mike Dockry and the Strategic Foresight research group at the U.S. Forest Service and University of Minnesota. The team developed the game to expand the ways in which we think about the future. Mike will briefly explain the reasons for developing the game, he will explain the rules, and then we will break into small groups (4-5 players to a table) to play.

The evening will end with a short discussion about what we learned, how we can begin to think about the future, and what how this thinking could support the mission of Mano a Mano International Partners. The event is free; please RSVP with Carmen: 651-457-3141 or [email protected]. We hope to see you there!

Your Support Makes These Projects Possible

If you would like to support our work partnering with communities, you can make a donation here.