Welcome to Mano a Mano's Blog!

Welcome to our blog, where we will be sharing the latest updates and stories about Mano a Mano International Partners. To learn more about us, please visit our website.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Happy Birthday to a Very Special Volunteer!

On July 4, 2011, we celebrate Gloria MacRae's 85th birthday. Gloria is one of Mano a Mano's most dedicated volunteers and has been with us since the beginning; she made a $25 donation to Mano a Mano during our first year in 1994 and then, she says, it took over her life. Over the years Gloria has recruited many volunteers and donors, always carries a Mano a Mano brochure in her purse, talks with everyone she knows about our work, requests donations of medical surplus, and the list goes on. 

We even have her to thank for helping get our clinic program off the ground. When we celebrated Gloria’s 70th birthday in 1996, we kept secret that more than 100 of her friends were raising funds to build the first Mano a Mano clinic in her name, “Clinica Gloria”. Imagine her surprise when we presented the gift: enough seed funding to build two clinics, Clinica Gloria I and Clinica Gloria II. And the rest, as they say, is history. 


For her 75th birthday we had a new challenge. Northwest Airlines had donated 8,000 crystal glasses to Mano a Mano, which we planned to sell as a fundraiser. Gloria was our best salesperson; she even began carrying glasses in her purse to sell for $2 each to everyone she knew, and we raised over $16,000!

Gloria was born in Empress, Alberta, Canada on July 4, 1926. She emigrated to the U.S. to attend the University of Texas, became a medical technologist, and worked for a pharmaceutical company until age 35. Beginning to feel restless in her lab-focused job, she decided to seek another career and chose social work through the University of Minnesota’s masters program. She worked as social worker at Gillette Hospital, Ramsey County, and Anoka State Hospital until she retired. Not one to stop at that point, she went on to teach English to spouses of foreign students, became the volunteer social worker for Macalester Plymouth United Church, served on the review board for the St. Peter Security Hospital, and adopted Mano a Mano. 

For every birthday since 1996, it's become a tradition for Gloria to encourage friends to make a donation to Mano a Mano in her honor. Gloria exemplifies the spirit of our organization, and we thank her for her tremendous support; Happy 85th Birthday Gloria!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

New Video Highlighting Partnership with Caterpillar Inc.

Mano a Mano International works on a model based on partnership; part of that process is seeking alliances with key corporate partners in the US. The Caterpillar Foundation has become one of those key alliances, and we have been working together for 3 years to help bring solutions to impoverished rural Bolivian communities. In 2007, Mano a Mano approached the Caterpillar Foundation to seek funding for two new roads. Caterpillar considers roads to be a priority in helping to open new markets that could spur an increase in economic development. Caterpillar indicated; “we were impressed by Mano a Mano’s commitment to assist rural communities [giving them] access to markets through the construction of roads and runways. Passable roads hold the key to economic well-being.”

Since 2007, Caterpillar has trusted their investment to Mano a Mano to continue to offer solutions in Bolivia.  CAT has provided us with a matching grant - providing a dollar for dollar match up to $225,000 for any contributions from other businesses to support our proven efforts in improving health and economic opportunity for impoverished Bolivians. In addition, the Caterpillar Foundation wanted to capture the impact themselves and hired a team of professional photographers to travel to Bolivia and share the Mano a Mano story:


Friday, June 17, 2011

Clinic Program Update

As part of our clinic program, Mano a Mano Bolivia keeps extremely detailed statistics for everything they do, from number of patient visits to vaccinations to outcomes in each of our 120 clinics in operation. To give you an idea of what our clinics do, here are some of the numbers for the first 3 months of 2011 (119 clinics reporting):
  • 179,342 patient visits overall. The focus of our clinics is primary care, and particularly maternal & child health, and that is reflected in our visits.
  • 49,051 general medicine visits, including 24,504 exams for children under 5
Child and mother waiting to be seen in the La Joya clinic in the department of Chuquisaca

Friday, June 3, 2011

Mano a Mano Dedicates its 120th Clinic in Chunavi, Bolivia

Paul Cormier, a mountain guide from New Hampshire, and his team just returned back to the US from their annual climbing expedition in Bolivia. Paul's trip was more than mountain climbing; two years ago, during one of his climbing trips in Bolivia, Paul heard about Mano a Mano's work and asked how he could help. Paul and his fellow travelers wanted to give something back to the community of Chunavi, where they had set up base camp during their climbing expeditions. Chunavi is a small village more than 13,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains, located a few hours' drive from La Paz. Last year they began the Chunavi Fund, which was dedicated to raising enough money in the US to build a community health clinic in Chunavi. The clinic project would be built using our collaborative approach involving Mano a Mano, the community of Chunavi, the Municipal Government, and the Bolivian Health Ministry.

The Chunavi Fund was very successful, and now, one year later the project is done! The clinic is fully equipped with medical supplies and equipment, and has a full-time RN; soon a physician will also be hired by the local municipality. The entire community came out for the dedication ceremony last week to celebrate its completion, and Paul Cormier and his group traveled to Bolivia to attend the dedication. This is Mano a Mano's 120th clinic in Bolivia. The local community and municipality were heavily involved throughout the process, volunteering nearly 4,000 hours during construction. Thanks to everyone who made this project happen!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Agriculture Fair in Omereque, Bolivia Showcases New Crops

This past weekend the community of Omereque held an Agriculture Fair to showcase the new crops they have been able to grow this year. With water from the 148 atajados (farm ponds) Mano a Mano has built in the Omereque area, farmers planted vegetable and fruit crops that they have never planted before (tomatoes, celery, peppers, squash, carrots, beets, cabbage, lima beans, peas, lettuce, onions, radishes, achojcha, watermelon, and chirimoya). Usually these crops are only able to be grown at lower altitudes, but because there was sufficient water they were able to gorw these crops. This fall they will plant their usual staple crops of corn and more potatoes.

One of the 148 atajados built in Omereque; each pond provides water for 1-4 families