Weekend Health Clinics

As part of our integrated approach to improving health, Mano a Mano provides jornadas, or weekend health clinics, in rural areas of Bolivia that have no access to health services. Doctors, nurses, dentists, and other medical professionals from Bolivia volunteer hundreds of hours of their time with Mano a Mano Bolivia traveling on weekends to some of the most remote areas of the country to provide free basic healthcare. They also give educational workshops on treatment and prevention of prevalent diseases in the area, such as malaria, dengue fever, chagas, leishmaniasis, and tuberculosis. Mano a Mano Bolivia volunteers usually fly to the jornada sites on the Mano a Mano plane; the trip can often be 15-20 hours each way on treacherous mountain roads, whereas flying reduces travel time to an hour or two, allowing more time to be spent with patients.

Jornada volunteers

Mano a Mano volunteer Nemecio evaluating a baby

Between 2006-2010, Mano a Mano provided 79 jornadas and had 15,200 patient visits. We have another 29 scheduled for 2011, such as a recent jornada to San Pablo de Isiboro in late July, an isolated community in the Amazon jungle in the Beni department (photos below). In a typical jornada our volunteers will see around 200 patients.

Mano a Mano Bolivia doctor with a patient

People in San Pablo de Isiboro waiting to be seen