We have a new plane!

This week, after a long search, Mano a Mano has purchased a twin-engine airplane for our aviation program in Bolivia. This is a huge step forward for us and will greatly enhance our capabilities.

Mano a Mano's new plane!

To this point, Mano a Mano has flown two Cessna 206 planes for our emergency air rescue, jornada, and commercial flights. Both of these planes are single-engine planes, and while they will continue to be utilized in our program, having a twin-engine plane has numerous benefits. First, a twin-engine plane is safer. Because of the improved safety, we are now able to provide flights to organizations and businesses whose insurance plans only permit them to fly in twin-engine planes, which will provide a new source of revenue. Second, a twin-engine plane can fly further and faster, increasing our range to include other countries that border Bolivia and also decrease travel time on all flights. Third, the new plane is much larger, with 10 seats. Not only does this provide more passenger space, it also allows us to have more comfortable transport for passengers on emergency flights; we can now transport patients on a gurney rather than force them into a regular seat.

We are very excited to what this new plane will mean for all of Mano a Mano. Our aviation program is an integral part of our whole program: Bolivian medical professionals use the Mano a Mano plane to get to weekend health clinics in distant rural areas, shortening travel time to allow more time with patients; heavy equipment operators will now be able to purchase new parts and have them flown to construction sites in a matter of hours rather than days by car; and travelers to Bolivia will have a safer and more convenient mode of transport to see more of Bolivia.

We especially want to thank the donors and foundations who dedicated their time and resources to make this dream of ours become a reality!

Accomplishments

As we celebrate our 17th year this weekend, we continue to be amazed at what a small group of dedicated people in the US and Bolivia can accomplish! Here are just a few of our acheivements since we started in 1994:

• 120,272 - volunteer hours in the US since 1994
• 2,180,061 - pounds of surplus medical supplies shipped to Bolivia
• $10.1 million - value of this surplus
• 123 - number of clinics built in Bolivia. 115 of these clinics are financially independent and do not rely on any funding from Mano a Mano. (All clinics receive continuing health education and medical supplies on an ongoing basis.)
• 14,065 deliveries with 0 maternal deaths and 0.5% infant mortality rate (average infant mortality rate in rural Bolivia is 8%)
• Schools, teacher housing, and community sanitation projects in 42 communities
• Built 3 large water reservoirs and 153 atajados (small water ponds)
• Constructed or improved over 1,400 kilometers of roads
• 962 emergency flights

Thanks to everyone that has been a part of Mano a Mano!

Emergency Flight in the Beni

After writing about  recent Mano a Mano flights in Bolivia, we received an update on another emergency flight yesterday in the Beni region of Bolivia. A 20 year old woman with congestive heart and kidney failure was unable to receive sufficient treatment at the nearby hospital in San Lorenzo, so they called Mano a Mano asking if we could fly her to Cochabamba to receive care. Our pilot Ivo Daniel Martinez Velasquez flew to the Beni yesterday morning and picked up the patient, along with her doctor Emilio Guzman to accompany her on the flight. Upon landing in Cochabamba, medical staff was waiting to take her to the hospital; they are hoping she will be able to return to the Beni by Wednesday.

 

Mano a Mano pilot Ivo Martinez Velasquez helping the patient into our plane

Mano a Mano Flights in Bolivia in July

Mano a Mano Apoyo Aereo pilot Ivo Daniel Martinez sent our US office an update about his recent flights during the past week:

Friday, July 8

We received a call asking for a flight to transport two patients from the community of San Lorenzo de Moxos. One had appendicitis and the other is waiting for test results to make a diagnosis.

Saturday, July 9

We transported four physicians to the community of Monte Cruz. They completed a weekend health clinic. A quick exam of two patients showed that they had to be transported immediately to Cochabamba in order to receive specialized attention so the aircraft returned to Cochabamba.

Sunday, July 10

We went to pick up the physicians from Monte Cruz. We combined this flight with a private pay flight which helps us generate funds. This way we don’t have an unpaid leg on the flight.  

Monday, July 11

We received a call from the mayor of Culpina, asking for an emergency flight for the daughter of one of the council members who had worked very closely with Mano a Mano Nuevo Mundo. This seven year old girl had been operated on during the previous month; it was a major operation which included changing heart valves. She had been recuperating normally but, inexplicably, the situation became seriously complicated. The child was unconscious and couldn’t move. Her parents took her to the city of Tarija where they hoped for help from a specialist but none were available. They saw the need to transport her to Cochabamba (where she received the operation). It was not possible to consider transporting her by land, given that the bus trip is 20 hours and the girl needed IV fluids and oxygen as soon as possible. The parents asked that the commercial airline transport her but it refused because of the girl’s complicated situation. Mano a Mano responded and flew her to Cochabamba; now the girl is doing well and is recovering normally.

Transporting her to Cochabamba in the Mano a Mano plane

Tuesday, July 12

We completed a private pay flight to the community of San Lorenzo, generating funds for Mano a Mano. In the afternoon, we completed another private flight to the city of La Paz with an overnight stay.

Wednesday, July 13

We returned from La Paz.

Thursday, July 14

We received a call asking for an emergency flight. Some Chilean tourists suffered an accident, a collision of two vehicles on the Salt beds of Uyuni that left eight wounded and two dead. The wounded could have been moved to a hospital in Potosi, but the urgency was to transport the two who had died to the city of Calama in Chile. Sadly, we had to turn down this flight because our small aircraft would only have been able to carry one of the coffins. Two coffins cannot enter the aircraft and the distance to Calama is great. Finally the Chilean Air Force sent a version of the C – 130 to Potosi to pick up all of the wounded and the dead.

Saturday, July 16 and Sunday, July 17

We are providing air support to a weekend health clinic in the community of San Pablo in the Beni province  (organized with Mano a Mano Bolivia).

Thanks for all your support. Without your help this would be impossible.

Ivo Daniel Martinez Velasquez

Update on Martha

A few days ago we wrote about Martha, a 17 year-old girl from San Borja, Bolivia. Martha had a large tumor in her knee, and Mano a Mano provided an emergency air transport for her to Cochabamba.

Martha being transported to Cochabamba

Martha was taken to the Clinica Los Olivos, one of the best health care centers in Bolivia. We asked for an update from our staff in Bolivia about Martha's condition, and yesterday we received this note from Maria Blanca who went to visit her:

I was hoping to share good news with you, but it's not the case. 

Emergency Air Rescue in San Borja, Beni

One of our most recent emergency air rescues occurred on May 5, 2011. We received a call from a small community that was 3 hours away on horseback from San Borja, Bolivia, in the department of Beni.

There were 5 people that needed assistance. Unfortunately, we only had space for 3 in our Cessna airplane because one of the women needed to lay down. This 17 year old young woman had a very large tumor on her knee - twice as big as her head - and was in extreme pain; she could barely move. She lived in a Chiman community (one of the indigenous groups of Bolivia) and didn't speak any Spanish, so she wasn't able to explain what had happened.

Tumor on her knee

Mano a Mano Aviation Program

Our staff in Bolivia recently put together this great presentation highlighting our aviation program.

Last year we provided 384 emergency air rescues, and 962 since 2006! Check out the presentation for more information about the different programs.

Emergency Air Rescues in 2010

One of Mano a Mano's core programs in Bolivia is its aviation program. This is a critical component of our work due to the unique challenges of traveling in Bolivia. Bolivia has a very minimal road network. Only one two-lane roads connects the country’s capital to other major cities; tropical regions have almost no roads. Rivers connect some tropical settlements but their width, rapid current, and large amount of debris present danger to even the most experienced boaters. Small aircraft transport has become the mode of choice for reaching into these areas.

Goals of Mano a Mano aviation program: