Medical Educators for Latin America - Minnesota

Building Life-saving Partnerships through Medical Education, 

Improving Healthcare in Rural Bolivia

MELA is committed to providing ongoing education and teaching life-saving skills, such as adult and pediatric resuscitation and management of critical conditions, to healthcare providers in Latin America. We achieve this by organizing medical education conferences and engaging volunteer educators from the US and other countries to train local healthcare providers. Over 3,000 local doctors, dentists, and nurses have attended our conferences in Bolivia. This year MELA is supporting the construction of a healthcare clinic in the rural community of San Antonio-Aiquile, Bolivia. We have pledged to raise $30,000 to help this community build a new facility and receive improved quality healthcare.

San Antonio is a rural community in the municipality of Aiquile (Cochabamba – Bolivia) with a population of 1545, comprising mostly of indigenous people. Unfortunately, there are no health facilities within the community, which means that people have to travel 20 km (12.4 miles) to the Villa Granado community clinic for primary medical care, and 40 km for emergency care at the Aiquile municipal hospital. It is important to note that the means of transportation in the community are very limited, with few personal vehicles available.

The absence of health facilities in the area makes it difficult for the government to assign permanent health personnel or establish preventive health and vaccination programs. Pregnant women do not receive prenatal check-ups and often choose to give birth at home, which can lead to complications and even newborn deaths. This clinic will offer trained providers, prenatal care and public healthcare programs currently non-existent.

To address this critical need, Mano a Mano Bolivia, a local non-profit organization and partner of MELA, has signed agreements with the community and municipality to build a 240 Sqm (2583 SqFt) Health Center within five months, with the assistance of the community members and Mano a Mano Bolivia staff.

Your support is crucial in making the dream of improving health in the San Antonio community a reality. Thank you for your unwavering support.