Mano a Mano ...

I was able to ride with Jose and ask him how this all became a reality. He learned his values of hard work and service from his parents who moved the family from a rural home to Cochabamba where their kids could get a better education. Back in the early 1990's, he had this idea of bringing necessary medical equipment and supplies from the US for the medical clinics he was working with. He asked his brother, a pilot in the Twin Cities if it were possible to raise some money for donations and supplies and send them to Bolivia. It was and he did and soon thereafter he helped create Mano a Mano, a non-profit with headquarters in Cochabamba and it's US affiliate in the Twin Cities. Their model was to create sustainable clinics and schools by partnering with villages and towns throughout Bolivia. The partnership required that the village and community contribute 30-40% of the cost of building, donate labor, food, and housing during the construction, and agree to maintain the building in the years to come. The government pays for the salaries of the doctors and teachers. With this model, their success has been phenomenal ......120 medical clinics, 41 schools, numerous roads and airstrips have been built throughout Bolivia. Mano a Mano also sponsors and requires continuing medical education of it's clinic providers, has a dream scholarship program for kids with financial needs, has it's own construction division and equipment for road development, continues to collect and donate medical supplies and equipment, and found that it was more cost effective to make it's own beds, windows, doors, and drapes for the clinics.