Heart Program Expands to Tarija

Over the past seven years, campaigns have become a crucial part of our mission work. Similar to a mission trip, a campaign convenes skilled surgeons, supplies, and equipment at an under-equipped hospital to provide safe, affordable surgery to patients and mentored training to the local staff.  Different from a mission trip, a campaign consists of an all-Bolivian team. 

This month, in addition to surgical campaigns, we conducted the first diagnostic campaign to address congenital heart disease. From September 9 to 11, pediatric specialists from La Paz joined staff from Puente de Solidaridad in Tarija, the smallest of Bolivia’s nine departments. Tarija is located in the southeast of the country, sharing a border with Argentina and Paraguay. The population of roughly 500,000 people work primarily in agriculture, with wine as their main export.   

Specialist care is particularly difficult to access in this region. There are no pediatric cardiovascular specialists, and no hospital is equipped for complex cardiac surgeries. Families of children with heart conditions in Tarija must travel hundreds of kilometers to Cochabamba, La Paz, or Santa Cruz just to be diagnosed. Should they need treatment, the cost can often be far more than many can afford. This reality was the driving force in the planning of our campaign. 

We are grateful to the teams from Puente de Solidaridad, San Juan de Dios Tarija, Kardiozentrum and Herzverein E.V. Foundation who made this campaign possible.

This campaign was the first initiative in a new partnership between our sister organization Puente de Solidaridad and La Paz based organizations Kardiozentrum and Herzverein E.V. Foundation. Working together as partners, we will ensure access to life saving surgeries in this region for children with congenital heart conditions. The goal of this campaign was to alleviate the cost and burden of travel for these families, to identify children in need of surgery, and to support the surgery when necessary through our year-round program. 

During the campaign, families came to the city of Tarija from all around the department, including remote rural areas. The children were all suspected to have heart complications, and had been referred by their local pediatricians. These doctors  were aware of our campaign thanks to the coordination and outreach of Dr. Darwin Martinez, our local contact at the San Juan de Dios Hospital. In all, more than 60 children were screened by our partners from La Paz. The doctors also recommended treatment, and assessed the need for surgery. 

Twenty children were identified as candidates for surgery, 13 of whom presented with urgent cases needing operations within the coming months. Each of them will receive support to travel to La Paz, Cochabamba or Santa Cruz for their operations. We are humbled and filled with joy by the opportunity to serve these children in Tarija.