As 21 missioners fly south to serve patients in Punata, Bolivia, Solidarity Bridge Executive Director Ann Rhomberg reflects on the trip as a chance to heal, connect, and find nourishment.

The populations of Bolivia and Illinois are similar in size. But when it comes to health care access, just a few key statistics reveal stark contrasts.

Solidarity Bridge friends, supporters, and missioners came together on September 9 for our annual mission team send-off.

A healthy heartbeat is something that pacemaker patients like Patricia can never take for granted. Once patients receive an implant through Solidarity Bridge, we commit to their permanent, lifetime follow-up care.

In her last update from our General Surgery Mission Trip in Santa Cruz, Dr. Kim Grahl shares a reflection on finding your way when there is no clear path forward. 

Language barriers are a common issue in our cross-cultural work. But sometimes learning another language can give us new perspective, or a deeper understanding of the world around us. In this update, Dr. Kim Grahl shares how her perspective of the word ‘enough’ is changing on mission.

In this blog, missioner Kim Grahl, serving as internist and team chaplain, shares her experiences from the first days of mission. 

It's "back-to-mission" time at Solidarity Bridge. Today, both new and veteran missioners fly to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, for a week of surgeries and training with our partners at San Juan de Dios Hospital.

In the past four months, Puente de Solidaridad organized four laparoscopic surgery campaigns at regional hospitals around the department of Cochabamba. Each five-day effort served an average of 14 patients, many of whom had put off treatment because of their economic situation. 

Because Solidarity Bridge believes that the goods of the Earth (including medical care and equipment) belong to us all, equipping Bolivian hospitals and surgeons with needed instruments and supplies is essential to our mission.

“Helping a Heart to Beat,” a surgical campaign made possible by the coordinated effort of five distinct organizations, took place April 17-19 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. A true example of solidarity, the campaign served 12 children with congenital heart defects through a high-tech procedure using cardiac catheterization.

Every institution tends to develop its own internal language and Solidarity Bridge is no exception. To keep both new and longtime members of our bridge-building network on the same page, here is a brief glossary.