Updates from our team, stories about patients, experiences of missioners, and more!
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Our neurosurgical partnerships in Paraguay began only five years ago, but in that time we’ve shared many ideas that evolved into joint plans to improve the health and quality of life for patients in need of neurosurgical care. This week, it was our great joy to see so many of these ideas concretized.
Read MoreParaguay is characterized by its land-locked isolation, and this isolation was exacerbated over the past two years by the COVID-19 pandemic. That context has made it especially rewarding to take strides in solidarity with our Paraguayan colleagues – implementing unified plans for mutual collaboration around common goals.
Read MoreIt’s a bright new dawn in Cochabamba today as our patient, Marian, has recovered her ability to swallow food.
Read MoreFor years, patients seeking surgeries in Cochabamba’s public hospitals have languished on months-long waiting lists. The situation is especially dire now. Our mission team will assist in over a dozen surgeries to help alleviate the crushing demand.
Read MoreValentine’s Day imagery takes our minds to the patients of our Kids Heart Program. In 2021, 37 children and young adults received cardiac surgery through our program. Here are just two stories that will warm your heart today. We share them with immense gratitude for all of our donors, staff, and medical partners who together make these surgeries possible.
Read MoreSr. Zenobia traveled two weeks by canoe to distribute medical supplies to health service outposts in 18 communities she serves in the TIPNIS, a Bolivian region protected for its biodiversity and as the homeland of multiple native communities. She recently shared a video clip and photos she took to document the distribution.
Read MoreBoth the Chagas disease scenario and the cardiac health field have greatly evolved since our Pacemaker Program began over 20 years ago. Dr. Marta Vakulenko of Los Angeles, USA, and Dr. Paola Rodriguez of Cochabamba, Bolivia, represent a new generation of surgeons who will continue to build our bridge to care for cardiac rhythm patients into the coming decades.
Read MoreHome visits with our patients are an opportunity to pause, to look at the richness of others, and to examine our own comfortable world. We were grateful for the opportunity to visit two of our pacemaker patients this week.
Read MoreTraveling to Bolivia, we’ve found a renewed sense of hope in the ability to be present with our colleagues during a time of global turmoil. The power of human connection and the joy of being physically present remains stronger than ever.
Read MoreBy physically traveling to Sucre, we channeled skills and resources that would be otherwise unavailable to our partner surgeons and their patients. Patients like Sergio, a thirty-two-year-old intensive therapy resident and father of two.
Read MoreMost epilepsy patients in Bolivia do not have access to specialized care. Our seven-part series of webinars for Bolivian pediatricians, neurologists, internists, nurses, and family members of patients with epilepsy aimed to provide basic training and education to begin to address the treatment gap.
Read MoreCOVID cases are on the rise again in Paraguay, and our partners there have asked us to postpone our plans for a neurosurgery mission this month.
Read MoreWe are inaugurating a new Neurosurgery and Neurology Institute which will house multiple initiatives in research, education, resource mobilization, and service—all for the benefit of patients and practitioners in South America.
Bolivian colorectal surgeon, Dr. Fernando Nogales, reflects on how he came to join our mission. His path illustrates challenges Bolivian doctors face in fulfilling their vocations, and how our programs can help overcome some barriers.
Read MoreA first of its kind diagnostic campaign screened more than 60 children for congenital heart diseases in the city of Tarija.
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