Fred Rogers, TV’s beloved Mr. Rogers, used to say that when there is a crisis, look for the helpers. During our week in Vinto, Bolivia, as part of Solidarity Bridge’s Multi-Specialty Mission Team, we never had to look far to find helpers.

Too often, we overlook the fact that there is not only an economic barrier preventing patients from receiving care but also a time barrier. In many cases, the ability to take time off to heal is a luxury. Many patients put off life-saving surgery because they can’t afford to take time off. This is why our general surgery program has placed a strong emphasis on training local doctors and residents in laparoscopic surgery, as well as donating laparoscopic equipment and supplies.

Bolivian representatives from the Santa Barbara Hospital spent a week in Honduras to observe a range of rehabilitation training and care methods for neuro trauma patients at Teleton Honduras. This South-South exchange facilitated the sharing of expertise and collaboration to solve healthcare challenges.

It was a tremendous honor for Solidarity Bridge’s Neurosurgery & Neurology Institute (NNI) to be invited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Bolivian Society of Neurosurgery (BSN) and participate in its XXII Congress, in La Paz, Bolivia during their visit at the end of August. 

In a groundbreaking collaboration with Solidarity Bridge this fall, the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Neurological Surgery will welcome the first Bolivian neurosurgeons as part of a one-month observership program.

Surgery Residents during previous on-site training course held in March of 2024, focusing on spinal surgery.

More than 100 patients have undergone gallbladder or hernia surgery so far in 2024 through mobile surgery campaigns to municipal hospitals throughout Bolivia.

Our mission team had the pleasure of visiting one of the sites of our mobile laparoscopic surgery campaigns to see the impact of our partnership in the hospital and the surrounding community.

A Bolivian nursing student needed highly-specialized brain surgery unavailable in the public healthcare system in his country. Read about his international journey to care and healing.

“Successful surgical training is not dependent on the equipment, the finances, or even the planning as much as on the dedication of the people and their motivations for being here.”

For 25 years, Solidarity Bridge has provided a way for individuals and entities of the Archdiocese of Chicago and beyond to live out their call to global mission. Our shared commitment—to respond to the gospel call to heal the sick in a spirit of solidarity—remains steadfast.

Dr. Via-Reque’s wholehearted involvement and expertise helped make it possible for Solidarity Bridge to steadily expand its outreach.

Fr. Bob Oldershaw’s generosity of spirit, time, talent, and treasure, along with his inspiring life-long example of living out the virtue of solidarity, make him a consummate honoree for our lifetime achievement award!