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About Bolivia
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Almost 95% of rural
B
olivians live below the poverty level (the income level required to provide the
most basic human necessities). This appalling rural poverty rate is the world's highest, surpassing Bangladesh and countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Poverty accompanies
high unemployment rates. Only 29% of all Bolivians available for employment,
primarily those living in urban areas, hold permanent jobs. Others depend on
subsistence agriculture; on buying and then reselling small quantities of
produce and other items in the open markets or on street corners; or on
providing occasional services such as carrying purchases for shoppers or hand
washing clothing for others.
Children are
often forced to abandon their education to help support their families. The
majority of rural Bolivians are essentially excluded from the formal economic
structure of the country. Rural family income varies from $100 - $300 annually.
About 16% of these families have access to electricity, 15% to water outside the
home (not potable water), and only 2% have any type of plumbing.
The impact of this poverty falls especially hard on Bolivia's mothers and children. Of 100,000 live births, 650 women will lose their lives (the highest maternal death rate in Latin America). In the rural Cochabamba provinces, the location of most of Mano a Mano's clinics, 300 of every 1000 children die by age one. Most of these deaths result from preventable gastrointestinal infections and diseases for which effective vaccinations are available.
About 65% of the population has no geographic access to medical care. Many others do not receive care because they simply cannot pay for it. Medical supplies and equipment are prohibitively expensive, with non-profit and government operated health programs often lacking the most basic items. The lack of supplies seriously compromises their capacity to provide care for those who have no ability to pay. Mano a Mano's medical supply distribution and community clinic programs address these serious issues.
The fertile highland valleys in which most Mano a Mano community clinics are located could produce abundant crops of corn, potatoes, and fresh vegetables. Sadly, flooding during the rainy season often destroys crops and undermines the foundations of adobe homes. In turn, lack of means to retain water for use during the dry season results in stunted crop growth and, during especially dry years, near total crop failure, and insufficient water to sustain livestock. Farmers plant few, if any, vegetable crops during the dry season because they must carry water to them from distant water sources.
Together, these problematic circumstances result in failure to meet the nutritional needs of the local population.
Mano a Mano's agricultural water reservoir projects result in increased food production and income for local farmers.
