Will we succeed?

Written by: Juan Lorenzo Hinojosa, Ph.D. -SB Founding/New Initiatives Director

I have taken over 50 mission trips since Solidarity Bridge was founded.  They were all important trips, but some of them in particular led to big developments in our outreach.  This is potentially one of those trips.

We began in 1999 by taking missioners to do medical/surgical work in Bolivia.  In 2002 we began our first year-round program implanting pacemakers (with Bolivian partners).  Since then, our programs have developed and grown.  We are ready for another stage of our growth.

Our mission methodology is based on solidarity.  This means that we are interested - driven in fact  - to form collaborative relationships for the common good.  This impulse, which began with the mission trips, will find its next step in the possible creation of inter-institutional collaborations leading to the creation of two centers and one  institute in Bolivia.

All of the conditions are in place to found Bolivia’s  first comprehensive Epilepsy Center, first Children’s Open-Heart Center and the first Neurosurgery Institute.  In this month of February, we will determine if these efforts move forward.  If you are interested in following the ups and downs of creating these very important entities that will impact the future of Bolivian medicine and help provide for the complex medical/surgical needs of those with great needs, follow me on this February journey.

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Photo update from Juan Lorenzo's February journey: