Candice and Dr. Fuentes spent a good portion of each day together, examining patients, making diagnoses, and consulting on treatment plans. Both agree that there are many benefits to the cross-cultural sharing of knowledge they experienced during their week together.  While the patients have benefited from the experience, so have Candice and Dr. Fuentes. Dr. Fuentes shared, “The experience was really amazing.  We’ve been sharing treatment plans; some are the same and some are different than in the U.S. ” He continued,  “It has been really beneficial for both of us because we have been able to discuss criteria for diseases and how a patient’s presentation for an illness might vary in different regions of the world.

Our annual Multi-Specialty Mission Trip in September brought together 14 medical specialists who provided care to more than 920 patients throughout the week at Tiquipaya Hospital. The following stories capture moments of patient care witnessed during a single day of the mission.

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.

Across five specialties, our U.S. missioners have been working with their Bolivian colleagues to learn from one another and collaborate in making life better for our patients and the wider community.

MSMT changes lives by providing specialized care that is otherwise unavailable to patients at rural Bolivian hospitals.

In order to truly enter into the work that brings us to Bolivia —the care of patients in need— we must be present, we must listen, and we must stand in solidarity with the patients and all who work so hard to give them life-transforming care.

Mission trips constitute only one aspect of our year-round work, but these visits provide unique opportunities to expand our minds and hearts.

Although our mission trips are short term the relationships we create with each other and with our Bolivian counterparts are anything but! To nurture these relationships during this time of social distancing, our recent MSMT missioners gathered on Zoom to connect.

Veteran missioner, Dr. Jay Herrmann shares one of his favorite things about visiting Bolivia—the working relationships he develops with Bolivian doctors.

Our team has spent significant time preparing for this trip, but there is always more to learn. To give us a better understanding of our patients’ lives and communities, our partners arranged visits to the homes of former patients.

We embark on our 100th trip!

First-time mission nurse, Kristina Via-Reque shares her experience at the close of the 2018 multi-specialty mission trip.