Serving as a chaplain on this mission trip has made me realize how out of order my own worries and preoccupations can be. The patients and their relatives I met during this mission trip made me realize that I already have the most important and valuable things in life: my family is healthy, and most importantly, we are alive. We often take life and health for granted, without realizing that they are the most precious gifts we have. 

In Bolivia, one of the most evident examples of gender-based health inequity is the lack of access to quality gynecological care. This issue has been a part of Solidarity Bridge’s mission since our second mission trip in 2000. Many women, especially mothers, suffer silently from conditions like abnormal bleeding, pelvic organ prolapse, fibroids, urinary incontinence, and other health problems often linked to multiple childbirths. Unfortunately, these conditions are rarely addressed until they become severe.

Amid our long-term goals and strategies, the day-to-day work of Solidarity Bridge always comes back to serving the needs of the patient in front of us. Each brings a unique story, and it is a gift to be invited to be a part of it. For both our patients and ourselves, these encounters can be fraught with heartache, but are also a source of great joy

Bolivian doctors interested in pursuing sub-specialized training such as oncological surgery have very limited training options in-country. Our mission trip offers an opportunity for these doctors to operate alongside a surgeon who has performed thousands of the most difficult pancreatic and hepatobiliary surgical procedures.

Resuming our in-person partnership with the Oncological Institute of Eastern Bolivia this month, our main goal was to provide specialized training and fill essential surgical equipment and supply needs. But we also traveled to the Cancer Institute to share the burden, albeit for just one week, of the ups and downs of cancer care.

Florentino’s health was declining minute by minute. He was not expected to survive the night. Bolivian Dr. Susana Aviles and US Dr. Malcolm Bilimoria consulted and they agreed they would operate together as soon as Florentino could be prepped.

At the close of our gynecologic surgery mission trip in Sucre, Bolivia, US missioner, Dr. Erin Stevens, shares what motivates her to continue with this work.

A five-women team departs this Saturday for Sucre, Bolivia, to work alongside OB-GYN surgeons at the Chuquisaca Cancer Institute (ICO). The primary goal of our visit is to advance training in laparoscopic surgical techniques for gynecologic pathologies.