Our work at Solidarity Bridge is an attempt to follow Jesus’ example of service, love, and human connection.

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.

In today’s gospel, Mary and Martha are confronted with their brothers’ serious illness. Their fear, worry and desperation are what many patients and their families feel when they receive the diagnosis of a surgically treatable condition, but are unable to access the needed operation.

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.

This week, we finally return to work in-person with our colleagues at the Cancer Institute of Eastern Bolivia. Our last visit was in 2019, and much has changed since then.

Today, as Lent begins, you are invited to take time to read some of our stories – stories of patients in need of medical care they cannot access; stories of medical providers going to great lengths to change the health care realities in their communities; stories of hearts and lives transformed.  

Ensuring donated biomedical equipment remains in good working order requires access to spare parts and consumables, and biomedical engineers and technicians with the skills to provide ongoing maintenance and repairs. This was the impetus for a recent mission trip organized in partnership with the TriMedX Foundation.

Anyone who has witnessed the devastating impact of a traumatic brain injury knows that an integrated approach is needed to care for patients and support their reintegration into society. On a November NNI trip to Hospital Santa Bárbara in Sucre, Bolivia, we expanded our focus to the entire spectrum of care for TBIs.

We began several years ago at the Hospital Santa Bárbara with extensive interviews and the creation of a baseline assessment of existing hospital services. This week, our vision for a multi-disciplinary neurotrauma initiative is finally taking shape.

In Bolivia’s public hospitals, head trauma from traffic accidents, falls, or violence represents a pressing healthcare burden. Head and spine injuries not only affect the long-term quality of life of the injured patient but of entire families and communities.

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.

The ICO team has a prophetic presence in Sucre and the surrounding area, living the realities of life with cancer. Our mission team is grateful to be among those learning from the patients, doctors, nurses, and administrators at the ICO this week.