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Show JJOlll'i population 5.5 million FT ' " Literacy rafo 40 Per cent p-'Xv -1 infant mortality rote 157per1000 births I ) riZj Life expectancy 48 ,A sy X per capita Income $630 cjvia J BOUV1A ) N Santa Cruz L. P.G. Kiwianians Help Bolivia's Health Care Program self-sufficient program that can be continued by the Bolivian Ministry of Health. Project Concern began working in Bolivia in the state of Pando in 1977. It has since reached self-reliance self-reliance and continues to serve some 10,000 rural people who before had no access to health care. Some 71 percent of the population in Oruro have had no access to health service. Death rate has been very high from infectious diseases, especially upper respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses, illnes-ses, measles and tuberculosis, all complicated com-plicated by inadequate transportation and communication syste ms, cultllral language barrier,'. a lack of human' material reSOu,' PrJect Cone health service' to 75 percent of Oni; fural population.!, ableland We, between two raJ the Andes Mount!' abo"t 12,000 elevation. The Kiwanis Club of Pleasant Grove have involved themselves in helping the South American country of Bolivia in the development of a Primary Health Care program. A donation of $100 was made by the club. Three letters of appreciation ap-preciation were received. One from Kiwanis International, signed by President E.B. "Mac" McKitrick; one from Project Concern International, signed by the President William M. Eagles, M.D. (Past Kiwanis international President), Preside-nt), and another from Pres. McKitrick enclosing en-closing an honor patch to be placed upon the Pleasant Grove Kiwanis Banner. Bolivia is a country of 424,000 square miles (the size of Texas and California combined) landlocked by Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, and Peru. In Aruro it is cold the year round, and the desolate, barren landscape is swept by high winds. There is little rainfall and no trees. In contrast, Pando is a tropical jungle state where 'the!''-' rural population lives on isolated plantations earning a livelihood from collecting natural rubber and Brazil nuts. The Bolivian culture is made up of about 70 percent Indians, and two other ethnic groups (Spanish and some mixed races). Spanish is the main language. Nearly 95 percent belong to the Catholic religion, but most Indians In-dians interweave aboriginal symbolisms with the Christian elements of their religious practice. Sixty percent of the Bolivian population is engaged in non-mechanized non-mechanized subsistence agriculture. Most families have some sheep and Llamas. The mainstay of the Bolivian economy is tin, and Oruro is one of the mining centers. Project Concern is working with the Bolivian Ministry of Health to assist in the development of a Primary Health Care program. This program serves the rural areas of Oruro, one of the poorest and least developed regions of the country. The aim is to bring low-cost preventive and curative care to these people through the training of community health workers. There are two phases of the program. The first involves upgrading the skills of rural health nurses in preventive and simple curative care. The second involves the training of community health workers plus organizing systems for supervision, referral and medical supplies. The goal is to establish a |
