Bolivia: programs & priorities

ChildFund Australia's affiliate organisation in Bolivia has been working in the country since 1980 and currently assists approximately almost 100,000 children and their family members.

Some ChildFund in Bolivia assisted programs are located in urban slums, which are overcrowded and unsanitary. ChildFund in Bolivia also works in rural areas that are virtually inaccessible during the rainy season. In all of our assisted communities, children and their families receive regular medical check-ups and basic food provisions to supplement their diet and prevent malnutrition.

A special ChildFund in Bolivia program focuses on children whose physical handicaps further challenge their daily survival. ChildFund in Bolivia helps polio victims, deaf children and children with cerebral palsy and Down's Syndrome by concentrating on education and medical needs. Parents and siblings are involved in the program and are trained on providing assistance at home.

Some of ChildFund in Bolivia's other innovative programs include early childhood development; micro enterprise to raise family incomes; and nutrition supplement programs.

Development in progress

ChildFund in Bolivia is assisting rural communities to make improvements to their homes, to ensure that children and their families have the safest possible environment in which to live. Family empowerment through home repair is just one way ChildFund in Bolivia is able to make changes that greatly benefit the child.

In some areas of Bolivia, an estimated 45 per cent of the population is infected with a disease known as Chagas, which is carried by the blood-feeding Triatomine or "assassin bug".

Renovating homes by replacing thatched roofs with tin or tile, installing cement floors, and covering the walls with plaster and lime destroys the habitat of the assassin bug. Fumigating these renovated homes further helps protect children and their families.