I have had the privilege of traveling and working as an OB/GYN in some of the poorest countries in the world. None of them compare to the humbling experience of Challa Grande in rural Bolivia. The plateau is surrounded by amazing vistas of the Andes Mountains. It is here that the indigenous people live and work. They are above the tree line at over 13000 feet, so dung is used as fuel, and the dark soot of life and work covers everything. The air is thin and dehydration is obvious in the chapped faces and cracked feet exposed to the elements in tire sandals. Poverty is present but you have to look hard, because the spirit and energy of the people is the first thing to catch your eye. No clean water, no clean fuel, no access to immediate rudimentary health care let alone a cesarean section (that would take 2.5 hours by car – if there was a car in the village). Folk practices dominate obstetrics where husbands are lay birth attendants. In the village if a woman doesn’t deliver fast enough she may be wrapped in a blanket and shaken, or if a baby is breech there is a high chance both mother and baby may die. MIMA understands that basic human rights such as education, clean water, and access to health care are the building blocks necessary for these groups to persevere.

-Tracy Irwin, MD