In addition to making a financial donation, many of our supporters want to do more, some even venturing to Bolivia to join our team of volunteers. Every year a group made up of physicians, students, photographers, writers, other medical personnel make the journey to Montero, Bolivia, to see the RVF in action. All volunteers are required to not only cover their own expenses but to raise an additional amount of financial support as well.
Two of our dedicated volunteer doctors are Dr. Lisa Hunt and Dr. Vince McColm. On annual work trips to Montero, they visit with the RVF patients, the Community Health Workers, and Bolivian medical staff. They start working at the crack of dawn and work until late, enduring hot, humid days, torrents of rain and mud, and long hours at the clinic working with patients. Despite the challenging conditions, everyone reports that these visits are incredibly rewarding.
Spotlight: Dr. Lisa Hunt, MD
Dr. Hunt is a general pediatrician practicing in Phoenix, Arizona. Her focus is on providing good quality care for underserved children. She has traveled to Montero, Bolivia each year since 2010 with the Rosa Vera Fund and she has served on the board since 2012.
Dr. Hunt works alongside our Bolivian colleagues in the Villa Cochabamba clinic, seeing children and evaluating and planning interventions for the upcoming year. Her goals for the work trips are twofold: entering a community with limited resources and finding ways to utilize our donations to the fullest, and investigating each tiny detail of our patients’ lives and attempting to “fill in the gaps” to make their lives better. These could be medical, social or even educational gaps that need filling – and no detail is too small to improve.
For more information on all volunteer opportunities, in the United States or Bolivia, email rosaverafund@gmail.com. Examples of volunteer opportunities in the US include: hosting information/cocktail parties, lemonade stands, school coin drives or bake sales, and requesting donations to the RVF in lieu of birthday and anniversary gifts.
I can only hope to provide positive change for our precious patients and to impact their lives as much as they have improved mine. — Dr. Lisa Hunt, MD
Volunteer Dr. Hunt with patient Wuilly and his mother
Volunteer Dr. McColm during a home visit with a patient
Dr. Hunt in Montero with the RVF leadership team