Education Bolivia Project #28318

Help Bolivian Children Living in Poverty

by Rosa Vera Fund, Inc.

Project Report | Nov 14, 2025
What Are the Goals of the Rosa Vera Fund?

By Karen Melk | Board Chair

Miriam shows her sewing skills

Dear Wonderful Supporters!

Heading into the holiday season, when so many people choose to reach out and help others, seems an opportune time to remind our supporters what, exactly, the Rosa Vera Fund does, and why.

The story of RVF begins with Rosa Vera Marino, a young Quechua girl born with a congenital heart defect that, in many parts of the world, would have been surgically corrected shortly after birth. However, Rosa's family lacked access to this routine medical intervention. In 2003, RVF founder Dr. Jonathan Melk met Rosa and coordinated efforts to fund the surgery that he hoped would save her life. Ultimately, Rosa’s condition was too advanced, and despite the efforts to save her she sadly passed away at the age of 11.

Inspired by Rosa's memory and driven by a desire to help other children facing similar challenges, the remaining funds from her medical care and funeral were used to establish the Rosa Vera Fund in Montero, Bolivia. This fund aims to provide greater access to care and elevate the lives of health-compromised children of limited means.

In close collaboration and partnership with our Bolivian partner, Consejo de Salud Rural Andino Montero (CSRAM), the RVF provides care for children with chronic conditions such as epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and deafness. Services include hospitalizations, specialist consultations, diagnostic studies, medications, nutrition, physical and speech therapy, surgery, and therapeutic equipment.

A critical component of our approach is our commitment to home visits. By empowering families to manage their children's care, we ensure sustained and effective health outcomes. Our dedicated team of physical and speech therapists regularly visit RVF patients at home, teaching caregivers how to continue therapies on their own.

Additionally, the RVF built and supports La Escuelita, a school and therapy center in Montero that provides a safe and nurturing environment for children in the fund to receive essential services. They also offer workshops on prenatal care, nutrition, and women's health to the general community, playing a vibrant role in Montero. By integrating children with special needs alongside mainstream students, La Escuelita pioneers an inclusive educational environment unprecedented in Bolivia.

By promoting a culture of inclusivity, accessibility, and social responsibility, RVF is helping to create a more just and equitable society in Bolivia. The RVF serves as a model for the broader community, demonstrating that children with disabilities and health challenges deserve the same opportunities as their typically-developing peers. Through these opportunities, these children can thrive and reach their full potential.

RVF's work is a powerful testament to the transformative power of grassroots activism and a reminder that even in the most challenging contexts, ordinary people can make an extraordinary difference.

Thank you for supporting our small-but-mighty organization!

Sincerely,

Karen Melk, Board Chair

Excited to be accepted into the Rosa Vera Fund!

Home Visits Every Week - Crucial to Our Success!

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Oct 8, 2024
Small Steps Add Up to Large Improvements!

By Karen Melk | Board Chair

Receiving treatment for learning disabilities!

To Our Wonderful Donors:

Our last medical trip to Bolivia was, in some ways, uneventful - which in our world, is a plus!

Dr. Lisa Hunt and Dr. Darlene Melk spent a week in Bolivia to reconnect with our project and work with and learn from the Bolivian medical professionals, who are on the ground doing the work, each week. In three very full days, they were able to complete 20 physicals, make 6 home visits and meet with the incredible team who directly work with the children and families.

In only nine months since Dr. Melk’s visit in September, there were observable advances in the cases. The Bolivian team also confirmed these observations noting that the three years of support for the 20 cases seems to have accelerated the progress. Families know that they have been selected and that three years goes by quickly so they are very motivated to attend all the therapy sessions or specialist visits that are being provided. In the last year, the school has provided over 2000 individual sessions (speech therapy, physical therapy and special education) for the 20 cases.

Regular, consistent therapy pays off - but it is crucial that the interventions offered are of high quality and strategic. As parents see their child improve with this consistency, they are even more motivated to do as much as possible to help their child grow, learn and live a life of dignity and impact.

The Rosa Vera Fund, Inc. continues to receive more attention and recognition by the local community as the place to receive help for children with special needs. La Escuelita - our clinic and school where many of the interventions take place, is well-known in Montero, as a place of not only hope, but of excellence.

Thank you for making both hope and health possible!

Sincerely,

Karen Melk, Board Chair

Rosa Vera Fund

Dedicated parents!

Links:

Website to read all about our work!

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Apr 16, 2024
Upcoming Medical Trip - 2024

By Karen Melk | Board Chair

Patient excited to be next for physical therapy!

Dr. Darlene Melk (Chief Medical Officer) and Dr. Lisa Hunt (Board) are preparing for their next trip to Bolivia, which will occur in late spring. Often, our supporters ask us - "What new project will you start when you are down there, this time?" They are often surprised when we respond, "No new projects!" See, what's important for our work is sustainability. Our goal is to keep improving and maintaining those improvements on what we are already doing: Providing life-saving and life-changing medical and social interventions for children who have absolutely no other options. We focus on high-quality health outcomes, nutrition, and intensive physical / speech therapy leading to more independence and inclusion in both their families and their communities.

On each trip, Drs. Melk and Hunt see each and every child who is part of the Rosa Vera Fund. These medical evaluations take place either at La Escuelita, where RVF patients receive physical / speech / occupational therapy and special education, or alternatively, the medical evaluations take place in the child's home, with their caregivers.

La Escuelita - the Little School - is busy every day with a regular influx of patients, caregivers, and siblings. Children with special healthcare needs require careful attention; evaluations at La Escuelita allow medical professionals to coordinate care with specialists, and therapists. In addition, each patient - and their siblings - is provided with a warm nourishing meal.

Home visits give the advantage of allowing the doctors see the living environment of their patient, and allow them to make recommendations for specialized care. For example, how does a caregiver prepare warm, nourishing meals when they do not have electricity for a stove or refrigerator? How far does the parent have to carry the child (or push their wheelchair) to public transportation? Does the family have access to clean drinking water?

On the upcoming visit, special focus will be on the numerous children recently added to the Fund, in order to create a tailored plan - along with the recommendations of Bolivian medical professionals - to create treatment providing the best possible outcome for each child.

Thank you for all you do in helping us provide these basic-yet-innovative medical and social interventions to the children we work with in Bolivia!

Sincerely,

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