Mano a Mano

Mano a Mano Ministry Team

Mano a Mano Community Outreach Ministry Team

What is the Mano a Mano Ministry Team?
This ministry team supports the work of Mano a Mano International Partners, a non-profit organization founded in 1994 by Segundo and Joan Velasquez, long-time members of Unity Church.

What is Mano a Mano International Partners?
Mano a Mano International Partners is dedicated to building infrastructure for health care, education, transportation and community development in rural Bolivia. Mano a Mano International works in bilateral partnership, raising funds to support three Bolivian affiliate organizations: Mano a Mano-Bolivia; Mano a Mano Nuevo Mundo; and Apoyo Aereo. Through these partnerships, Mano a Mano International has enabled the construction of over 120 primary health care clinics, several dozen schools with on-site housing for teachers, hundreds of kilometers of graded roads that serve to connect remote villages with larger towns and services, and water projects that support subsistence farmers during the Andean dry season.

How does the Team support Mano a Mano?
Members of the Ministry Team support Mano a Mano International in a variety of ways including:

Organizing informational forums and workshops to inform church members
Collecting and packing medical and school supplies
Selling Bolivian handicrafts to raise funds

Do Team members go to Bolivia?
Many ministry team members have traveled to Bolivia to observe the work of Mano a Mano’s partner organizations. Group trips are coordinated by team members and are comprised primarily of Unity Church members. Trips are planned annually. On a typical trip, travelers tour clinics in poor urban barrios and remote rural areas; see roads that Mano a Mano has carved into mountainsides; and visit water reservoirs that help farm families increase their meager incomes. See the box at right for upcoming trip information.

How does the Team work?
The Ministry Team is coordinated by Andrea Bond, and chaired in rotation by team members. The team meets monthly except in the summer months.

How can I get involved?
To learn more about the Mano a Mano Outreach Ministry Team, contact Pat Haff, Coordinator of Community Outreach Ministries, pat@unityunitarian.org or 651-228-1456 x126. For more about Mano a Mano International Partners, visit www.manoamano.org.

Tambien La Lluvia

(Even the Rain)
Monday, January 30 • 7:00 p.m.
Unity Church
The movie’s themes:

Spanish imperialism and the water wars, 500 years later.
Cast members playing the part of heroes, who fail to see their own cowardice as they flee Cochabamba while the Bolivians risk their lives opposing the multinational corporation for their rights to water.

The story: to save money when making a movie about Columbus and his maltreatment of the indigenous people of the Caribbean, a director chooses to film in Bolivia. During the filming, native cast members become embroiled in the "Cochabamba water wars," a series of protests in which Cochabamba residents successfully opposed the privatization of the municipal water supply in 2000. The Spanish (or Mexican) cast members playing the part of heroic priests who opposed Columbus’ inhumanity, are cowards in the water wars. A brief discussion will follow the film.