Background:
Centro de Salud España was initially constructed a few hundred meters away from where the current building stands with the help of the International Red Cross. The new center, inaugurated in December 2008, is larger, with a full time staff of five, as well as interns and volunteers. It offers primary health care as well as dental, gynecological and pediatric services.

Objectives:
España concentrates primarily on health promotion and disease prevention and operates as an external consultation as well as providing basic healthcare. It aims at serving marginalized communities and providing medication for children under five and pregnant women. For those who do not have insurance all services and medication is offered at the minimum rate. The Center also aims at combating malnutrition and works with the Ministry of Health running programs such as SUMI and PAI.

Who does Centro de Salud España help?
The Health Center serves the peri-urban community of Molle Molle, providing health care to a growing community of about 6000 inhabitants, most of whom come from economically disadvantaged families.

Working conditions
The Health Center is located in Molle Molle, on the outskirts of Cochabamba. There is a direct transport service which usually takes about 40 minutes from the Center. The working hours for staff are between 8am and 2pm. Interns will have the opportunity to work in the community as well as on site.

Centro de Salud España Programs
The Center does not operate specific volunteer programs, but all volunteers with experience/knowledge in health care are more than welcome. The Center has an extensive outreach program and volunteers would accompany staff on visits around the community, helping with door to door vaccination campaigns. Staff try to encourage pregnant women to come into the Center for pre-natal health care as well as familiarizing the community with its services. The Center runs a rabies and a tuberculosis program; it also has a basic laboratory and would welcome anyone with formal knowledge of biology and/or biochemistry.

Volunteer opportunities

• Assist and shadow doctors
• Make door to door visits with staff in the community, aiding them with vaccinations and TB testing
• Assist in sexual education workshops or create new workshops (depending on experience)
• Create and develop programs on various health topics
• Raise community awareness by participating on campaigns for disease prevention

Volunteer requirements:

• Intermediate Spanish
• Health care professional or student of medicine, public health or a related topic
• Willingness to participate in rural community outreach work
• Confidentiality with patients
• Minimum commitment period of 2 months