March 22, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

As some of you may already know, I am participating in a humanitarian medical aid mission to the
jungles of Bolivia this summer. I am going with the group Project Helping Hands. Project Helping
Hands is a “Not for Profit” Group committed to delivering humanitarian aid to countries of the
third world. The organization has been providing these services since the early 1990’s to
countries such as, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Nigeria, Kenya, Mexico, and Bolivia. Project
Helping Hands has sponsored over 35 missions during its existence. The scope of the missions
has been varied in nature including missions with a medical focus, construction missions, missions
with a religious message, and purely humanitarian missions.

The group I am traveling with will be made up of nurses, doctors and non-medical support
members (translators and others). The focus of our mission will be to spend two weeks traveling
to various villages throughout the jungle providing primary health care clinics and education.

A little about the area that we will be traveling to; Bolivia remains the poorest country in South
America after Guyana. This has been attributed to high levels of corruption and the role of foreign
powers in the country since colonization. There is one physician for every 2,348 inhabitants, and
the infant mortality rate is among the highest in South America. While Bolivia has a
comprehensive social insurance plan, it covers less then half of the working population. Diseases
such as malaria, dysentery, and tuberculosis are very common. The average life expectancy is
only 64 years. Bolivia is truly a land of diversity, not only in culture but also in landscape,
contrasting to the massive, majestic Andes on the West, is the thick Amazon jungle to the east.

This trip is funded primarily by the team members and by the donations of medical supplies and
money we collect. As a team, it is our responsibility to collect donations of medicines and
supplies that are the backbone of this trip. On previous trips, teams have treated approximately
3,000 people per team and 99% of the medicines and all of the supplies were collected and
brought to Bolivia by the team.
Some of the items that we need are:
 Vitamins (adult and children)
 Pain Relievers (Tylenol, Ibuprofen – adult and children)
 Ointments – Bacitracin, Triple Antibiotic, Neosporin, Polysporin
 Scabies/Lice Lotion/Shampoo
 Skin Ointments/Creams (antifungals, anti-itch with and without steroid (Hydrocortisone))
 Non Sterile gloves
 Antibiotics – Oral (Ampicillin, Erythromycin, Amoxicillin etc) for both adults and children
 Ear/Eye antibiotics
As a team we will also carry a contingency fund, which will be used to send any of the people we
see into the city for more extensive medical care that we cannot provide them in the jungle.
What am I asking of you? Whatever you can give, donations of any size will be helpful. This can
be done in a number of ways. You can give an item(s) from the list above or you can give a
monetary donation and I will go out and buy the necessary supplies. If you would like to make a
tax-deductible donation to the contingency fund please make a check out to Project Helping
Hands and a receipt will be mailed to you (only donations of $20 and over will be given a receipt).

I look upon this trip as a great adventure, as well as, a chance to give something back. A project
like this one cannot succeed without the outstanding generosity of others. Thank of you in
advance for your support.

Thank you,

Joe DiGrazia