Shared knowledge strengthens disability outreach

MISSIONER NEWSLETTER – Summer 2025

Joe Loney & Filo Siles, Bolivia

Maryknoll lay missioner Joe Loney presents new computer equipment to municipal staff in Tacopaya, launching a digital initiative to improve services for people with disabilities.

BOLIVIA—While it is humbling to realize that Filo and I can neither do it all nor will be physically able to work indefinitely, we are heartened by the realization that we can take steps today to make our collaborative works tomorrow more sustainable.

Towards the goal of sustainability, we recently embarked on an information journey with the two rural municipal governments where we work. After a considerable dialogue with the local municipal authorities and a careful analysis of the needs, we jointly came to the conclusion that the local authorities have a great difficulty in getting started in improving their services for the persons with disabilities if they do not possess the necessary information about this population. We determined that it was necessary to transfer to the municipal governments the information we possessed about the persons with disabilities: who they are, where they reside, what their specific type and degree of disability is, and how our program has determined they can best be helped and contacted.

Tacopaya Mayor Victor Tola Ramos and Municipal Council Member Justina Nina present a municipal distinction in recognition of the donation that launched a new digital system for disability services.

The disability information must also be updated on a regular basis. People move, telephone numbers change, and medical conditions evolve. We readily came to the second conclusion that simply giving them a copy of the existing traditional paper files on each person—like those you might find in a doctor’s office—would not be the best answer. Additionally, the paper files would not easily solve the need to quickly communicate to the municipal personnel the most recent knowledge about the holistic needs of persons with disabilities and the data regarding identifying new persons with disabilities.

We identified a solution to these updating challenges by working together with a software technician who designed a cloud based program so that we could create new, electronic files on each person with a disability, which can be updated by the municipal employees and by us.

Thanks to a very generous benefactor, we purchased a complete set of computer equipment for each municipality that is exclusively dedicated to the computer programs for the municipal employees who work with the persons with disabilities. All of the information about this population has now been stored on the computer system.

In the presence of municipal council persons, health and human service workers, and representatives of the associations of persons with disabilities, we provided the municipal governments of Tacopaya and Entre Ríos with the computer equipment and conducted a demonstration of the cloud based system. Afterwards, we taught the municipal staff workers the access procedures.

We have now shared with the municipal employees all of the critical information about the persons with disabilities. This information is already bearing fruits. The doctors, for example, have improved their services by using the latest information recorded by the local health care promotors during their regular home visits.

The unmet needs of the persons with disabilities is no longer an abstraction for governmental authorities; the individual computer files with pictures verify the needs. Additionally, the municipal-based doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and social workers can now readily program their field work to address the most critical needs in the most efficient manner. Budgeting and staffing can similarly be planned based upon verifiable needs.

Need continues. We recognize that many of you hear the cry of the poor and respond in your communities; yet we ask you to also hear the cry of the disabled persons in Bolivia. We deeply appreciate those who have generously responded. Your prayers and generous donations will help to guarantee that the more than 350 persons with disabilities with whom we collaborate can experience dignity, justice, and compassion. Almost every day we hear a cry for medical assistance, educational services, home repairs, and companionship.

Please consider supporting our mission work with older adults with a donation through the link below.

We also invite you to walk with us as our “COMPANIONS IN MISSION.” Companions in Mission are friends and generous donors who give financial gifts on a regular (usually monthly) basis. For more information, visit Become a Companion in Mission. Thank you so much for your generosity!