A real person answers, usually within the day
We find people in Bolivia who cannot afford the care they need, share their stories, and pay for their treatment directly. You choose the patient, and every dollar you give directly reaches them.
Tax-deductible through Cup of Cold Water Ministries, a registered 501(c)(3).
Or message us on WhatsApp100%
of a direct gift reaches the patient
Nothing held back for overhead. Gifts through Cup of Cold Water Ministries support operations
~20,000
cases seen and funded
Approximate. Medical trips and fundraising combined
13
communities on the mobile clinic's route
From the altiplano to the Amazon, plus the hospitals of La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz
12
years in Bolivia
Continuously, since December 2014
What we do
In the hospitals
In La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz we find people who cannot pay for the operation, the medicine or the bed they need, share their story, and pay the provider directly. Then we keep visiting until they are home.
Meet the patients →
On the road
A mobile team of doctors, dentists and volunteers travels to communities a day or more from the nearest hospital, from the altiplano to the Amazon. 13 communities so far, and counting.
See where we have been →Our model
Five steps, and a real relationship at every one of them. In a hospital or at a mobile clinic, the model is the same.
Locate individuals in need, with no means or other opportunities.
Establish a relationship with patients and assess their needs.
Explain patients' personal stories and their needs.
Enable volunteering and allocate donations to meet those needs.
Inform donors, volunteers and the Medfund community of patient updates.
Our story
“In November 2014 we met a man in La Paz who could not afford a $500 operation. Medfund was founded a month later.”
Twelve years, three cities, roughly twenty thousand cases, and a mobile clinic. Here is how it happened.
Watch · 3 minJoey tells the storyZoomin.TV, 2017In November, Joey Kittelson and Patrick Prömmel meet a man in La Paz who cannot afford a $500 operation. In December they establish Medfund in the city, as a program of Cup of Cold Water Ministries, which had long wanted a medical fund for Bolivia.
The 100th patient in June, a man whose leg operation and recovery Medfund covers. Cochabamba in August, Santa Cruz in September, and the 500th patient in November: a seven-year-old girl who regains the use of her hand after tendon reconstruction surgery.
Medfund wins first place in the "Do Good Challenge" run by the University of Maryland and Morgan Stanley. In August the first mobile clinic sets off for Teoponte, La Paz.
The 1,500th patient in January, a 26-year-old woman whose burn treatment and childcare during her hospital stay are covered. 10,000 Facebook supporters in September. In November Medfund goes international, expanding to Minas Gerais, Brazil, and in December celebrates its third year.
On 4 August a team travelling to give free care in four communities near Apolo dies in a road accident on the way. Medfund carries on the programs they started.
When most organisations stopped, Medfund did not. Through the pandemic the team kept delivering food, water, medicine and treatment to people who had nowhere else to turn. The same year the work pivoted to donating directly: less crowdfunding one bill at a time, more medicine, supplies and care handed over in person.
Dozens of mobile clinics. Hundreds of villages. Thousands of patients seen. The mobile clinic became the heart of the work, taking doctors, dentists and volunteers to communities a day or more from the nearest hospital.
Eight communities in a single year, more than any year we have on record: free clinics in Montero and Buena Vista, Holy Week clinics in Santiago de Machaca, a Día del Niño clinic in Alpacoma, and an Amazon mission down the Mamoré river to 27 de Mayo, Los Puentes, El Masí and Camiaco.
The next chapter is written by the people who give.
Be part of itWhere we work
Tap a city for its story. The small dots are the communities the mobile clinic has reached, from the altiplano to the Amazon.
Tap a city for its story
Small dots: the communities the mobile clinic has reached. Lighter clusters near Apolo and on the Mamoré river are placed by area. Full list of communities.
Where it all began. Joey Kittelson and Patrick Prömmel founded Medfund here in December 2014, after meeting a man who couldn't afford a $500 operation.
Our first expansion. Medfund branched into neighbouring Cochabamba in August 2015, on the way to its 500th patient later that year.
Operating since September 2015. The volunteers in the video on our homepage are the Santa Cruz team at work.
The people behind it
Medfund is run by people who live where the patients live, and who answer the phone themselves.
Director
Co-Founder
Regional Director
La Paz, Bolivia
Director of Logistics
In pictures
Patients, volunteers, doctors and the team, in the hospitals and on the road. More on every page.
Live from Bolivia
The latest patients, campaigns and trips, posted by the team on the ground on Instagram and Facebook.
Get involved
Fund a specific patient's treatment, or give where the need is greatest. Every way to give is on one page.
See the ways to give →Help at a free clinic, carry medicine, or simply spend time with patients who have nobody else visiting.
Find your way to help →Know someone in need of immediate medical assistance who has no other means? Tell us about them.
Tell us about them →Give directly and 100% of your donation goes to the patient, event or campaign you choose.
Rather talk to a person? Message us on WhatsApp. Medfund's team usually replies within the day.
