Who Are We?
We are a Bolivian non-profit organisation providing prosthetics to people with limited resources who have lost one or both lower extremities. We are a permanent team of specialists who get support from volunteers from all over the world that come to work with us in our centre in La Paz.
The FUNPROBO Team
Ivonne
Ivonne is a founding member of the charity, she is also the manager and is at the clinic every day.
Florencio
Florencio is a prosthetist who been working with the charity since it’s inception. He is an amputee himself from an early age so really understands what patients are going through.
Bismark
Carminia
Dante
Stephanie
Amy & John
The two have been volunteering with FUNPROBO in 2014 and are still supporting with the coordination of volunteers and the website from the UK.
Our Volunteers
More than 100 volunteers from over 19 countries have been supporting us in the last years. Usually there is at least one volunteer at the office. Meet some of our volunteers and read about their experiences.
This Is Our History
FUNPROBO has its roots in a group of friends from La Paz who wanted to provide prosthetics for free to people in Bolivia. In 1994 two prosthetists and a doctor decided to open a clinic with initial support and a grant from the Rotary Club in La Paz. To enable the clinic to be successful, the two prosthetists travelled to India with the Mukti Foundation to learn more about the trade. Then they returned to La Paz and opened the door to their clinic for a month each year and were able to provide prosthetics for up to 20 of the most vulnerable amputees. Each year the group would open for as much time as funding would suffice, and this would continue for 17 years.
In 2010 an American traveller, Matthew Pepe, who was taking some time off work, decided to visit Bolivia. He had volunteered with the project as part of his travels, enthused with the possibilities of what this clinic could achieve with more funds and more time, he made it his mission to facilitate this small monthly clinic into a full time prosthetic centre. He shared this vision with Dante and Ivonne Chumacero, who have dedicated their lives to supporting their community and their country, and together they set FUNPROBO up as what it is today.
This team was a strong unit, with Ivonne managing and leading the clinic, Dante being the medical support and the president and Matt through his own finances and campaigning has managed to secure enough to keep the charity open all year round.
At the end of 2017 Matthew Pepe decided to step aside from FUNPROBO. We wish to thank him from ourselves and all the Bolivian people he has helped over these years, and promise him that we will continue to forge ahead with his vision.
By 2019 we have helped over 400 patients, from all over Bolivia and South America; all this with just a few dedicated permanent members of staff and a steady stream of wonderful volunteers from all over the world. In March 2019 the clinic moved to a new site with more space which has allowed more and more people to benefit from the charity. However, there is still more demand for our help than what we can provide. Therefore we organized our first fundraising gala in May 2019 and are thankful for all attendees and supporters.
With the help of the Alaya Foundation (previously Share a Dream) we have been able to send a student to formally study prosthetics at Don Bosco University in El Salvador. Bismark is making us proud every day and working so hard to help FUNPROBO to further its position in the world. This will allow the clinic to register with the International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) and open more doors for us with international awareness and support.
This is where you come in. FUNPROBO would not be running now if it wasn’t for the previous hours of volunteering, fundraising, information sharing and awareness across the world from you, our supporters of our charity and our vision.