Bolivia

Bolivia is a landlocked country in South America. One-third of the country is within the Andean mountain range.

Hear from girls in Bolivia

Helida Estéfani
Plan woman in Bolivia
Helida has had to say goodbye to many friends. In rural Bolivia, job opportunities are extremely limited. So many young people are forced to move to cities in hopes of finding better work.
When Plan International started an economic empowerment project in her community, Hélida’s father encouraged her to join, because he didn’t want to her to have to leave home.

Hélida decided to start a livestock business. After training with Plan, she now manages her own chicken farm. The eggs that she collects are sold in local markets.

“I started with 30 chickens, and now I have 100!” says Hélida.

Hélida has even bigger plans for the future. “I would like to become an agricultural engineer. I want to grow. I want to establish a dairy farm with cows.”
Help more families with livestock gifts
Sponsored girl in Bolivia with stuffed animal
Estéfani was born with a dislocated hip. When she started walking, her mother realized something was wrong. They brought her to a health center, but then learned the corrective surgery would cost thousands of dollars. That wasn’t an option for them.
As time passed, Estéfani grew weaker and her hips caused her pain. And her future was in jeopardy. In Bolivia, people with disabilities often face discrimination and isolation.

Luckily, Estéfani became a sponsored child. Plan International learned about her condition and was able to find her a surgeon and cover the costs of surgery.

"I want to thank you all for the support you have given me and my little daughter,” her mother says. “When she was operated on, at first I was very scared, but now I’m happy that everything is going well.”
Learn more about sponsorship

Plan International has been working to improve children’s lives in Bolivia since 1978.

My name is Patricia<br /> :09 I am 12 years old.<br /> :11 I have a sister and 3 brothers.<br /> :15 My mother, she takes care of the house and she helps me with my homework.<br /> :18 She takes care of my brothers and sisters, and sometimes we play.<br /> :23 We have breakfast, and I bring my school books with me and walk to school.<br /> :27 I play with my friends and spend the rest of the day in classes.<br /> :32 On the weekends, my mother helps my grandmother<br /> :36 to collect the alfalfa (for our animals)<br /> :39 We make the harvest, then we cut it with our hands, put it together,<br /> :46 and we bring it in the aguayo (cloth bag) all the way to the house.<br /> :55 In Bolivia, there is a big gap between rich and poor.<br /> 1:00 Many children die of preventable diseases<br /> 1:06 like malaria, diarrhea and typhoid.<br /> 1:11 Each year, 11,000 children do not live to see their 5th birthday.<br /> 1:23 I feel good for being a sponsored child.<br /> 1:28 I am learning my rights as a girl thanks to Plan International.<br /> 1:36 Plan International is helping with my school materials.<br /> 1:43 I can use them and go to classes with them.<br /> 1:47 When I grow up, being a mother,<br /> 1:49 I will be able to explain to my children what I’m learning now.

Plan stats in Bolivia

Bolivia Country Facts
Offices & operations

Plan International Bolivia’s country office is in La Paz, with programs in Chiquitania, Rio Seco, Santa Cruz, Sucre, Tarija and Villa Adela

Technical areas

Early childhood development, education, youth leadership, health, protection, economic empowerment

Number of sponsored children

As of June 2020, people like you sponsor 32,299 children in Bolivia through Plan International.

When you sponsor a child through through Plan, you form an incredible friendship.

You can exchange letters with your sponsored child Send Sunny Days magazine to your sponsored child Sponsor a child with Plan International USA

But that’s just the beginning. With Plan, you also have the unique opportunity to:

Send her birthday gifts and cards.

Give her special holiday presents called Little Treasures.

Subscribe her to Plan’s educational kids’ magazine, Sunny Days.

— Visit her (when travel restrictions are lifted), with individual travel assistance from us.

Each gift offering is safely hand-delivered by us, and given to your child with personalized cards from you. It’s likely that the child you sponsor will have never seen anything like these gifts, and they’re available year-round to make the bond between you and your sponsored child even stronger.

Meet a child to sponsor