Senior Adult Ministries in Bolivia

Providing support for senior adults of a new assisting living center for orphaned parents.

For most poor senior adults in Bolivia, when the parents can no longer dig potatoes or take care of sheep, they rely on their adult children to do it and share with them. However, because of the high mortality rate of young persons, there is a significant number of senior adults whose children have all died. An additional problem is migration of the young people to other nations looking for work. If the adult child doesn’t do well in another country, they are often never heard from again. This has led to a significant population in Bolivia called the “Orphaned Parents”. They have no means to feed or house themselves. These senior adults are living in abandoned adobe or rock homes. They also struggle to find food. Residents cannot afford to cover the actual cost of operations for the home consequently a system to subsidize the operating expenses of this home is needed.

Residents will be charged approximately a 100 bolivianos ($14.49) a month. This will give dignity to the residents as they would be ‘paying their rent’, and aware that it is so much more expensive than what they are paying. Giving them a quality place to live at a price they can afford will give these senior adults the opportunity to live the remainder of their lives with dignity. It will be the first time many of these people will have an indoor toilet, electricity, and showers.

By developing a high quality assisted living center for senior adults, we hope that this will raise awareness of what is possible and the struggles of the “Orphaned Elders” in Bolivia. If we could find funding, we would love to have 3 such homes near the 3 major cities and in the 3 climate zones of Bolivia: La Paz- altiplano; Cochabamba-valleys; and Santa Cruz- jungle. We also believe that it may lead to an awakening of the need throughout Bolivia and encourage others to take up the cause.

We want to improve quality of life for some of our Senior Adults and allow them to live in dignity instead of poverty and begging on the streets.