Background and launch
The project in Bolivia officially began on 1 January 2026, but preparations had already started in June 2025, when dental consultant Mehwish Pervaiz and project manager Nadjala Tinneberg Rahi travelled to La Paz to carry out a preliminary study. The aim was to assess the context, understand the needs and identify the right local partner. This led to a partnership with the Bolivian NGO Fundación Machaqa Amawta – known as FMA for short.
About the project
- •Duration: 2 years (January 2026 – December 2027)
- •Target group: Around 2,000 children aged 6–12
- •Places: La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia
- •Number of schools: 9 schools
What is the project about?
Prevention is at the heart of the project. We are working in three key areas: daily toothbrushing in nine schools, educating children and adults about oral health, and promoting a healthy diet. This approach is tried and tested – we have been using similar methods in Guatemala for many years and know that they work when they are embedded locally and supported by teachers, parents and local healthcare staff.
The project is based on a broad collaboration. We work closely with the local authorities, the School of Dentistry in La Paz, headteachers, teachers, parents and healthcare professionals from the area. The School of Dentistry has already expressed an interest in providing students to assist with data collection and future dental missions – a very promising sign of local involvement and sustainability right from the start.
Start-up visit in April 2026
In April 2026, Mehwish and Nadjala travelled to Bolivia on a start-up visit. There, they met with the FMA team, national health authorities, school inspectors and the School of Dentistry. They visited four of the project schools and carried out a key part of the technical groundwork: calibrating screening methods so that the local dentist and Mehwish screen the children using exactly the same criteria. This is essential to ensure that the data we collect is comparable over time and can be used to document the project’s impact.
Unfortunately, the screenings confirmed what we had feared: the condition of the children’s teeth is serious. Tooth decay is extremely widespread and is a direct result of a lack of toothbrushing and a high sugar intake. This is a situation we recognise from our other projects – and it underlines just how necessary and crucial our work is.
The way forward
Baseline data collection is now underway, and following the school holidays in July, teacher training will begin in August. The first dental missions are scheduled for September 2026. We look forward to a strong partnership with the enthusiastic and skilled team at FMA.
Building on the FMA’s work, the support of local authorities and our professional experience, we believe that this initiative could be the start of something much bigger – a proven model for preventive dental care in Bolivia that can inspire national authorities to focus on a problem that has been all too often overlooked.
