1 Million Liters of Safe Drinking Water in Mexico

Dear GlobalGiving Supporters,

We are well into the second quarter of our large, 3-year water project, called “Agua y Salud,” which is being financed by the Gonzalo Río Arronte Foundation and supporters like you! 

If you will remember, at the end of last year, we launched by far the most ambitious project in our 10-year existence. This project was developed in partnership with long-time collaborators INANA, A.C. and local grassroots organizations CUVA-PAS, SECOPA, and the San Cayetano Community Center.Primarily funded by the largest grant in Caminos’ history – MXN $7.6 million pesos over three years, awarded by the Gonzalo Río Arronte Foundation – this project involves constructing no less than 330 rainwater harvesting systems in 30 different rural communities within four municipalities in our region. The municipal government of San Miguel de Allende has added an additional $1 million pesos to the project, and our network of grassroots organizations, NGOs, and the local communities themselves are providing more than $6 million pesos in in-kind and cash support. We in Caminos de Agua are putting up a large portion of those funds, and it’s thanks to supporters like all of you at GlobalGiving that we are able to do so! So, sincerely, thank you!

Along with the rainwater harvesting systems, the project also includes the construction of 30 composting toilets, monitoring of 20 wells, installation of 630 ceramic water filters, and the development of a “learning community” – an intensive program for community leaders and collaborators throughout the region to gain new skills, which utilizes a unique methodology called “narrative practices.

We have finished the construction of the first 51 large-scale, 12,000-liter capacity rainwater harvesting systems we mentioned in our last update. Since then, we performed three new week-long capacity training workshops in new communities. Today, we have now broken ground on, and in some cases finished, an additional 38 rainwater harvesting systems in nine new communities. This brings the total for 2021 to 89 new rainwater harvesting systems across 21 rural communities – representing a lifetime of clean water for more than 150 families who desperately need this new water source. And all of this is happening at not a moment too soon as the rains began to fall early this year, leaving many of these families with already partially full cisterns!

In addition to the rainwater systems, we have also hit the ground running on our water quality monitoring program for this project. We have designed a new educational monitoring program that involves local community members themselves who learn how to take water samples and interpret results. To date, we have implemented this water quality monitoring program in 16 of the 20 communities – training 36 community leaders along the way, many of whom sit on the local water committees. 

As we continue to implement this incredibly ambitious project, we are taking all of the precautionary measures as the global pandemic continues to rage on. We have expanded our staff allowing us to be in more places at once, meaning we can continue to work with smaller groups. Because of that, as well as the overall financial commitment we’ve made to this project, we have stretched our resources thin. We continue to count on GlobalGiving supporters like you to make this work possible. So, we hope you will consider supporting this critical work and make a donation today. 

On behalf of the entire Caminos de Agua team, we sincerely thank you for all of your support over the years in making clean water access available to thousands of people throughout our region in central Mexico and beyond.

Links:

• All About Agua y Salud -- Our Massive Community Project
• Learn About Our Other Work, Like Our Arsenic/Fluoride Treatment
• Check Out Our 2020 Annual Report!