Fight childhood disease with safe drinking water

For several years Agua Pura Para El Pueblo has worked with students from several Central American and Caribbean countries in a program at a local community college.  These students won scholarships to the US to  study Environmental Technology with the focus on technologies and ideas that can help their communities when they return home.  Agua Pura has been proud to help by teaching various methods of water purification and sanitation and providing supplies and support.
Each student develops a project that he or she feels will help improve the lives and health of the people of their communities. Over the two years of their program they have worked on and developed their ideas and plans for implementation when they return. Their projects include sanitation, recycling, reforestation, composting, water conservation and many other important ideas.   Their projects must meet rigorous requirements of planning, funding, monitoring and evaluation before they are approved.
 I’d like you to meet two of our recent graduates.
 Victoria comes from a small community in the southern Mexican State of Chiapas.  She is one of the first from her village to graduate from high school and the first to go on to college. She speaks Spanish and the local Mayan language and now English as well.  After two years of study in the US she now returns to her community to face difficult problems.   Her community lacks a secure, year round water supply, and so growing adequate healthy food is a problem. Purchased food supplies are expensive and of poor quality.  Poverty levels are high and one third of the children under 5 years of age are malnourished and underweight.

Vicki’s project is based on skills she learned in her Environmental Technology studies.  She plans to start a series of community gardens using modern techniques such as water recycling, composting and drip irrigation to improve the yield of the gardens.  The families will be growing healthy food for themselves to eat and also to sell in the market.  Also she is planning to start a recycling program for plastic bottles and plastic bags to increase community pride.  The money received from recycling will help pay for other improvements.
Even in a community of 100 families this will be a big project and will require outside support and help.  Agua Pura is committed to helping Vicki with resources and training and will be working with her to make her project a success.    You can see her attached poster to read more about her plans and support her directly.

Another of our graduating students is Ana, from Esteli, Nicaragua.  Again, because of her scholarship and dedication to her community she was selected to study Environmental Technology here in the United States. She was also a US nationwide finalist in the Clinton Global Initiative in Washington DC.
Esteli, Nicaragua is the third largest city in Nicaragua, but sanitation, garbage and recycling are problems there.  As a result many of the local water supplies are contaminated and choked with debris. These stagnant waters are breeding grounds for mosquitos carrying dengue, malaria and other diseases.  Ana comes from a small community of 30 families on the outskirts of the city.  
 Ana’s plan is to begin cleaning up her community by focusing on recycling reusable plastic bottles and other things that now contaminate the local environment.  By providing collection bins and organizing recycling she plans to raise money to help clean up the local water sources and reduce pollution.  Draining stagnant water will reduce the mosqitos that carry dengue and malaria.  Also, Agua Pura has trained Ana in water testing and water purification  and she will begin to monitor her local water supplies and to help reduce diarrheal disease in her community.  Again, Agua Pura is committed to supporting Ana in her work with resources and training.  You can read more about Ana’s project on her attached poster.
Your continued support of Agua Pura funds programs and projects like those of Ana and Vicki.  You always know that 100% of the money we receive goes to the families and communities we serve.
Thank you so much.
Tom Carter

If you wish to contact these students directly write to me at tom@aguapuraparaelpueblo.org

• ESTELI NICARAGUA RECYCLING PROJECT (PDF)
  
• COMMUNITY GARDEN PROJECT (PDF)
  

An amazing thing happened the other day!
Last week I got an emergency email from a person I’d never met.  Mallory Brown said that she was a fundraiser for non profits.  She was in Mexico  and had seen our GlobalGiving reports at our work at a Mexico City garbage dump called Tultitlan.  She was compelled by our descriptions of the conditions there and wanted to visit the dump herself. After some back and forth emails we arranged for her to visit that day with our friend Gaudencio Cruz and be shown around.  Here are the incredible results of her visit.

Check out this wonderful video!

CrowdRise is a separate fund raising organization with no connection to Global Giving or Agua Pura.  We had no say in how the money was raised or what they would do with it.  All the money they raised though is earmarked for projects we and other non profits have worked on and supported, and we are profoundly grateful to Mallory and her crew for their  assistance.  Agua Pura will work carefully to insure that any funds or other resources we receive from Crowd Rise will go to continuing the programs at Tultitlan.

The important thing however is that it was your support and backing that made our work at Tultitlan possible at all.  Over the years our Global Giving supporters have contributed to the success of Agua Pura’s mission throughout Mexico and Latin America and we are truly grateful to you.  CrowdRise’s fund raiser is over but we hope that you will continue your generosity and support through Global Giving.  You are always assured that 100% of the money you donate will go to continuing our life saving programs and that you will always be informed of the results of our work.

We are always interested in your thoughts!  Please write me with comments at tom@aguapuraparaelpueblo.org

Thanks so much,

Tom carter