Preparing for the Storm

The virus will be bad in Agustín González; it could have been worse 

For years, residents of Agustín González, a small rural community located within the Municipality of San Miguel de Allende, have known that there are problems with their water as many of the children began developing dental fluorosis – the deep brown staining of their teeth. More recently, Caminos de Agua tested the community well and found the highest levels of fluoride ever registered in San Miguel – more than four times above the World Health Organization recommended limit. 

That motivated a group of local High School students to join together to do something about the situation. Working with Caminos de Agua and partner organization, El Maíz Más Pequeño, the students’  first impact was building a rainwater harvesting system at the community high school to generate safe drinking water and also act as a vehicle to educate residents about this important, readily-available solution. 

Feeling empowered by their initial success, the students worked closely with Caminos de Agua to secure financing through the Municipal Government and a local business to build 11 more systems in family homes impacted by these local water issues. These families not only have water contaminated with fluoride and not fit for consumption, but many concurrently suffer from severe water scarcity often requiring additional water to be trucked in. These water distribution networks are over-stressed to the point where some of the participating families only receive water every 15 days. This is a major challenge at any time but especially in the time of Coronavirus. 

How can families wash their hands multiple times a day – the most effective way to lower the spread of the virus – if they don’t have sufficient water?    

Not a second too soon
As we write this, the 11 household rainwater harvesting systems are being rushed to completion. Originally timed to be available for this year’s rainy season, they are now being completed to beat the arrival of the Coronavirus. When this goal is met, these families will have an additional water source that is both safe for drinking as well as washing their hands and keeping surfaces clean to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus, which is going to invade their communities and our entire region soon. 

Too many other communities aren’t as lucky
As thrilled as we are for these families, we are horrified that so many others – in many of the more than 2,500 rural communities that depend on the Alto Río Laja Aquifer – are suffering from extremely limited water access. As the Coronavirus arrives, not having enough water to perform the simple personal hygiene necessary to prevent the spread of the virus will dramatically increase their chances of being infected. 

Caminos de Agua is adapting and stepping up fast
We are on the job right now, working with those who are most in need and most vulnerable. We are continuing to work with communities where we already have active projects to provide more safe, clean water, which is more critical now than ever before. Of course, we are now working differently – taking all the necessary precautions to protect the health of our staff and our partners in local communities. 

Additionally, we are ramping up a new community education and communication program. Good information is largely unavailable regarding how rural communities suffering from insufficient water supplies or contaminated water can practice proper personal hygiene to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. We are curating information and developing our own video workshops and other materials to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus in these vulnerable communities. We will be rushing this out, utilizing virtual networks and social media used widely throughout the region, even in many rural areas.
 
Help us if you can
First, thank you to all of those who have made a donation in the past week in response to our earlier appeal. As we hope you can see, we are doing as much as we can to provide badly needed services. When the Coronavirus threat became real, our donation stream dried up almost overnight and foundations we were counting on put our projects on hold. We know this is a really bad time to be asking for financial help, but frankly we have no other alternative. We have nowhere to turn other than our friends and supporters. 

If you can make a contribution today, please do. If you can’t, of course we understand. 

Click Here to Donate Now: