Susan Page is a twenty-year resident of San Miguel. She has been involved in many not-for-profit activities in our community and is an active supporter of Caminos de Agua. The following is a conversation with Susan about her involvement in San Miguel and her experiences with 'Caminos'.
It would be great if you could share with us a bit about how you came to San Miguel and became a long-term resident.
My husband and I came here in 2002, so we’ve been living here for 20 years. What sealed the deal for us was finding a special piece of property out of town. The idea of developing it was very exciting for us, and we’ve been at it virtually the whole time. Living here, out in the country, I’d say we’re more familiar with the water issues and their impact than people in town.
“It’s… imperative that our neighbors have healthy drinking water. Water is critically necessary to life, Caminos de Agua is clearly leading that battle and has earned my support.”
–Susan Page
Can you tell us about your experiences with water issues at your place in the Campo?
We dug our own well right at the beginning, and we had wonderful water from it throughout, until maybe five years ago or more. We had our water tested by your organization, and you alerted us that our water was full of arsenic and fluoride. So, we got a reverse osmosis system like you recommended. But, because we have multiple sites on the property, and in our house where we need drinking water, we also use “garrafones” of bottled water.
Before that, we’ve also seen the health impacts firsthand from specifically too much fluoride in the water in the rural community close by called Montecillo. You see it in the young children at first. When we first moved here, we noticed they had horrible teeth. So, we took the children to our dentist, and she said, “I'm sorry. I can't really help with this. The enamel is all gone; it's not a problem we can fix.” We learned way back in the beginning that the fluoride in the water was causing this irreversible condition (dental fluorosis). So, that made a big impact on us early on, and we made sure that wouldn't happen to anyone else in that community. We did what we could, and it's been very heartwarming for me to see them get bottled water. That's been our solution for them. And that's made a major impact on all the children in that community.
Photo: A group of children from the community of Los Ricos in front of a Rainwater Cistern.
You are really active in the community, what is it that called you to become such an activist?
We visited San Miguel before we moved here and definitely one of the things that interested me right away was how active the NGO’s were and what great work they did. Shortly after we arrived, I quickly became worried about the rural communities that are part of the broader community but don’t have the advantages of people in town, so I became involved with educational programs. Next, it became clear, partially through the efforts of your predecessor organization, CATIS, that there was a growing water problem. There were people who were directly discharging horrible stuff into the river and the presa (the Allende Reservoir), the agricultural producers were increasingly using more and more water, and we were discovering that people, especially children, were getting sick from the water. There was no way to just standby.
With so many worthy organizations in San Miguel, what are some of the reasons you support Caminos de Agua?
Well, I do support a number of organizations here. But as it relates to Caminos de Agua, what I see is a high functioning organization that operates very professionally. You accomplish a lot and do it in a timely way. As someone who has run an organization, I have respect for an organization that is well organized, runs efficiently, sets goals, and achieves them. Yes, we have to make sure people have enough to eat, have good health, and a place to live, but it's equally imperative that our neighbors have healthy drinking water. Water is critically necessary to life, Caminos de Agua is clearly leading that battle and has earned my support.
Photo: Members of Caminos de Agua providing information at the San Miguel Writers' Conference & Literary Festival in 2017. This sold-out event was one of several collaborations with Susan Page over the years. The proceeds were donated to Caminos de Agua.
Digging a little deeper, what are some of the major concerns you have about the water situation in San Miguel and the greater watershed?
The aquifer is depleting and doing so at an increasingly rapid rate. That means the groundwater and wells people have always depended on are disappearing. It also means we’re getting more of those heavy metals you’re talking about all the time in our water supply. I’m certainly not wasting water like those broccoli growers all over our region, but I still feel guilty every time I take a shower. So, obviously one of my biggest concerns is how do we change those agricultural practices? I know it’s an enormous bureaucratic challenge, but that’s a critical part of the whole issue, isn’t it? With all you do, I don’t think Caminos can create filtration systems and rainwater harvesting fast enough, if we don’t get to the root cause soon. And another big piece of this is getting people to understand what’s happening, we have to educate the public.
Education is a theme that seems to run through everything you’ve been talking about here. Where does your interest come from?
Because I’m a writer professionally and an extremely avid reader, I’m very aware that you just can’t get individual people or groups to change their point of view or take action until they are educated about issues. Education levels have improved in Mexico, but it’s still far from great, and there’s still a huge gap between literacy and actually developing the habit of reading. How are people going to take action on their water issues if they don’t know they have a problem? Because I have my eyes open, I became aware of the educational deficits very early on after coming here. So, it was natural for me to be drawn to strengthening education in rural communities.
One more thing; we know that you’re a member of our “Drop By Drop” monthly giving program. Why is it meaningful to you to give that way?
Your organization doesn’t do its work occasionally, you do it every day. So you need money coming in regularly. As I said earlier, I have run an organization too, and I know how important it is to be able to project your income so you can plan properly. Also I don’t want to worry about whether I’ve given or not, I just signed up, selected my amount, and it happens every month. It’s really simple and automatic, and I strongly support that way of giving.
