The past several years have proven that when our community comes together, we are capable of achieving truly great things with those most at risk in our region. I am constantly inspired by our community of committed donors, dedicated staff, community partners, grassroots organizations, research collaborators, volunteers, and so many more, who continue to come together to meet challenges and deliver when needed. Our water crisis is unforgiving, and the need for clean water access continues to be a major growing health and environmental emergency, affecting hundreds of thousands of people in our region, including the San Miguel Allende Municipality, as well as tens of millions more throughout Mexico. Only through the constant support of people like you, have we been able to reach deeper, and continue to directly impact the lives of more people each year, even during the global pandemic and turbulent financial times. This is truly unique, and I cannot stress enough how important this vast collaboration has been in continuing to push against our water crisis and against the negative effects it has had on our neighbors and in our communities.
Life for many in our community is truly difficult. Many rural communities around San Miguel – including peripheral communities of the city itself – have almost no water access at all, making the simplest of daily tasks a burdensome challenge. And even when limited water access is available, it is often dangerously contaminated with arsenic and fluoride – the two most prevalent contaminants in our local water supplies.
Starting today, and through the end of April, your donations and impact will be doubled, thanks to some of the most generous members of our larger community – Chip & Lucy Swab and Bob & Peggy Krist, who have stepped up to challenge the rest of our community by sponsoring our annual Spring Match Campaign. That means that for every dollar you give, our sponsors will automatically double it, up to $10,000 USD.
In the following section, and over the next several weeks, we’ll highlight our water crisis and our work through the lens of different communities and partners around our watershed. In this special 5–part series, we will take you through:
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The Cause of our water crisis,
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The Impacts it has had on water quantity and quality,
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The Consequences these issues have had on people and communities,
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Our Response over the last 10 years in collaboration with those most affected, and
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The Future of our work, and of water in our region and beyond.
Today, we are illustrating the Cause of our water crisis through the perspective of one of our oldest partner communities, Pozo Ademado – a community an hour and half north of San Miguel surrounded by lush agroindustrial fields and yet lacking adequate access to water for the people actually living there. But before reading on, please consider making a donation today by clicking on the button below. Together we make twice the difference.
Saludos,