[Mission: Agua-Possible] 60 weeks with no running water? Let's help these struggling Venezuelans!

I am DRutter, and this is the 60^th weekly post for Mission: Agua-Possible! It updates our progress toward the goal of 1300 USD (in STEEM) for a well pump to bring water to the family farm of @EdgarGonzalez.

Background

Severe economic and political crisis over the past few years in the South American country of Venezuela have intensified in 2019, as president Maduro doubled down on his currency manipulation, price-fixing, propaganda, and suppressing resistance. You've heard about the country's recent turmoil, but the world's media isn't showing us even half the reality!

I began to see more and more Steem users from Venezuela, I started to hear their interesting stories - and ask questions. I discovered some dark truths about the economic and political situation there. Most shops are empty, the currency is collapsing, people are hungry - the economy is at a standstill. Theft, corruption, and violence escalate as society breaks down. Those who can are fleeing on foot - 6 million already. The harsh socialist government attempts to control/fix the economy, and blames problems on the people. Most government services (like running water) work only in certain areas - or not at all.

The people are desperate for any change and protests sometimes fill the streets for miles. Maduro announced that Venezuela will no longer accept US Dollars for oil exports, then tried to get his country's gold back from Bank of England, who refused. The Russian military has become involved, supporting Maduro. The Americans back a man called Guaidó, who also has little public support. Electrical blackouts happen regularly. The US is blockading the country with their navy from the sea. Stability for the people appears out of reach.

Edgar

In mid-2018 I found @edgargonzalez, the blog of Edgar, a Venezuelan man about my age. He's a father of young children, and a professional whose job disappeared because of the crisis. He feeds his family by fishing, foraging for fruits, and growing cassava on his late-father's plantation. He uses Steemit to share his stories and earn Steem to buy food. Shortly after I met Edgar, a power outage caused a failure of the pump used to bring water up to the farm. A repairman confirmed the pump is beyond fixing. Edgar had been using his well to water his crops, and to provide drinking water to his children and other families in the neighborhood. Without a pump to bring water up from the aquifer, his garden output has dropped - and the neighborhood must forage for water elsewhere.

( Edgar celebrated his 42^nd birthday this week, and was able to enjoy a cake with the help of friends and family providing ingredients. )

Without government water services, and now without water from his well, Edgar and a few other families are in a tough situation. I wondered what a poor Canadian man could do to help. After using the Steem blockchain to learn about the problems, I realized that it could also be the SOLUTION!

That's when I first began Mission Agua-possible! (The first post was here. I published a special video edition in week 43 here.) Once we gather 1300 USD worth of Steem, I'll transfer it to Edgar, to be converted to cash to buy the pump.

Water is life! Getting this pump for the farm as soon as possible is vital.

Another tough week

Thanks to direct donations from @davedickeyyall and @kunschj, we didn't backslide too badly as a result of the continued collapse in the STEEM price.

About all we can do at this point appears to be to hope the price recovers before too much longer. No matter how generous we are, it isn't enough to outpace the drop in purchasing power. When that ends, the project will complete fairly quickly. In the meantime, people who shouldn't be going thirsty are going thirsty, and crops that shouldn't be dry are dry.

Will you make the water flow, with us?

Much appreciation to those who upvoted last week:

Week 60

week 59 funds: 1771.746 Steem

new funds:

• week 59 post payout = 1.024 STEEM and 1.025 STEEM POWER = 2.049 Steem
• 5.0 STEEM direct donation from @davedickeyyall
• 5.0 STEEM direct donation from @kunschj
• you can send me Steem directly and your donation will be noted here

Total funds: 1783.795 Steem

x 0.141 USD/Steem = $251.52 USD (of $1300)

Current progress: 19.3%

We're at the whims of the market and currently it's not our friend. All we can really do is wait, and hope it turns in our favour soon. It's sad that donators have contributed more than enough to complete this project, but not all at once, and the value of those contributions keeps getting drained toward zero. These conditions make it hard for anyone to want to contribute, seeing that past contributions amounted to almost no progress.

I'll continue to donate my time and STEEM to the project to keep it running, in the hopes that the market collapse will soon be over.

Upvoting this post is appreciated so much! 100% goes to the project.

Mission Agua-Possible will help many people, and inspire other great projects. It's a group success story, playing out on the Steem blockchain. Together, we're going to dramatically improve the lives of a whole neighborhood that really needs it!

DRutter