[Mission: Agua-Possible] We're going to get this pump for these people no matter what! (22% complete)

I'm DRutter, and here's the 61^st 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 - 8 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, harvesting fruits, and growing cassava on his late-father's plantation. He uses the Steem blockchain to share his stories and earn cryptocurrency 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's son found a toad while they were working the land this week, trying to stay ahead of the pests and drought. )

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.

Some hope

Thanks to direct donations from @davedickeyyall (tokens) and @kunschj (steem), and a reasonable amount of upvotes, not to mention a break from the falling value of STEEM, we saw a little progress this week.

I put out a SteemLeo post about [MAP] a few hours ago, here, to update and analyze our progress after 60 weeks. Check it out! Here's one of the graphs, showing our progress over time:

I'd love to see us break through that 22% level and hit 25% - one quarter complete! That would spur more interest in the project. That said, what we really need is for the value of STEEM to recover. Even at just $1, we would already have far more than enough to buy and install the pump!

That post also provides some guidance: It appears that as long as the downslide in STEEM doesn't get worse, and we continue to work hard at the project, it should be done in about another year. I'm really hoping the price recovers long before then, though.

Will you make the water flow, with us?

Much appreciation to those who upvoted last week:

Week 61

week 60 funds: 1783.795 Steem

new funds:

• week 60 post payout = 2.396 STEEM and 2.397 STEEM POWER = 4.793 Steem
• 10.0 STEEM direct donation from @kunschj
• 1.2 STEEM via BitcoinMYK tokens from @davedickeyyall
• 0.25 STEEM direct donation from @GirlsofGreen
• 100.0 STEEM direct donation from me
• you can send me Steem directly and your donation will be noted here

Total funds: 1900.038 Steem

x 0.149 USD/Steem = $283.11 USD (of $1300)

Current progress: 21.8%

As you can see, I decided to donate another 100 of my own STEEM into the project, which brings us to over 1900! That amounts to about $283 USD, which makes us nearly 22% complete.

Perhaps once we break out to 25%, we'll never return back to 20% again. Will that be next week? Stay tuned to find out.

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