Steemit is rallying around [Mission Aguapossible] to bring water to a desperate Venezuelan neighborhood!

This is week 9 of Mission Agua-possible! We're gathering Steem equal to 1300 USD, to buy a pump for a neighborhood well. This will instantly provide years of clean drinking water for several families and a small farm in crisis-stricken Venezuela!

Background

Severe economic and political crisis over the past few years in the South American country of Venezuela intensified recently, as president Maduro doubled down on his currency manipulation, price-fixing, propagandizing citizens, and suppressing resistance. You may recall an attempted "drone attack" with explosives a few months ago - that's Venezuela. But it's far worse than the world's media is telling us.

I met a few interesting people from Venezuela, and I started to hear their stories - and ask questions. I discovered the dark truth about the economic and political situation there. Shops are empty, people are hungry - the economy is at a standstill. Theft, corruption, and violence escalate as society breaks down. Millions are fleeing on foot - if they can escape. The harsh socialist government attempts to control almost every aspect of life, and blames problems on the people. Most government services (like running water) work only in certain areas - or not at all. A few weeks ago, Maduro announced that Venezuela will no longer accept US Dollars for oil exports, an act which brings more uncertainty for the people.

In the midst of all this, I met Edgar (@edgargonzalez), 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 make 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 gardens have withered - and the neighborhood must forage for water elsewhere.

Without government water services, and now without water from his well, Edgar and a few other families are in a dire situation. When I heard about this, through Steemit, I realized that Steemit could also be the SOLUTION!

That's when I stepped forward with Mission Agua-possible! Once we gather 1300 USD worth of Steem, I'll transfer it to Edgar, to be converted to cash to buy the pump.

Getting water flowing on the farm as soon as possible is vital. Water is life!

Steemit is taking notice and getting involved!

My vision of the project inspiring others and snowballing into something wonderful is coming true! In recent weeks, a few other Steemians, including @greatesteem and @jk6276, have been actively involved by making supportive Steemit posts! @jk6276 is even running a contest to benefit Mission Aguapossible!

We got another 0.1 SBD 'tip' from @melinda010100 - these things add up!! Thank you!

There was also a direct donation of 0.4 Steem from @simonjay. You'll see these items on the summary below.

There's really no catch. Every bit of support (upvotes, direct donations, 'tips', etc) are all being included in the total. Everything is transparent (thanks to how Steemit works!) and I'm really getting nothing from doing this, except my own satisfaction, and my 'reputation' goes up as a result of making posts. Every cryptopenny is going toward getting the water flowing!

Resteems help get new eyes (and upvotes) into the project, so thank you if you're able to resteem.

And a big thank you to everybody who upvoted last week's post!

Week 9

week 8 funds: 42.098 Steem

new funds:

• week 8 payout = 0.643 SBD and 1.097 Steem = 2.194 Steem
• 0.1 SBD tip = 0.15 Steem
• 0.4 Steem direct donation from @simonjay
• you can send me Steem directly and your donation will be added here

Total funds: 44.842 Steem

Current USD value: $27.14 (of $1300)

Current progress: 2.1%

So we're gaining steadily in Steem, but because the value of Steem continues to fall, we have less USD toward our goal than we did last week. :(

But the value of Steem is expected to recover. Hopefully it does soon!

If Steem's value goes back up to $10, we will have about 700 USD toward the pump, which is more than half way!

Upvoting this post helps - thank you so much! 100% goes toward the pump.

Mission Agua-possible will help many, and inspire other projects that help even more, making it a Steemit success story. Together, we'll cause a huge improvement in the lives of a whole neighborhood that really needs it!

DRutter