This is DRutter, bringing you the 71st 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 and internet blackouts happen regularly. 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 nearby families. Without a pump to bring water up from the aquifer, his harvests are reduced - 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 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.
Price returns to reality
The price of STEEM retreated from the high near 20 cents last week, to about 15 cents now, meaning we lost 1/4 of our progress, which is measured in USD.
It turned out to be a quiet week for donations, but we racked up a few STEEM through generous upvotes from @xpilar, @reflektor, @hingsten, @bippe, @newhope, @aicu, @streetstyle, @merlin7, and others.
The result was a retracement from our recent surge in progress, but that's expected to return to moving in the right direction soon. We're still much further ahead than we were a month or two ago.
Will you make the water flow, with us?
Much appreciation to those who upvoted last week:
Week 71
week 70 funds: 3016.674 Steem
new funds:
- week 70 post payout = 10.811 STEEM and 10.811 STEEM POWER = 21.622 Steem
- 1.0 STEEM direct donation from me
- you can send me Steem directly and your donation will be noted here
Total funds: 3039.296 Steem
x 0.156 USD/Steem = $474.13 USD (of $1300)
Current progress: 36.4%
We're down from 42% last week to the mid 30s this week, but that's still a lot higher than we were in December, which was the 20s! If the STEEM price doesn't fall much more, or we get a surge of donations, we'll keep moving up. Besides, we're still more than 1/3 of the way. We've shown our goal is possible, and now we're going to pursue it.
Much appreciation to everyone involved. You're directly making a difference for a family that could really use the help! They've been without running water more than 500 days now, and the crisis in their country shows no sign of ending. Let's get this done for them!
Upvoting this post is MUCH appreciated! 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