I'm DRutter, and you're reading week 41 of Mission: Agua-Possible! This post 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 intensified recently, as president Maduro doubled down on his currency manipulation, price-fixing, propagandizing citizens, 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, and 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 - 4 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. Violence is always just around the corner. Stability for the people appears out of reach.
Edgar
Months ago, I found the blog of 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 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.
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! Once we gather 1300 USD worth of Steem, I'll transfer it to Edgar, to be converted to cash to buy the pump.
Getting this pump for the farm as soon as possible is vital. Water is life!
Value of STEEM holdings fell again, backsliding our progress below 10%
We did have some good upvotes from @kunschj, @joshman, and @canadian-coconut this week - thank you! There weren't any direct donations, and as you'll read below, the falling price of STEEM has set us back under the 10% progress mark.
I imagine how it might feel to rely on factors outside my control (such as weather) in order to provide food for my children. How scary it would be for me, if at any time a dry patch of weather could result in sickness and/or death in my family. How a bad day fishing could mean going to bed hungry. Only briefly in my life have I lived somewhere there wasn't a supermarket available, stocked with food. It was hard even for short periods of time. These people are living through that never-ending nightmare right now, and many have already died, or fled on foot if they were able. Elderly, young families, many people have little to no food, water, medicine, or hope. What was once a great country and prosperous people, there is now a ruined society being plundered by corrupt despots.
Surely, bringing water back to a neighborhood is a good step. It's within our grasp to fund this project and make the water flow. The only barrier is potential contributors avoiding sending in their best possible direct donation, and upvoting these posts. Everything else is in place. Incredible things are set to occur once that bottleneck gets opened up!
Will you make the water flow, with us?
Much appreciation to those who upvoted last week:
Week 41
week 40 funds: 324.279 Steem
new funds:
- week 40 post payout = 1.255 SBD and 3.429 STEEM POWER = 6.858 Steem
- you can send me Steem directly and your donation will be noted here
Total funds: 331.137 Steem
x 0.368 USD/Steem = $121.86 USD (of $1300)
Current progress: 9.4%
STEEM's value in USD (which is the currency needed to buy the pump locally in Venezuela) fell 8% this week, more than offsetting the gains we made from upvotes.
This "backsliding" is discouraging, and for the most part, out of our hands. There's no way we can know the future price of anything. We like to hope that STEEM's price against the USD will increase, as cryptocurrencies and blockchain continues to take off, but the market is complex, and we truly can't know anything with certainty. When the project started, I set it up the way it is now, and people have contributed with that framework in mind. (I've mentioned this before but it bears repeating.) Fundamentally changing how we run the project, including how the funds are collected and managed, would betray those contributors. I'm going to finish out this project as close to the envisioned (and announced) methods. Which means I won't be trading in and out of STEEM and/or USD and/or other currencies, in an effort to increase the project's holdings, or to avoid "backsliding" weeks like this one. We will just accumulate STEEM until such time that it's worth 1300 USD, and transfer it to Edgar.
Clean and simple.
Only issue seems to be; STEEM is falling apart. It's down to #74 on the 'cryptocap' list, much lower than it was when this project began (better part of a year ago). Everything else is doing better than STEEM, including the US Dollar. We continue to amass a higher STEEM total, but the USD value of that total isn't progressing much. Unless we really go into overdrive with upvotes and donations, we're going to have to rely on our holdings appreciating against the almighty Dollar.
When will the price of STEEM turn around? All we need is for it to reach $4 again, and we'll have more than we need to buy and install the pump! Bitcoin has already tripled in price since Christmas, and the rest of the market is rising fast, too. We're in the only boat that isn't rising! Hopefully that changes, soon. People's health may depend on it!
Edgar's family and neighborhood, who relied on the water from the aquifer under his land, continue to go without it. When the pump burned out, quite a few people had to start drinking questionable water, and/or walk long distances carrying containers of water bought or traded for nearby. Edgar was a professional man, and now picks wild fruit, and fishes in dangerous waters, to keep his family eating! They have waited for water long enough. Let's get this funded. If you don't have much to give right now, maybe you could Resteem this post, to bring in more potential contributors?
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
I almost always resteem this post. I definitely always upvote it!
Upvoted and resteemed!
STEEM is down to 0.33 USD today, ouch.....