Venezuela in crisis, but you can help [Mission: Agua-Possible] buy a water pump for a thirsty neighborhood!

This is DRutter, and here's the 54^th weekly update 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 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, "eager to help" (hungry to invade). 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 posed with his nephew near his farm this week, showing how dry the landscape is right now. )

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.

Generous upvotes overshadowed by STEEM price drop

Large upvotes from @rxzero, @fredrikaa, and @joshman brought last week's post up to the $10 range, saving it from being pillaged to boost other posts. Thank you very much!! I don't know if we'll be able to keep that up long term, but that would certainly give us a fighting chance.

As you'll read below, the crashing STEEM price has robbed us of the USD value of our holdings, bringing overall progress back down below 20%.

Will you make the water flow, with us?

Much appreciation to those who upvoted last week:

Week 54

week 53 funds: 1704.576 Steem

new funds:

• week 53 post payout = 11.806 STEEM and 11.806 STEEM POWER = 23.612 Steem
• 1.0 STEEM TipU donation from @Melinda010100
• you can send me Steem directly and your donation will be noted here

Total funds: 1729.188 Steem

x 0.135 USD/Steem = $233.44 USD (of $1300)

Current progress: 18.0%

Despite the upvotes, we backslid 4% to 18 this week, thanks to STEEM falling another 0.03 USD.

Thank you for generously upvoting this post to pump it to the $10 range, so we don't get whale-pillaged. Unfortunately, we're still in the STEEM bear market, but once that turns around, our holdings will quickly appreciate to the 1300 USD point and we'll be done!

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