After months of planning, hard work, and dedication, the potable water project in Xecoxol, Tecpán has been completed and clean water is arriving at homes of participating families. Interventions like this are much more than just infrastructure projects and serve a myriad of key functions that contribute to our overall goal: healthy, empowered communities that have the skills, experience, and resources necessary to lead their communities to prosperous futures.
On the surface, potable water projects provide just that, permanent access to clean water pumped directly to homes that reduces the risk of contracting gastrointestinal illnesses and frees up significant amounts of time that individuals would otherwise have dedicated to locating and bringing water to their homes for use in cooking, cleaning, bathing, drinking, etc. Beyond this, it is a tremendous opportunity for communities to practice coordinating a group effort and mobilizing their populations to execute a project that benefits everyone. Another layer consists of the skills obtained by the community members that are responsible for the maintenance of the system to monitor water pressure, measure the purity of water in the system, and administer the chemicals used in the purification process. All of these outcomes work in unison to strengthen communities’ capacity to plan and carry out other activities that promote cooperation, the free exchange of ideas, and mutual benefit among community members.
We would like to congratulate the families of Xecoxol on their triumph and thank them for allowing us to share in their celebration of this tremendous success!
