<
https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/on-the-frontlines-of-drought-communities-in-mexico-strive-to-save-every-drop-of-water/>
"OCOTLÁN DE MORELOS – “Look up to the El Peral mountains. That is where we do
our ritual ceremony to call for rain,” says Josefina Santiago, 43, a Zapotec
Indigenous leader. “We bury chocolate, flowers and a maize beverage called
tejate to ask for gentle rainfall. We call ourselves water sowers: [we are]
reclaiming our traditional rituals while developing absorption wells, water
pans, and small dams.”
Josefina lives on her family’s agroecological farm in El Porvenir, a small
village of 600 inhabitants in Oaxaca valley, southwestern Mexico. Along with
Esperanza Alonzo, another farmer, and María de Los Ángeles Santiago, a
hairdresser, the three women are part of the 16 Indigenous Zapotec communities
that decided to take action regarding the region’s water shortage and replenish
their underground aquifers.
“When I was a kid, all people had enough water. The water was more than 10
meters deep [in wells]. We didn’t need to use the pump. But now, water levels
are really low,” explains Esperanza, 57, while throwing a rock in one of the
irrigation wells. She is in San Sebastian Ocotlán, another small village of 500
people.
Their collective struggle began in 2005 with the
Coordination of Peoples
United for the Defense and Care of Water (COPUDA) and the support of
Flor y
Canto, an Indigenous rights organization. Josefina, along with Esperanza and
María, are one of the few female leaders in COPUDA, and hope to enhance gender
equality in the communities’ political spaces."
Via
Future Crunch Sep 12, 2022:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-measles-indonesia-conservation-us-solar-europe/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
