Creative works by GC|RH folks and friends

We are showcasing some of the creative work people of all ages are doing during this crisis: Photography, art work, baked goods, gardens, music, poems, and more. Many thanks to the contributors to this virtual gallery.

Discovering Shadows by John Hendrickson, age 2

by Stuart Gunter in Tule Review — by Stuart Gunter in *Tule Review*

Permaculture garden view, Charis Community

22-year-old Marion speaking with her 101-year-old grandmother, Bette. Marion is Hannah Twaddell’s daughter and Bette is her mother.

Daniel-Butler Raised Beds. Photo by Linda Daniel

From Martha Donnelly: Here is one of the messages from Dylan Terrell, director of Caminos de Agua. It is located in San Miguel de Allende Mexico and are doing extraordinary work bringing low-tech inventiveness to solving water problems in the Independencia Aquifer. I want to broadcast his message in the hopes of raising awareness of their successes and, of course, any financial support possible. I am happy to share more extensively my knowledge of their work. Briefly Caminos de Agua have two paid engineers on site and depend on about 6 more international volunteers who cannot travel there now so work has slowed down but is continuing.

Dear Martha,
We work hard to help provide access to clean drinking water to families and communities at risk here in central Mexico where water scarcity and contamination has become a major crisis. Our ability to do this work is completely dependent upon being able to raise money from people just like you as well as from foundations and other institutions. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn be able to exist – it’s really that simple. So all of us at Caminos de Agua are taking this opportunity to Thank You for coming through for us, especially recently. During the period since the Coronavirus hit, when times have been so uncertain, it might have been easy to turn the other way, but you didn’t. You came through for us when we needed you the most, and we want you to know how much it means to us as well as what we did, at least in part, with your donation.
Your help has created critical action in rural communities during the virus
We’re sure you are aware of how important practicing extreme personal hygiene has been during the virus. The World Health Organization states that washing your hands multiple times a day, using hand sanitizer when you're away from home, avoiding touching your face, and disinfecting things that you bring into your home are critical steps that can lower rates of infection by upwards of 50%. But, what do you do when you only receive water once a week ? How do you achieve these crucial actions when your family barely has enough water for drinking, cooking, and washing? Can you imagine having to make that choice? Or what if you live remotely and reliable information about what to do isn’t making its way to you?
For these reasons, Caminos de Agua moved very quickly to create a campaign directed not only at the more than 600,000 people who rely upon the Alta Rio Laja Aquifer in our region for their water, but also the millions of more Mexicans throughout the country who live with extreme water scarcity conditions. The campaign is made up of four virtual workshops with videos that clearly and simply show people how to:

Build a simple solution allowing you to wash hands utilizing hardly any water – allowing 30 people to wash their hands with only one gallon of water,
Make effective, homemade hand sanitizer from readily available ingredients,
Build a rainwater harvesting system in an emergency to have more water available utilizing materials already found in the home, and
Maintain an existing rainwater harvesting system for those who already have them so they can be prepared to capture as much water as possible as the rainy season is upon us.

Behind these workshops are additional materials, manuals, construction guides, and more that provide easy to understand information about the most important ways to take preventative actions and increase water access for those who have so little.
We created an effective distribution network in record time using Facebook and Whatsapp Groups – distributing to grassroot organizations, religious groups, community coalitions, UNICEF outreach, national coalitions and foundations, schools, and other outlets. We made our materials easy to understand and easy to stream or download for those without internet access.
Watch this video and learn about a Tippy-Tap
A Tippy-Tap is an incredibly inventive foot-operated, hand-wash station that can be made from materials found around the house – allowing for safe hand washing utilizing an amazingly little amount of water and without having to touch a common tap. Obviously, it’s all in Spanish for the use of our target audience, but we’re sure you’ll get the gist of it and appreciate viewing it as an important part of this campaign.
See our other workshops and learn more about the work we’ve been doing regarding Water in the Time of Coronavirus here: caminosdeagua.org/en/covid19

All of This is Because of You
“We’re Stronger Because of You” may be a clever tagline, but it is also true. We couldn’t do any of this without you! We’re glad you are part of our Caminos de Agua family, and if you have any questions about our work, we’re here to answer them. Just send me an email at dylan@caminosdeagua.org.

Saludos,

Dylan Terrell
Executive Director

Fry Spring Neighborhood Social Distanced Graduation Parade

Photograph of Jesse Owens at the Gun by Ron Smith

Beneath a puff of white gun smoke a man

the shade of cinders has risen

from between white lines

at an angle sharp with speed.

He is himself a thrust of angles:

one foot down, one hand reaching,

elbow, knee, the single bend at the waist,

all his flesh strung tight.

In the background row of pale, blurred faces

these who appear to wear his colors

must be his teammates.

We can tell only that

they do not seem to cheer.

Behind them the tiers of Berlin

mass into gray clouds.

All the races of 1936 are stopped

inside this black frame.

The man whose captured body

pulls us to the wall

cannot reach the tape, his form

caught here in the rough shape

of the swastikas that fly in the corner.

Nothing moves, nothing changes.

We stare and stare.

[From Running Again in Hollywood Cemetery (2nd edition, MadHat Press, 2020),

this poem is dedicated to Dave Smith, Terry Hummer, & Carolyn Kizer.]

A Place Called Okay by Stuart Gunter

There is something beautiful about a plastic

grocery bag floating on the wind across a street

renewing the forecasts.

A knife, a camera, a book of myths.

There is a place called okay

here, under the vulture tree.

Sifting shadows: leaf light.

Even the laugh takes years.

Something hopeful useful & true,

the dirty smell of doubt--

places remember what people forget

my subconscious paying attention

to something other than me

Banks of gray clouds stacked one on another

like regret and loss.

A solitary black vulture floats overhead.

The now and then of a person.

I meet your exquisite heart

and, there, Shelley’s

companionless moon, wandering

the dome of sky.

This was originally published in the anthology Purifying Wind