grassroots

A lot of our time here is spent learning and listening.  Sometimes I like to think of it as a study in social movements - they are so vibrant and resilient here, and there is much to learn.  Lately, we have been spending time with a community based, horizontal organization in El Salto called Un Salto de Vida (A Leap of Life).  From running a community recycling program to facilitating a medical study on the health of children in the community, their grassroots collective is inspiring and creative.  We visited the office the other day and were really moved by the expressive art on the walls inside and outside of the building. It left me thinking about what art's role is in social movements.  It is so important, yet manifests in so many ways that is difficult to pinpoint.  Click read more to check out all the good stuff they've come up with.

In search of

We're blogging for climate change today as part of Blog Action Day and are one of 9,913 blogs in 151 countries with 13,102,696 readers.

The inspiration for the name of our project Adapting to Scarcity came from a conference on climate change I attended a few years ago.   One of the speakers described how important it is to begin adaptively managing our resources, for example as the water cycle is altered and vegetation zones move north with climate change.

Trickle Down, Groundwater Up is a documentary film project our friends Moriah, Katie and Tarini are launching in New Delhi, India.  To quote their website, the forthcoming film:

explores the challenges of consuming and accessing water in New Delhi, India. These challenges are examples of the social and ecological impacts of globalization [. . .] It also tell the stories of people who are working from the groundwater up to reclaim access to the most vital natural resource, and, in turn, to regenerate their ecosystems and communities.

Check out the work they are doing, and prepare to be impressed and inspired.

I am deeply impressed by the simplicity and potency of the phrase "We All Live Downstream."  It's also the title of a visually stunning slideshow of dams, river and people on the International Rivers website.  International Rivers is an incredible internationally networked organization that supports grassroots organizations in more than 60 countries to achieve their overall mission "to protect rivers and defend the rights of communities that depend on them."

Last night I attended a screening of Liz Miller's documentary film The Water Front at the Food and Water Watch (FWW) office in San Francisco. FWW wrote the documentary "offers a sharp look at the possible risks ahead for communities looking to privatize their water supply."  The movie highlighted a community's struggle to maintain their right to affordable water amidst a privatization scheme pushed forward by outside consultants hired to balance the city's budget.   The citizens of Highland Park, Michigan, right outside of Detroit, successfully organized a grassroots campaign to maintain control of the public water supply, however lost a million dollars by employing the consultants.

Hello friends and visitors,

After much hemming and hawing, I've decided to start a blog for my project! Hopefully the blog will help me remain focused on my mission while sharing the steps I take with you all. Today I post my first weekly (at least) update on my work: what I've accomplished and aspire to achieve in the coming weeks. Preparing for a multifaceted research project and moving to Mexico is a really intimidating task, and I am taking it bit by bit.