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Mi Cometa Visit Connects Ecuadoran Struggle for Water Justice to Boston Struggle
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 04/28/2008 - 2:02pm.
On April 20, 2008, our church community welcomed representatives of El Movimiento Mi Cometa, a grassroots activist group and a UUSC program partner based in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Mi Cometa has been instrumental in upholding the constitutional and consumer rights of Ecuadoran citizens to sufficient, safe, affordable, and accessible water. Joining Mi Cometa’s founder, César Cárdenas Ramírez, were César Agosto Parada Campos, an attorney with the group, and Emily Joiner, author of Murky Waters: A Critical and Purposeful Look at Water and Sanitation Service in Guayaquil, Ecuador. UUSC was represented by Rebecca Brown, program associate in Environmental Justice.
During his visit, Cárdenas announced that Ecuador is in the process of rewriting its constitution and has adopted the position that access to water is a basic human right – and the delivery of water must be a function of government agencies, rather than private companies. The group shared stories about the problems that have resulted from the privatization of water and sewage services in Guayaquil.
Foremost is that the private company involved, InterAgua, a subsidiary of Bechtel Corporation, views water as a commodity from which they can make a profit, rather than as an element that is absolutely necessary for people to survive. Because of this perception, InterAgua has shut off water to thousands of citizens without regard to their age, health, or family situation. This forces them either to buy water from tankers that come through town or to beg for water from their neighbors. Cárdenas also cited inequities in billing practices. For instance, InterAgua bills citizens for estimated water use rather than for actual use and tacks on charges for sewage services for customers who did not actually have access to those services. He also cited instances of conflicts of interest and corruption.
Those of us who heard this presentation came to appreciate the importance of making water a substance that everyone has access to – not just those who can afford to buy it. We understand that this is important, not just to people in Ecuador or other developing countries, but in our own communities. Locally, UUSC’s Environmental Justice Program partners with Massachusetts Global Action and its The Color of Water campaign, which has found that in the city of Boston, the number of households that had their water cut off tripled since 2003. Imagine what the loss of running water could mean to a household with young children, or where there is illness. We hold those who are working for the human right to water in high regard and appreciate their efforts to make the world a better place for everyone.
The following post was written by Mary Mitchell, of All Soul's Church in Braintree, Mass.
In November 2007, the Social Action/Environmental Committee and the Religious Education Program at All Souls Church in Braintree, Mass., collaborated on the planning and presentation of a worship service highlighting UUSC’s Environmental Justice Program. It was organized as part of our Guest at Your Table fundraising campaign. In a segment of the service, one of our youth portrayed a 15-year-old boy from Guayaquil named Alexis. He explained how he had contracted hepatitis A from drinking contaminated water at his school, and how UUSC had worked with El Movimiento Mi Cometa (My Kite movement) to help Guayaquil residents take action to get the government to provide the expensive medicine he needed to treat his illness. We never imagined that people from Mi Cometa, who were directly involved in this social-justice action, would actually be our guests here at All Souls just a few months later! But that’s what happened.
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During his visit, Cárdenas announced that Ecuador is in the process of rewriting its constitution and has adopted the position that access to water is a basic human right – and the delivery of water must be a function of government agencies, rather than private companies. The group shared stories about the problems that have resulted from the privatization of water and sewage services in Guayaquil.
Foremost is that the private company involved, InterAgua, a subsidiary of Bechtel Corporation, views water as a commodity from which they can make a profit, rather than as an element that is absolutely necessary for people to survive. Because of this perception, InterAgua has shut off water to thousands of citizens without regard to their age, health, or family situation. This forces them either to buy water from tankers that come through town or to beg for water from their neighbors. Cárdenas also cited inequities in billing practices. For instance, InterAgua bills citizens for estimated water use rather than for actual use and tacks on charges for sewage services for customers who did not actually have access to those services. He also cited instances of conflicts of interest and corruption.
Those of us who heard this presentation came to appreciate the importance of making water a substance that everyone has access to – not just those who can afford to buy it. We understand that this is important, not just to people in Ecuador or other developing countries, but in our own communities. Locally, UUSC’s Environmental Justice Program partners with Massachusetts Global Action and its The Color of Water campaign, which has found that in the city of Boston, the number of households that had their water cut off tripled since 2003. Imagine what the loss of running water could mean to a household with young children, or where there is illness. We hold those who are working for the human right to water in high regard and appreciate their efforts to make the world a better place for everyone.
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