Rancho Graciano Sanchez
In January of 2016, Mike and Patricia met with the President of Cabo Corrientes and his staff, and the Rotary President Nacho to discuss a possible village for FAMA assistance. At the meeting we were given the names of a few villages that would qualify for help. Mike visted three of the villages and chose to work with Graciano Sanchez.
Graciano Sanchez, remote and about 2 hours south of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico is an "ejido" where collective communal land parcels are given to individuals as a holding for farming. While looking for a new project, a local tax collector knew of this ejido where poor families could establish residence.
The key for me was that he stated that this was the only community in his large tax base that always paid their taxes in full and on time. Graciano has insufficient access to water and no electricity. The men of the village leave on Monday for work as laborers returning on Saturdays. The women take care of just about everything in the ranchito.
Our first effort was to work with the local government and the residents to begin farming using a new, FAMA-provided water system from a local river well. With water, new tools and their land, they would be able to feed themselves along with supplying needed food products to their villages and the town of El Tuito.
A simple one-station water system funded by FAMA and constructed by the residents was under construction, but not for long. In September 2019, Hurricane Lorena followed by Tropical Storm Narda wiped out this first water system project funded by FAMA. Also their only access, a bridge 5 km away was destroyed. This left the residents isolated, sick and many homeless. The land around Graciano Sanchez was covered with debris, contaminated water and dead animals. We find it incredible that these folks do not give up and move. But the residents could not afford to live elsewhere.
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So, again I invite you to help us in any way you can. Many local folks are providing used clothing and household items. We have access to medicines but not water. Flying in with needed supplies isn’t efficient except for a few inexpensive solar security lights. Transporting anything to Graciano is very difficult given the road conditions. Therefore, money is best. Interim medication has been provided due to contaminated living conditions. A source of safe water continued to be unavailable to Graciano Sanchez. Now, FAMA is providing Graciano Sanchez with a complete water system to serve the community with its 70 housing parcels. After three meetings conducted in El Tuito, Jalisco, an agreement to build a government-approved water system for all of Graciano Sanchez was formalized by the President of Graciano Sanchez, the President and Treasurer of Cabo Corrientes and the FAMA Foundation. The agreement included a Cabo Corrientes project team and critical materials funded by FAMA. The residents will be part of the construction team.
As we did with the Municipality of Tomatlan, FAMA was again instrumental in assisting the community leadership to acquire governmental assistance. The involvement of Cabo Corrientes insured ongoing government maintenance responsibility. As of September 24, 2020, Graciano Sanchez now has abundant clean water with maintenance by their local government. Next we hope to build a school and provide electricity.
Please help our foundation continue to provide the best quality for Graciano Sanchez.