To Fight the Development Paradox

If I talk about Cancun, almost everyone will think of paradisiacal beaches on vacation (me too), but the richest thing in the area, due to its culture, is its population.

Paradoxically, who sustains all the infrastructure and services are mostly the inhabitants of the region, who live on the margins of development, even though they are only a few kilometres from it.

In the municipality of Benito Juárez, whose capital is the city of Cancun, an international tourist destination, 11.9% of the population speaks an indigenous language.

The language spoken by the vast majority of the population is Mayan, as in the entire state of Quintana Roo, land of this ancient culture.

The municipality of Benito Juárez is located in an area with a low population of the Mayan ethnic group, which is concentrated in the rural municipalities of the interior and south of the state, however, due to the job offer that the tourist activity allows to offer, many residents rural areas are attracted to the aforementioned City of Quintana Roo.

Can you believe that we are bringing water and sanitation services to rural towns in Quintana Roo that do not have them when they are so close to the overwhelming splendor of the Riviera Maya? Well, yes.

Seeing in this area, full of culture and life, the faces of the girls and boys who safely receive the WASH service is a great satisfaction and a great privilege. I continually ask myself how to preserve the essence of these lands without contaminating them and, quite the opposite: honoring them.

I love my country and my ancestors who left us the land we live on.

With the Crew+ project we are working on water quality issues through the evaluation of the conditions of the main existing wastewater treatment plants in the area; integrated and innovative low-tech water and sanitation solutions at rural and community levels; and financing options to make the investments made through the project sustainable.

Working on the issue of water is my passion and any support to reduce the backlog adds to the cause. GEF CReW+'s efforts add up to the challenge in a country where communities isolated by cost-efficiency criteria have been marginalized.

Let's join forces and keep working!

"With my work I contribute to the greatness of my community and that's how I take care of my family."

"Yéetel in meyaje' kin líik'esik u nojchil in kaajal beyo' kin kaláantik in láak'tsilil."

 

Translation to Maya by:
Jose Manuel Tec Tum, Mayan language teacher and anthropologist
And anthropologist Manuel Rubio. Advisor of the State Union of Community Museums of Yucatan.

Author: Griselda Medina, Project Management and Evaluation with Foreign Credit Submanager. National Water Commission, Mexico.