Presenting "The Photos of Mission: Agua-Possible"!
By @EdgarGonzalez and @DRutter (2018-2020)
Edgar was telling me how he took some fishing line and hooks down to the ocean in search of food. He was able to fish from an old raft and catch dinner for the family, but nearly drowned when the raft broke apart and sunk! Yesterday, he went diving, and found some mussels to bring home and cook. When I asked him about the risk, his reply hit me hard: "Need obliges us to do that, friend."
It all began nearly 2 years ago when I found Edgar's blog, showing a simple middle-class man's life turned upside down by political and economic turmoil. He was fishing nearby dangerous waters, and farming the small plot his father had left him, with banana and cassava plants. When his well pump burned out during a power blackout, and couldn't be repaired any longer, I decided to raise the funds to help him and his family get running water again.
Mission: Agua-Possible was born.
I selected one photo each week from Edgar's blog, to help get him more exposure, and to give my weekly update some context. It allowed people to see what life was like during his country's economic collapse. I think we all learned something from these snapshots of Venezuelan life.
Last week, I wrote:
Edgar has become a minor celebrity on the blockchain, in part because of [MAP], but also because he regularly produces content that is appreciated by the community. His posts are simple, but honest, and show what a regular man's life in Venezuela during economic collapse looks like. Through his phone camera photos and Spanish-English text translated through an online service, I've learned about economics, life, and myself.
I also left a personal note to Edgar:
Thank you for your friendship, grace, and patience. I'm sorry I haven't learned Spanish as well as you have learned English. I respect you as a person, a man, and a father. You do what you need to in order for your family to thrive during a very hard situation. I have learned from you. As a poor man in my own country, that is now headed for economic ruin like your own, I see myself in your sandals. This project has been a lesson for me and I'll never forget it. When the world is healthy and happy again, I insist, you will visit me in Canada, and I will visit you in Venezuela. We will show each other and our families our wonderful countries. You are my first and only true blockchain friend - someone I have known ONLY on the blockchain and not in person or by any other platform or method of communication. We met here, became friends here, I started the project here, almost 2 years went by, and now we're completing the project, right here on the blockchain. Again, thank you. You have a friend in me.
Final paperwork
I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank the Steem/Hive community for their assistance with this project. It has been a bizarre, challenging, tumultuous, long, and incredibly rewarding experience. I learned a lot, and we got Edgar the funds. The mission was possible, after all! Thank you, so much.
The following is the final 'paperwork' related to the project. Everything, of course, is within the chain itself already. But clearly posting it in one spot for everyone to reference makes sense.
When the project concluded in an unexpected success, I instantly dispensed half the funds to Edgar, as I had sufficient liquid STEEM to do so.
In the following week, Edgar then notified me that due to the pandemic, he wouldn't be able to purchase the pump right away, but appreciated receiving the funds. I let him know the other 650 USD was incoming.
I had another 1000 liquid STEEM available, so I sent it to Edgar.
1000 STEEM x 0.1525 = 152.5 USD
Then I sent the remainder of the 650 USD payment to his Hive account (which he has claimed and is now using regularly!):
4385 HIVE x 0.1141 = 500.3 USD
Total = 152.5 + 500.3 = $652.8 USD
I was impressed, as always, with the efficiency and power of cryptos. In less than a second, the funds were in his account and under his control. And without paying a fee! It made me glad (in yet another way) that I had chosen the blockchain for this project.
I hope the transition to physical fiat cash goes just as smoothly. This week he wrote:
"We still maintain several plants that with a lot of work and effort we have maintained since we lack the vital liquid (water) to irrigate them. But that very soon we will reactivate our water well, since thanks to my friend @drutter and the great Possible Water Mission, we managed to raise the money to acquire the submersible water pump. We hope this pandemic ends quickly to proceed with the purchase of it, since all businesses are closed and I do not know how to locate it." - Edgar
I look forward to seeing what happens, although having this part of my vision completed already feels amazing! Edgar received more than the 1300 USD in cryptos, and it's nice to note that they have appreciated since he took ownership of them! Maybe he'll be able to afford a little something extra, but that all depends on markets and factors beyond our control. I wish him the best of luck through the pandemic - and beyond. I hope to hear wonderful things happening in his future. He deserves it.
All the best to you, Edgar Gonzalez! Your friend always - su amigo siempre,
DRutter