amina: episode 001.

ideal government’s ethereal dream.

Carlos Manuel Jarquín Sánchez
4 min readNov 25, 2023

amina is alive.

for the ones who’ve followed my journey on medium…

i’ve built a water filter for heavy metal ion removal in developing countries.

the only reason i gave a damn was because of the situation in mexico.

but now… the water filter is not the solution.

the water contamination was not the problem.

it was an outcome.

the root problem was the lack of transparency within the public sector that led to the turmoil.

it cataputled the destruction of the fabric that held the village together:

trust.

storytime 📖

there’s this mine in san jose del progreso, oaxaca, mexico. (SJDP)

it’s approximately 1/2 hour north from ejutla de crespo, oaxaca, mexico. (where my family grew up & lived for ~2 yrs)

in SJDP, there’s a canadian mining company called “fortuna silver mines”…

and they came in there invasively looking for precious metals to be extracted.

mining operations began back in 2009… and in 2021, their contract was about to expire.

but the local officials decided to renew their contract and exploiting territory that belonged to their constituents.

result?

the mayor, his sons, and their family members were assasinated.

the village was split into the people who were for & against the land exploitation and the contract renewal.

the village now depends on water trucks (pipas) to deliver their weekly does of water.

the rio atoyac is now a soup of heavy metals, ore, and slush.

it used to be a haven, a relaxation spot for kids, and to wash clothes.

for those who want more info, i got you. press away. 👇

this situation was not meant to be.

but without the tools of transparency, trust, and availability…

the village will perish.

that is my land.

if it can happen here,

it will happen in ejutla.

all chaos needs are foul intentions by the public sector, politicians, and influence-in-power.

the two ways this could have been prevented are:

  1. public sector transparency with the constituents
  2. electronic procurement notification (announcing their next moves)

but when nothing is set up, we cannot tap into the possibility of unification.

and yes, one or the other will allow the benefits that have been promised by our organizations like our governments, the UN, and WHO.

specifically, it will target the SDGs 8 & 16.

therefore,

let’s welcome amina into the world.

amina means faith in Arabic.

because if nobody solves the problem of transparency…

who will we stand for when our children are left to roam and dominate the land?

chaos awaits for the ones without order.

transparency over our actions breeds trust.

trust breeds order.

order breeds progress.

progress breeds innovation of all fields.

and innovation breeds prosperity.

episode 002 will go into the economics of the proposed solutions.

specifically, the economics of social good if these solutions were to pan out in local governments.

my mission is to make it work out and bring the solution to my land.

what i once thought was water filtration, it’s in reality a human issue: transparency and trust in our instituions.

if the economics don’t work out, the solution doesn’t matter.

that’s the first filter.

then the next filter is: do ppl want one of the solutions? or both? or none?

CJ

© 2023–2100 by Carlos Manuel Jarquín Sánchez. All Rights Reserved.

--

--

No responses yet