Help Women Entrepreneurs Bring Safe Water to Mexican Communities

Join us in supporting women entrepreneurs so they can deliver safe water services to rural communities in Mexico!

Millions of Mexicans in marginalized communities are exposed to harmful waterborne illnesses since they lack access to safe drinking water. In Chiapas, Mexico's most impoverished region, the rural population is critically underserved, where 38% of families have no potable water. This leads to gastrointestinal diseases such as diarrhea and malnutrition, which are very harmful to the health and personal development of people, especially in children under age 5. Families in rural Chiapas must choose between drinking water directly from the highly contaminated community wells, boiling it with fuel wood, which causes an additional burden on women, increasing the time spent collecting wood and the exposure to harmful indoor air pollutants; or buying expensive bottled water from commercial vendors.

Cantaro Azul identifies and trains women entrepreneurs in rural areas to operate and manage local water businesses that serve their communities with affordable and high-quality drinking water. The program allows entrepreneurial women to invest in a business that provides economic opportunities and a stable source of income in communities where jobs and savings are extremely difficult to come by, especially for women. Through the implementation of easily adaptable and low-cost technology, women are empowered as managers to run a successful social business, producing and distributing 5-gallon water containers at a selling price 20-45% lower than the price of commercial vendors. By regularly overseeing the water quality and developing business and management skills, Cantaro Azul can ensure entrepreneurial women are best placed to provide a high quality, profitable and at the same time affordable safe water service to their communities. This year, Cantaro Azul is working with 30 women to develop entrepreneurial skills locally and provide affordable safe drinking water to 10,000 people in rural Chiapas.

You can help. It costs just $5 to guarantee safe water consumption for one rural family in Chiapas for a whole month, including the cost of water jugs, delivery, and wages for the women entrepreneurs; and just $50 to empower one rural woman to become a social entrepreneur, including training, transportation, and housing.

Report From The Field

December 2017

Three new ‘NuestrAgua’ water purification franchises were established in 2017, which provide safe and affordable water to at least 2000 people.. Their goal in 2018 is to establish at least 5 new franchises, which will increase the income of women and reduce the water cost of families by 20%.

Cantaro Azul's mission is to achieve sustainable consumption of safe water in rural and peri-urban communities of Mexico.