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C. U. P. S |
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Communities United for |
Comunidades Unidas Pro Salud |
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| "I will never forget the Mexican woman standing at the truck window, talking with me and Louise, the CUPS director. CUPS had installed a water system the previous year for the farming community in which she and her family lived. The woman said to Louise, 'Every time we take a drink of water, we think of you.'" ~Sharyl Davis |
| Making a
Difference Imagine that your only drinking water supply comes from a dirty drainage canal, or you're sick but can't afford to go 10 miles into the nearest town to see a doctor. Such is the way of life for residents of rural communities in northern Mexico, where contaminated water, inadequate health programs, poor housing and poverty are the rule rather than the exception. People in the rural communities of Mexico, known as ejidos, often live in tiny homes with dirt floors and no running water or electricity. Clean and safe water is a major health concern. Many rely on highly contaminated water from hand-dug wells and irrigation ditches. Another health concern amid these squalid living conditions is the spread of many preventable communicable chronic diseases. As Mexico struggles to provide services, many rural areas are forgotten. CUPS helps to meet some of these needs by building health clinics where recent Mexican medical school graduates can have a place to examine and treat the people, classrooms, dry latrines, and solar stills. There are ways to help and volunteer to improve life along the U.S.-Mexico border. |
