A walk on the wet side
By Walter L. Meagher
October 17, 2008 San Miguel de Allende
Wetland Walk
Wed, Oct 22, 9:30am
El Charco del Ingenio
Members 70 pesos/nonmembers 100 pesos
When, in the springtime in this town of fiestas, I hear the roar, half a mile away, of the thunderous fall of water over the cortina into the canyon, I know that the wetland will be replenished. The canyon, into which the rains forcefully fall, is a conduit to the Rio Laja, carrying water and silt from mountainsides and farm fields above San Miguel.
The wetland, as I call it—you might say “wet meadow”—is land that borders the presa (dam) on two sides, east and north. True, the south side has some wetland plants, tallest of which is the reed used for making baskets (Arundo donax), but on the whole, the south side is an embankment (with lots of wildflowers, but not wetland wildflowers). There is no embankment on the north side; instead, within a few feet, the land very gradually rises, separating wet meadow from semi-arid scrubland.
We’ll meet at the Visitors’ Center and walk across the cortina. While we are walking on the north side of the dam, hunting for the most abundant plant species in El Charco (surprisingly, it numbers in the millions and is not a grass), we are bound to take greater delight in the sweeping and swooping of the swallows. This bird, of exquisite beauty in apparel and movement, hunts so persistently over the water that we must believe the dam is their productive insect hatchery, although we have never studied life in the water.
In walking only a few feet between these two habitats—wet meadow and matorral (scrubland with mesquite and arborescent cacti)—the contrast of habitats is vivid, as it is, say, between the sound of an oboe and an accordion. Seeing that change is one purpose of the walk.
The meadow is a dependent creature, requiring humans to maintain a dam that feeds the adjoining earth. We are bound to see the giddy pink of cosmos in the distance while we look at the roots of the dominant vegetation of the meadow with a variety of plants living on its edge.
Day of the Dead traditions
Afternoon Tea
Mujeres en Cambio
Thu, Oct 30, 4–6pm
Instituto Allende
Ancha de San Antonio 20
Advance ticket required,
on sale at Casa de Papel
120 pesos
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At the next Mujeres en Cambio event, Instituto Allende co-owner Jaime Fernandez talks about Day of the Dead traditions and shares details of the family altar he creates in the Instituto each year. |
Members will make a mouth-watering selection of squares, cookies, sandwiches and other afternoon tea delights. By attending this event you’ll help raise funds for educational scholarships for more than 150 young women from the ranchos around San Miguel. For information, call Roger Hind at 154-6552.
HUMAN 2015 works to meet UN goals
Inspired by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set forth by the United Nations, with the goal of halving extreme poverty in the world by 2015, an initiative called HUMAN 2015 was established in Oslo, Norway, in 2007. The eight MDGs form a blueprint agreement by the world’s countries and leading development institutions.
HUMAN 2015 represents a worldwide network of engaged people who are willing to work creatively and patiently to help others out of poverty and prevent ecocide. It is a nonprofit, apolitical organization.
A pilot project, “BOBO,” has been launched by HUMAN 2015 to work toward developing the world’s first completely self-contained and environmentally friendly city using renewable and sustainable energy technologies. In addition, the city will have well-developed education and health systems and vaccination programs.
Following a meeting on September 18, with the government of Norway, HUMAN 2015 has contracted with the government of the Republic of Sudan, Africa, to construct such a city with oversight and support from the Norwegian government.
To fund the construction of this and future eco-cities, HUMAN 2015 will organize a series of world humanitarian concerts, called the End Poverty World Tour campaign. All proceeds from the concerts will go toward funding BOBO projects worldwide. The first concert was held in Kongsvinger, Norway in March 2008, and the second concert might be held in Mexico, in Lagos de Moreno, where HUMAN 2015 has an office. The concert series is planned to wrap up in New York City in 2015.
With the goal of disseminating information and gaining support for the BOBO project, HUMAN 2015 has begun approaching national and local governments in countries that would most benefit from the construction of eco-friendly cities, including Mexico. HUMAN 2015 believes that aside from the work that a major construction project would create, BOBO settlements also would draw world attention, increase tourism and provide additional employment in the long term.
For more information about HUMAN 2015 and the BOBO project, see www.human2015.com.
The Eight Millenium Development Goals
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development
The MDGs:
synthesize, in a single package, many of the most important commitments made separately at the international conferences and summits of the nineties;
recognize explicitly the interdependence between growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development;
acknowledge that development rests on the foundations of democratic governance, the rule of law, respect for human rights and peace and security;
are based on time-bound and measurable targets accompanied by indicators for monitoring progress; and
bring together, in the eighth goal, the responsibilities of developing countries with those of developed countries, founded on a global partnership endorsed at the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico, in March 2002, and again at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in August 2002.
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