It was a clear morning in 1999 when I met Apolinario Chile Pixtun from Guatemala at the URI Global Assembly held at Stanford University. We were there to work on the Preamble, the Purpose, the Principles (PPPs), and the Founding Charter. People from all over the world and from different faiths were invited to envision together how we imagined URI twenty years later.
It was a pleasant and dynamic working meeting where we learned to practice appreciative thinking and to engage in dialogue across diversity, sharing our dreams and ideas for a better and more peaceful world, and recognizing each other as champions of a culture of peace.
Tata Apolinario, as many of us called him, was a beloved Mayan spiritual leader in his community, where he promoted the creation in 2010 of the CC GRAN CONFEDERACION DE CONSEJOS PRINCIPALES AJQ’IJAB ORIGINARIOS DE PUEBLI MAYAB , Guatemala (Nimalaj Molojri'il Richin Aajq’ijab’ 'Kamol Taq B’ey ’ Mayab’ Ixim Ulew).
Since then, this CC has been active, with its first representative today being Florinda González, another Mayan spiritual leader, guardian of the “Nahual of the Heart of Corn,” designated by her grandmother and the wise elders who are guardians of the tradition. She is the protagonist of this story of IMOX and the fruitful alliances.
I've known Florinda since the beginning of the CC GRAN CONFEDERACIÓN; I have a deep appreciation and admiration for her spiritual work, her warmth, and her connection to Mother Earth and the Sacred. She was very enthusiastic about the virtual meeting organized by the URI Global Office in September 2025 for the launch of the Seed Grant Projects supported by the donation.
Sarowitz told me she was delighted with what she heard Edgard Banegas and Helen Gutiérrez from the National Council of Honduras say about the rainwater harvesting system to mitigate droughts. I reminded her that at the URIALC Mesoamerican Youth Meeting we held in 2018 in Sololá, Guatemala, she had expressed her desire to help solve the daily survival problem her community faces during the dry season.
Florinda's dream had been weaving its tapestry in the Universe, and thanks to the connections of URI, we can say today that it became a reality thanks to the power of alliances: on the one hand, with Sarowitz, which is the source of financing; and on the other hand, the collaboration of the members of the National CC of Honduras, who have successful experience in this self-construction system.
It was gratifying to have served as a bridge when Florinda enthusiastically shared that she had heard about the Honduran experience with rainwater harvesting and the prompt response she received.
With great generosity and a strong sense of service, they immediately added her to the WhatsApp group of the Circles of Cooperation ( CCs) that were developing the same project, and they have communicated with her regularly in an enriching way. She has been invited to virtual training sessions and to see the system's installations in other CCs in Honduras. The support and cooperation between these two CCs during the months of implementation have been exemplary; I hope they will serve as an inspiration to other Circles of Cooperation.
Their rainwater harvesting project to combat the drought was named IMOX, which is the first nahual in the wheel of 20 nahuales, or energies (days), combined with 13 numbers from the Sacred Mayan Calendar ( Cholq'ij ).
It represents water in all its forms: seas, rivers, lakes, wells, and rain, as well as the primordial waters from which life arose. In Mayan cosmology, it is associated with the purification and protection of waters and oceans, and it is said to encourage the celebration of ceremonies to ask that water sources remain alive.
I therefore wish that all blessings be bestowed upon the IMOX Project and that fruitful alliances abound, both from donors and through mutual support among community members.
