“For Such a

Time as This”
Project Proposal
March 23, 2020

Urban Mosaic’s Initial Response

to the Coronavirus
What is Coming towards Us
Negligence on a large Scale. Mexico is behind Europe and the United States in its rate of coronavirus infection, but the
number of cases is rising steadily. While the official tally is 367 cases, as of March 23rd, it is more likely that the figure is
already in the thousands, given that Mexico is among the countries that has tested the least amount of people for the virus.i
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared yesterday that Mexico has entered Phase 2 (community transmission) of the
coronavirus pandemic, but the federal government has contested that claimii and has not yet clamped down on travel or
work, citing the enormous economic challenges. Andres Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s left-leaning populist president,
continues to make frivolous comments, minimizing the danger of the virus and blaming the right-wing media for it. At a news
conference this past week, he took out amulets that he says protect him, and he continues to attend rallies, hugging peopleiii,
while encouraging them to keep taking their families out to restaurants.iv

While the spread of the coronavirus may just be beginning in Mexico, the potential for devastation is huge, given the sheer
negligence and lack of preventative measures taken by the federal government. The WHO has explicitly encouraged the
Mexican government and president to show more leadership, which has not yet happened. v The Canadian ambassador to
Mexico today urged all Canadians to leave Mexico as soon as possible. While some states in the country, plus municipal
authorities in the metropolitan area of Mexico City, have implemented more strict measures this past weekend, they may
come too late, since the 25-million strong metropolis, which will be hardest hit by the pandemic, is so interconnected. There
are many great doctors here, but the health system is severely challenged, more so in the urban poor communities, were it’s
already basically non-existent.

The challenge begins with prevention. The call to maintain a safe distance from fellow human beings and to wash one's hands
frequently with soap and water - the main measure to prevent contagion - is often wishful thinking in the congested urban
poor neighborhoods where Urban Mosaic works. Many families share one or two small rooms and have no access to running
water, which means that the fight against the pandemic has little chance of success in these densely populated areas, with
overcrowded public transport systems, little or no waste management, lack of basic services and poor housing. UN Habitat
confirms this assessment in a publication from March 20th: “The pandemic will hit the most vulnerable people hardest, many
of them living in urban slums and informal settlements.” vi

Economic Impact. And then there are the economic consequences. Despite being the fifteenth most powerful economy in
the world, almost six out of ten Mexican workers (57.8%) are employed in the informal sector, which means that most workers
have no employment contracts, no sick leave and no unemployment benefits.vii In fact, 78% of Mexican workers do not have
"decent" employment, which includes a living-wage salary, job security, paid days off, and access to health and social security
benefits; and more than half of wage earners do not earn enough to buy a “canasta básica” (list of basic goods) for their
family.viii In the communities where we work, more than 90% of workers are employed in the informal sector and over 60%
work inside Mexico City proper. If factories, and stores, and businesses, and open-air markets and the public transport
system are closed down, as is currently happening in Europe and some parts of the United States, millions in Mexico will
literally be left with nothing from one day to the next - which is why the government has shied away from this step, with
devastating consequences for the spread of the virus.

Compounding this vicious cycle is that even if the formal economy is shut down, people will not simply be able to stay in their
homes but will have to go out to find some means of providing for their families, thereby increasing the possibility of their
exposure to the virus and bringing it back home. Unfortunately, the government has no plans in place to counteract this
reality and help the most vulnerable population. In Peru, for example, the government is now providing the equivalent of
$100/month to its most vulnerable citizens. No such contingency plan exists in Mexico. As a result, many of our economically
vulnerable neighbors will be more likely to become infected – triple impacted by a lack of access to running water;
overcrowded housing limiting the possibility of quarantining family members who are sick; and no economic means to stay
at home. Once we are in the full sway of the pandemic – in about a month – only Marshall law could prevent the further spread
of the virus, with devastating social impact.

In summary, though we hope this will not come to pass, we are preparing to be hard hit by this pandemic, with mortality rates
that will resemble those of Italy and Iran or worse – particularly in the urban poor communities where we work.
How is Urban Mosaic Responding?
What we’ve done so far: Over the past two weeks we have worked hard to
prepare ourselves and develop a faith-based response that is both
founded in the hope we have, as well as it’s practical implications. Our
main goal, during Phase 1 of the contagion, has been to work
preventatively, as well as forming people into organized units – via our
health clubs, youth clubs, citizen committees and churches. Together we
have been handing out close to 20,000 flyers and 11,000 soaps,
encouraging people to take COVID-19 seriously, and identifying homes with
people with preconditions and older than 65. We’ve also run short
workshops for kids, youth and mothers, in the streets of our communities,
in small groups of 10 or less, with all protective measures in place. These
mobile workshops, implemented by our staff and church leaders, are moving from street to street during this week,
educating participants on the reality of the Coronavirus, how to recognize the signs of the disease, participate in community
tracing to prevent the spread of the disease, develop emotional resiliency, and prepare to be ready to facilitate home care
and self-quarantine, as much as possible.

Parallel to this, these past ten days we equipped a total of 62 churches (between Mexico and Colombia), to make a transition
from public services to start home groups and home churches with groups of less than 10. We’ve developed and given them
very practical materials and guidelines to run these “Houses of Peace” (as we call them) and train home group leaders, while
encouraging pastors to organize these new home groups into WhatsApp groups to prepare for the time of quarantine. As of
now a total of 68 “Houses of Peace” have already been established or are being established, with more to come these coming
days. We expect that close to 150 home groups or more will be established. Finally, some a dozen of pastors have already
shown signs of severe economic distress this week, which has compelled different members of our team to rally together to
finance over 50 basic goods baskets for these pastors, at a value of roughly $800 USD.

What follows next?

To address the brunt of the pandemic that is about to hit Mexico, we hope to take
the following immediate actions that will work in concert, in hopes of helping to
flatten the infectious curve in our communities, while caring for people in difficult
conditions and spreading hope and practical guidelines during the quarantine of
Phase 3.

Access to Water: Because handwashing with soap and clean water is vital in the
fight against COVID-19, Urban Mosaic will purchase 50 large water tanks with a
capacity to store 290 gallons each. Through a connection with a socially conscious
business enterprise, we are able to buy these containers at half the cost. Once
purchased, we will form 50 water committees in conjunction with participating
churches and citizen groups and place the water tanks in front of the churches or
locales of community groups. We have already secured an agreement from the
Water Department of the municipality of Los Reyes la Paz to regularly refill these
tanks in order to provide continued access to sufficient water to populations living
in the most vulnerable conditions. The water committees will administer the water
tanks and help a total of 5,000 vulnerable families in their neighborhoods (100
families per water tank) get access to water for handwashing and personal hygiene
purposes.

Increasing Food Security: The economic impact of the pandemic will be

devastating for many residents, including our community leaders who will lose
work, and many church pastors who will have a much harder time receiving tithes
and offerings. To mitigate this devastating impact – we will start with an initial
investment to help 175 of our community and church leaders to receive one of the
following revolving productive units to increase their own food security. 100
leaders will receive a unit of 5 laying hens each, so they can count on regular egg
production by placing the hens in their patios or small backyards. Of five eggs laid
each day, they will have to return one egg to Urban Mosaic, so we can raise new
hens and generate new productive units for more leaders during the coming
months. An additional 25 leaders will receive a unit of one male plus three female
rabbits each, to start rabbit meat production for self-consumption. Of each time
the three does give birth to a litter of bunnies, the leaders will have to return a full
unit (one buck and three does) to Urban Mosaic, so we can generate more
productive units for other leaders. Finally, we will help 50 leaders start small
vegetable gardens in their patios or rooftop for self-consumption. In total, 175 key leaders and their families will benefit from
this initial food security program. In addition, we will launch two small chicken farms (in both Mexico and Colombia), for egg
and poultry meat production on a small scale. Once the laying hens, rabbit units and chicken farms start producing, we expect
that up to 250 leaders in our network will benefit within three months. While food security is not our core business, we have
been able to get professional advice and have people who know how to run the small chicken farms, rabbit production and
upkeep of laying hens.

Access to Health Care: Our small health center in one of our communities is the
only health care provider in an area of over 15,000 people. While we will not be able
to provide extensive health care during the upcoming health crisis, we are working
very hard to complete construction of our fairly large community center (putting
in windows, doors, indoor plumbing, toilets etc.). We did not plan for these
expenses right now, but in light of the urgency, we hope to have that community
center ready for use, in case we need to quarantine people there in upcoming
weeks. The community center may be able to house up to 100 people, if necessary.
In addition, we will provide basic medications (paracetamol), hand sanitizer and
honey-based cough medicine to people in need.

Video Production & Creation of an Online Platform for our “Houses of Peace”,
“Health Clubs” and “Citizen Committees”: In this difficult time ahead, we need to
provide hope-filled leadership and messaging, based in sound theology, to the
communities and churches we serve, both in Mexico and Colombia. Much material
is available online – some good and a lot quite terrible – with bad theology
dominating many feeds that are circulating among our local churches. We have
already and are continuing in the process of forming “Houses of Peace” into
organizational units. While most people don’t have access to streaming internet in
the communities we serve, the majority have access to smart phones and
WhatsApp. Most pastors can get internet in some form and thus download
compressed files that can serve to distribute via WhatsApp. With that in mind, we are preparing to launch a well-organized
and user-friendly online platform to help participating churches and “Houses of Peace” access pertinent and very practical
multimedia and written materials that we’re developing to grow a “culture of Shalom”, based in love of God, love of self and
love of neighbor. Our hope is that this platform will become a reference point for many churches and home groups in our
region, helping them walk through this crisis, not with panic, but in a spirit of practical love of neighbor, where the “Houses
of Peace” become the primary units to care for those vulnerable in their streets. Doing so, will help form the basis for more
churches practically seeking the Shalom of their own communities, even in this upcoming time of great pain and difficulty.

Costs of Project:

Concept Cost
Access to Water
o Purchase of 50 Water Tanks $4,000
Increasing Food Security
o 100 Units of Laying Hens $5,000
o 25 Units of Rabbits $2,500
o 50 Units of Vegetable Gardens $2,500
o 2 small chicken farms for egg and poultry production $3,000
Access to Basic Health Care
o Complete Basic Construction and Equipping of Community Center $6,000
 o Purchase of Basic Medication $1,500
Video Production & Creation of an Online Platform
o Creation of Online Platform $1,500
o Creation of Multimedia Content $1,500
Management Cost
o Training; Supervision $3,000
o Purchase of basic vehicle for our staff in Colombia* $4,500
TOTAL $35,000

*In Colombia we do not yet own an organizational vehicle and have waited to purchase one for financial reasons. However, with the outbreak of the virus,
we cannot have our staff take taxis or public transport, to reduce risk of infection. We have found a great deal on a car (Renault Sandero) and would love to
purchase this vehicle to increase the effectiveness, efficiency and wellbeing of our staff.

Conclusion
We thank anyone who would be willing to participate in this project to join hands with us, by helping us purchase the water
tanks to allow 5,000 vulnerable families to have water for hand-washing and basic personal hygiene, increase food security
for 250 leaders and their families (benefitting 1,250 people), provide access to very basic health care to the most vulnerable
people in need, and create an online platform that will initially serve close to 60 churches, 12 non-profit organizations and 50
citizen committees and health clubs in our network in Colombia and Mexico. We have to act very fast, since our window of
opportunity is shrinking daily to provide these goods to people. Thank you for considering joining us in this task!

In the weeks and months ahead, we will keep you updated, including how we hope to respond to the already present epidemic
of (domestic) violence in our country, that will only grow in coming months, as people’s stress levels will increase due to home
confinement and economic hardships. Thanks for your prayers as we seek to be salt and light and bearers of hope in our
fragile cities in Mexico and Colombia.

Contact Information

For MORE INFORMATION, please contact David Jones: david.jones@urbanmosaic.net

To GIVE ONLINE, go to https://urbanmosaic.net/donate/ and follow the instructions.

To donate by CHECK OR MONEY ORDER, payable to Urban Transformation International, PO Box 205, Wheaton, IL 60187.

i
https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-data (Most recent data as of 20 March 2020)
ii
https://www.infobae.com/america/mexico/2020/03/24/mexico-descarto-estar-en-la-fase-2-de-la-epidemia-de-
coronavirus-a-pesar-de-anunciar-contagios-locales/
iii
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/mexico-coronavirus-amlo.html
iv
https://mexico.as.com/mexico/2020/03/24/tikitakas/1585007721_104439.html
v
https://www.proceso.com.mx/621991/oms-mexico-compromiso-politico
vi
http://coronavirus.onu.org.mx/no-se-podra-parar-el-covid-19-sin-proporcionar-agua-a-las-personas-en-situacion-de-
vulnerabilidad-dicen-expertos-de-la-onu
vii
https://www.jornada.com.mx/ultimas/2019/06/02/cobra-narco-derecho-de-piso-en-50-de-municipios-de-morelos-
2512.html
viii
https://www.jornada.com.mx/ultimas/2019/06/02/cobra-narco-derecho-de-piso-en-50-de-municipios-de-morelos-
2512.html