Poncitlán, and the northshore village of San Pedro Itzicán in particular, are ranked with the highest rate of kidney disease and renal failure in the world.
Multiple studies have identified myriad causes, the foremost being drinking water laced with toxic pollutants including heavy metals and 21,000 times the norm of sulfites, as well as the extreme poverty endemic to many of the area’s villages and towns.
Now, new hope is on the horizon for these lakeshore inhabitants following an October 22 public meeting that brought together new Poncitlán Mayor Arturo Israel Ascencio Gómez, and Anita Torres Guerrero, the community service activist he has appointed as director of the municipality’s community development centers, with leaders of charitable organizations, academics, professionals and dignitaries who will be involved in developing a working plan to assist the region’s most vulnerable residents.
The meeting was held at the Mezcala Center for Community Development, which has remained virtually vacant and unused for the past three years. The facility boasts a small health clinic, a full kitchen, a computer lab, a soccer field and basketball court, as well as several large meeting rooms and classrooms. It will be reactivated under the guidance of Torres, who is also taking charge of the smaller centers located in San Pedro Itzicán and Cuitzeo.
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