David Frechter: From San Miguel Resident to Water Activist
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A Profile in Giving
David Frechter
From San Miguel resident to
water activist
David Frechter is a resident of San
Miguel de Allende who recently led
the launch of the “Clean Water for
Life Campaign” to support rainwater
harvesting services in at-risk
communities. The following is a
conversation between David and
Caminos de Agua about his
experiences becoming part of the SMA
community, getting involved with
‘Caminos’, and making a big
difference.
What first attracted you to
come to San Miguel. And how
long have you been
here?
In the early 2000s, like many
people, my partner and I came to
San Miguel as tourists and over
time were drawn back again and
again. In 2017, we ended up
buying a home, and we’ve been
here ever since, some years more
of the year than others – but we
consider SMA home.
"I have come to feel I am part of
Caminos, part of the fundraising
team I initiated, and in a way,
partof the communities who we’re
raising money for." –David Frechter
What are a couple of things that
make San Miguel a special place to
live?
We’ve lived in Europe over the years,
so we are comfortable living outside
the United States. We were
specifically attracted to living in
Mexico because we love the rhythm and
the quality of life here, especially
in San Miguel - and have easy access
to our children and grandchildren in
Dallas. Over time, the quality of
the community, both the Mexican and
expat cultures, have become very
important to us.
Can you talk just a little more
about the sense of community that
you mentioned?
Very quickly we found ourselves
meeting like-minded people that we
felt very compatible with and
relationships started to form. So, it
was natural that over time we
started to feel part of the community
– and that spanned both expats and
Mexicanos.
How did you first learn about
Caminos’ Work?
Our initial introduction was from an
ad or a story in the Atencion about
water testing. Our home in Centro had
a standard water purification and UV
filtration system and I was curious to
know how effective it was, or whether
we should be doing something
additional. So, we made an appointment
and a couple of guys from Caminos came
over to check our system and collected
water samples. They came back some
days later and made it clear that
harmful bacteria and pathogens were
being successfully addressed by our
system, but our levels of fluoride and
arsenic were higher than what was
healthy for us. They recommended
we consider buying and installing a
reverse osmosis system, which we did.
I was impressed with the experience
and joined Caminos’ mailing
list. From that point on, when
Caminos ran campaigns and match
challenges, we made
donations.
Can you put your finger on what it
was that created the transition from
being an occasional donor to
becoming actively involved?
Over a couple years of reading the
materials Caminos emailed, I liked
what I was learning and felt well
informed. I was excited about what
Caminos was doing, especially with
rainwater harvesting. They were
attacking the problem from several
different angles including using
technology, community involvement, and
a lot of education and training. It
was clear that the Caminos team had a
really effective model. I thought I
would like to become involved and make
my prior experiences in fundraising
available to Caminos de Agua. I
reached out, we began having
discussions and I got more
excited. I also felt it was time
for me to get more involved in the
community and there seemed to be good
synergy.
Can you explain briefly what the
“Clean Water for Life" Campaign is
and how it came about?
Good question. There was a growing
need in me to feel more involved in
the community beyond just writing a
check. Somehow, I didn't need to look
too far. Caminos spoke to me strongly,
and I had a background of building
fundraising teams to raise money for
causes I believed in. The next step
included deepening my knowledge base
about Caminos further, which involved
some field trips to see Caminos’ work
in action, and meeting with a number
of board and staff members. At the
same time, I reached out to a couple
of creative and skillful local friends
to build a team. Working with both the
team and the leadership of Caminos, we
decided to create a campaign that
would operate as an independent
auxiliary fundraising arm of Caminos
and actively reach out to potential
donors locally and abroad with the
goal of raising $100,000 over a four
month period.
Caminos is doing excellent work in a
number of areas, but to be effective,
we decided to focus tightly on
Caminos’ rainwater harvesting program
because it’s easy to explain how it
works and the benefits are so big and
visible. We’ve gotten off to a great
start. We have $50,000 pledged from
seven donors as a match. So, if we can
raise another $50,000 we’ll reach our
goal.
Photo: a "meet
& greet" event at Hardy
Holland's (dressed in blue)
house for the
Clean Water for Life fundraising campaign. David
Frechter, together with Hardy
Holland and Margo Beck, are the
team behind such an effort.
You visited one of the
communities where we do our work
fairly recently. Can you share a
little of how that experience
affected you
personally?
That field trip was very impactful
for me. Sitting with community
members, mostly women and children,
and learning how the water crisis
affected them, how they organized
themselves, went to work with
Caminos’ help - and then what the
result was; I think it was the
moment when I really understood the
scope of Caminos on a whole
different level. I have worked
with other NGOs and social profit
organizations in different parts of
the world, but to really experience
the community members and how they
feel about Caminos was very
heartfelt. This is very different
than suitcase NGOs who come in with
a load of money and preconceived
solutions. Caminos’ staff really
listen thereby gaining trust,
helping these communities understand
their options, and then guides them
towards building sustainable
solutions. The Caminos staff is
involved every step of the way. The
community feels great pride in what
they are doing and 100% own the
result. I was very moved by
witnessing it.
The last question: What's been
the most rewarding about doing
this work?
I'm a collaborator at heart. That’s
what I have done most of my
professional life, and in my
philanthropic efforts. I have come
to feel I am part of Caminos, part
of the team I initiated, and in a
way part of the communities who
we’re raising money for – and to
weave it all together into something
much bigger than any of us. It
doesn‘t get much better!
