Volunteers continue to clean up an impressive amount of garbage from the Arroyo de las Cachinches in San Miguel de Allende, although the mural project planned for there has been delayed. In other news, a new community project is promoting kindness and information sharing, while another is regularly bringing free pet sterilization to rural areas.
Volunteers removing large amounts of garbage from Arroyo de Las Cachinches
A group of volunteers has spent 12 Saturdays since January hauling out garbage from a stretch of the Arroyo de las Cachinches between Calzada de la Aurora and Canción de India. Their most recent cleanup of the stream on June 22 resulted in 120 bags of garbage being removed to the dump.
The goal is to clean up the arroyo, restore the soil and add more plants and trees. Volunteers include neighbors, locals, foreigners and others who are working together on the project. They have cleaned up the area, donated to pay for gardeners and funded trucks to haul trash to the municipal collection site.
The work is being organized by Colectiva Ecología en la Montaña with coordination by Gabriel González and Juanita Nolasco.
For more information or to donate to the arroyo cleanup project, you can email arroyocachinches@gmail.com.
Arroyo mural project delayed over permitting issue
The launch of the La Vida de Las Cachinches mural corridor project has been temporarily postponed due to an unexpected permitting issue. Mural painting had previously been scheduled to take place June 12–14, with an inauguration of the murals planned for June 17.
“We will be working closely with the appropriate authorities to secure the remaining approvals and look forward to announcing new painting and inauguration dates as soon as possible,” said April Gaydos, president of Audubon de México, which is managing the project.
While this development is disappointing for those involved, it hasn’t diminished the enthusiasm of the artists, volunteers and supporters behind the project. Months of preparation will allow the organizers to immediately reignite the project once the go-ahead from the city is received.
The completed project will feature an illustrated map showing the arroyo’s journey from Parque Landeta — a 35-hectare natural reserve located next to the El Charco del Ingenio botanical garden — through the city to the Presa Allende reservoir. There will also be a mural painted by local schoolchildren. The other 10 murals will focus on water, birds, insects, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, plants and trees, as well as moments of wonder, hands for the earth and cycles of life.
SMA Kindness Collective offers free help settling in
An NGO that launched in San Miguel about two months ago aims to bring information about the city and connection to community members, whether they’re newcomers or longtimers. Formed by resident Lisa Williams and a few other like-minded people, the SMA Kindness Collective is presenting information that newcomers might need to make settling in easier.
“It grew out of the idea that people shouldn’t have to figure out everything alone,” Williams said. “From shared experiences, it’s a little guidance to make it different for people settling into the community.”
Originally from the Bay Area, Williams moved to San Miguel from Puerto Vallarta about four years ago. She had previously lived in Switzerland, where she did similar outreach work for those coming there to work and needing support settling in.
Key topics for exchange
The group is holding social happy hours and informational presentations on the second and last Thursdays of the month at Silveyra’s Restaurant at Zacateros 41 in Centro. Attendance is free. The first gathering drew 30 people, Williams said, which encouraged the organizers and told them that the effort had sparked something in the community.
“What was really cool is, at the very first event, we had someone who had just arrived the day before to someone who has lived in San Miguel for over 50 years,” she said.
Participants said they would like information on four key topics, Williams said: residency issues, places to live, banking and currency exchange and accessing health care. These subjects will be part of a lecture series over the next three months or so, she said.
For more information, or to contact the SMA Kindness Collective, visit the group’s Facebook page.
Rosey’s Wish brings free pet sterilization to rural areas
A mobile sterilization van called Rosey’s Wish has been traveling outside San Miguel since March 2025 to help pet owners in rural areas spay and neuter their dogs and cats. The NGO’s president, Donna Lynes-Miller, said 1,203 animals were sterilized last year, and that the goal for 2026 is 2,000.
“We have much work to do to break the cycle of reproduction,” she said. “In Centro [San Miguel’s historic center], there aren’t as many homeless animals, but when you go out in the campo, you see a different world.”
Rosey’s Wish is named for a sick and malnourished street dog who was rescued in October 2023 at the Presa la Cantera reservoir, located a few miles from downtown.
“She was homeless and probably born to a litter of homeless animals,” Lynes-Miller said. “She was in pretty bad shape. I rescued her and fostered her, and my property manager adopted her. Rosey is doing very, very well.”
Breaking the cycle of reproduction
Lynes-Miller said people are contacting Rosey’s Wish because of the “pretty good reputation” the group has developed in San Miguel. To set up a sterilization event, a community host serves as a central point of contact and works with the group’s operations manager.
“We need a minimum of 40 animals [to sterilize] in one day,” Lynes-Miller said. “We have gone up to 85 in one day, but the minimum to efficiently fire up the bus is 40.”
She said it’s important to break the cycle of reproduction, meaning that 70% of the animals in a community must be sterilized for the birth rate to equal the death rate.
“It’s just a matter of money, people and organization,” she said.
Rosey’s Wish can always use volunteers and donations. The group’s Facebook page has more information, and donations can be made here.
Cathy Siegner is an independent journalist based in San Miguel and Montana. She has journalism degrees from the University of Oregon and Northwestern University.
