2nd Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Cruz del Palmar potential water Project

Record of Event pg 1 of 4
2nd Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Cruz del Palmar potential water Project


Where: Cruz del Palmar Community (40 mins from SMA)
When: Wed 10th March 11am – 1.30pm
Who: Laura Stewart (Rotary), Holly Yasui & Chela Martinez (for Cedesa) 32 adults (incl. 2 men), + 15 kids.

Purpose: Planning for the next stage of the water project

Update: As a result of the change of Scope of the MG received for the community of Lomas de San Jose, (who recently declined our project for lack of numbers). we now have immediate funding for this community,

With this MG we have sufficient funding for 19 cisterns, 1 pilot & 18 individual family cisterns. Vivienda de Arriba (neighbouring community) will receive the other 19 cisterns.

Record of Event

We managed to arrive on time this time, after getting lost last time!
When we arrived Yolande had already created a circular seating arrangement out of planks & bricks.

The people slowly filtered in, & we began the assembly at 11.30.

Item 1 – Welcome
Chela welcomed everyone & asked how long they thought the meeting should be – everyone looked a bit blank, so Holly responded – ideally 1 hour.

Chela explained it’s important to meet & get to know eachother & to relate, & in the process of relating establish a relationship of trust between “you & us”...

Everyone was asked to introduce themselves – first names only to make it easier. There was some giggling as people are embarrassed to speak, one young woman introduced her mother instead, until we insisted she say her own name.

Chela invited everyone to call her Chela, not Senorita, she said she’s over that, & asked them to feel confident to speak.

They were asked for a show of hands as to who was here today, but not the previous meeting. (approx 10 people).

Chela said she would co-ordinate the meeting this time, but in future meetings they will will elect a co-ordinator & record taker each time.

Item 2 – explanation & background
Chela “why are you here today?”
Responses –
I have come to hear what the program is about,
To hear about the cisternas, I’m interested because we need water.
I live in the top part of CdP & we have a lot of problems with water, we suffer a lot.
I want to know if I’m on the list, if I’m not I’ll leave the meeting, I want to know more about it.
I live here & I went to Los Torres to ask what they have & how they got it, & to see “what you gave to them”...
Record of Event pg 2 of 4

I’m attending to get more info, 3rd hand is not so good, you have to find out for yourself, that’s why I’m here.

Chela “what is the objective of this meeting/reunion?”
Chela invited Laura (through Holly) to talk a little about our history working with Cedesa in Los Torres. (I gave a brief history).
Chela talked about Cedesa, it’s not a program, it’s a school to train people on organising. Chela also explained that Rotary was a large organisation with more than 30,000 clubs worldwide, a service organisation, voluntary. Without everyone on the team we can’t resolve this, we’re a team, with integral development being the goal or objective.

Rotary can not resolve all the issues, but with Cedesa training you can take control of your own issues & resolve them, by finding necessary resources.

We wish to collaborate with people in the region to resolve the issue of lack of safe drinking water.

Chela “what water problems do you have?”
- Contaminated water
- Can’t drink the water
- Often water is not there when we turn on the taps
- Water from the taps (if it is there) is not drinkable.
We are offering to assist with the construction of cisterns to catch water for drinking & cooking.

Chela “If you buy water, who get’s the $$$?”
- Santorini, Ciel, Bonafont, & these are owned by Coca Cola & Pepsi & Nestle – foreign ownership.
“how much do you spend on water weekly?”
- 80pesos, $100 pesos, $120 pesos (depending on family sizes)
A garafon is 20 litres so each litre is 1 peso.
52 wks x 80pesos = 4140 pesos per year, money they don’t have!
Cisterna is 12,000 litres & costs approx $8000 pesos, once, & then water is free from then on.
In 2 years you could have bought your own cistern!

This is the significance of water & cost in your household. Water is life, the subterranean water does not represent life for you guys, since it is contaminated in this region, rain water is life.

Chela”how is this affecting your family economy?”
Response – with giggles – we’re getting poorer & the companies are getting richer.

We – Cedesa & Rotary, come out of solidarity, the govt has a responsibility to respond to your issue. The govt. Administers $$$ but where do those $$$ come from? “us, Taxes”
They have a responsibility to help you with resources to resolve your drinking water issue – yes or no? “YES”.






Record of Event pg 3 of 4

Item 3 – planning phase
How many families are there in CdP? – 300
We can’t help 300 families but we can train people, & have an impact. We can train one group & they can train others & after you can ask Govt. For help with financial resources to purchase materials.

The first phase is training for you:
33 families on the list.
Community provides participation, labour to build.
Cedesa provides the training
Rotary provides $$$ for the materials.

The list needs to be divided into groups to learn the full process of construction.
If you can’t help with construction, you can contribute by bringing food & drink to the workers.

The training phase consists of a pilot of 4 days to build the cistern. The work involves

1. Crochet the wire
2. Mix concrete
3. Apply concrete
All things most people can do easily. The final application of the concrete is a little more specialist but there are people in your community who do this easily.

Whoever participates in the training will be the list of the people to receive their cisterns first.


Item 4 Pilot project plans
Where would you like to build the first cistern?
Primary 200 kids
Secondaria 900 kids
Kinder 50 kids

They decided the primary school, since they provide breakfast at school & it has the longest school day. They use 2 garafons of water per meal. One cistern will not be sufficient water for drinking for all the kids, but will help with the meal preparation.

The smallest kids are the most prone to health issues.

In CdP all the schools buy water, they ask the parents for donations for this.

There are 33 people here today, we need to work in groups, it was decided to have 3 groups of 11. Those in bold are the chosen leaders.










Record of Event pg 4 of 4

Group 1.
Lucia
Sonia
Maria
Teresa
Imelda
Jose Luis
Ester Maya
Juana
Irene
Marta
Martin
Group 2
Laura
Yola
Diana
Celia
Julia
Soledad
Elizabeth
Leticia
Olivia
Estela
Wencilada Group 3
Cristina
Nicolasa
Benita
Marcelina
Eva
Leticia N
Esther
Herminia
Maricela
Luisa
Domitilia


All the leaders need to take info re their groups, & ensure they all have sufficient space (2.5m) for the cistern.
The head of the PTA (Sonia) will check with the Teachers (since confirmed yes).
We arranged materials will be delivered on the 5th April, but since then Rafael (from Los Torres) who will be doing the training, went to visit & co-ordinate directly with the community & changed the date until 22nd March. (Materials to be delivered before then – Laura placed the order on the 17th March & made payment).

Proposed demo days are now 22, 23,24,25th March. 10am to 5pm.

Leaders are responsible for co-ordinating their groups, ie attendance, food & drink
They will need to bring tools
Wheel barrow, wire cutters, ganchos/hooks, trowels, shovels, ladder, buckets.

More than 2 people from each group will need to learn the entire process, ideally 4. So that for the individual cistern construction there are more experts.

The next assembly is planned for 14th April at 11am –

The community thanked us & departed, & Yolande invited us in for some lunch.
Delicious, beans with chorizo, nopal & tomato, torillas, beans & a guava drink.

We headed out full & happy at 2pm, Laura headed back to town to attend her son’s birthday dinner, & Chela & Holly went on to the 2nd assembly in Vivienda de Arriba.