8th report of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project

Record of Event pg 1 of 1
8th report of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project

Where: Montecillo de Nieto Kindergarten
When: 05.05.10 12.20 – 1.20pm
Who: Elena & Laura (Rotary), 12 women & 1 man.
Purpose: Resolve Group 4 work issues

Meeting was called in answer to a request to help resolve working issues in Group 4. 2 women who are supposed to be part of the group are not working with the group, they simply came to see the work being done & then went home. The women who are working would like help to resolve this, & are suggesting another woman receive the materials of one of these women, since she is working with them of her own accord.

When we arrived the women were ready & waiting. They reported they have completed one cistern already, & it has water in it to stop it cracking, this water will be emptied before the rains, so to not contaminate the drinkable rain water.

Elena opened the discussions with a general description about growth, & not asking or relying on others, but taking responsibility for ones own actions, working in harmony & in peace to make success with your own hands…

The materials for just 3 of the 6 in the group have arrived, this is as planned, ie the first 3 cisterns need to be completed before the materials for the next 3 cisterns will be delivered.

Of the 2 women who have said to be not working, one was present & one came later during the meeting. The one woman attending said she could not work because her son was sick.

The other women in the group said they don’t mind if she receives the materials but they don’t intend to help her build her cistern, & they’re concerned this will create a precedent of others wanting to build their own cisterns without helping or co-operating in a group (one of the main objectives of this project is to learn to work in groups to solve issues).

The 2nd woman arrived, & discussion centred around responsibility & being part of a team.

There was a lot of discussion as to how to resolve this, whether the women should receive the materials or whether the materials be given to people who are working & prepared to work.

The woman with the sick son apparently is married to a “mason” who could help with the work of the cisterns. She would ask him.

A proposal was made - if the women demonstrate their motivation to make up for their lack of involvement, ie by bringing meals to the 3 families on the days she is unable to work, they will consider it..

Woman 1 with the sick son – Cruz Jimenez, will do extra work, ie her husband will help.
Woman 2 – Saleta - will provide food on Sat & Sun to the working party (breakfast & lunch), & will work with the group on Mon, Tues & Wed.

It was then raised that another woman – Consuelo Ramirez, had been working extra hard, despite not being on the list to receive materials for a cistern.

Laura suggested that since we are running slightly under budget there is enough $$ to make her the 27th cistern…

After the meeting was closed, Saleta admitted the reason she had not been involved, is she was afraid she couldn’t actually do the work required, she had never done this type of work before. This is why she had jumped at the chance of providing food, since that’s something she knows very well how to do! The others explained how easy it actually was & that she had to get over her fear & just start doing the work - & she’d soon realize how easy it is.

Next Assembly in Montecillo de Nieto 16.6.10 12pm at Kinder