Record of Event
Where: Casa across from, in Vivienda Urbana, & Cedesa in Dolores Hidalgo
When: Monday 21.2.11 9am – 5pm
Who: Holly, Saul (Cedesa), Jim Johnson & Daughter Hadley, Steve Stevens & wife, Pedrito Maynard-Reid, Nancy & Larry, (all visiting from Walla Walla Rotary Club), Laura – San Miguel Midday RC, + approx. 7 group 4 people from Vivienda Urbana,
Purpose: Multiple:
1. For the Walla Walla visitors to know more about the project & participate in the construction of another cistern
2. For the Walla Walla to get to know more about our co-operating partners & their location.
Vivienda Urbana
Larry, Nancy & Pedrito were collected from Hotel Sautto in Centro (where they were staying) & taken to Vivienda Urbana to work with another group of people.
We arrived at approx. 9.30 as planned, we had thought there was the possibility of working with the same group on the next phase (ie mixing cement) but deliveries of cement were delayed so they worked with people from Group 4, weaving wires again.
Larry was straight into things, from his experience on Saturday, Pedrito had another lesson with Laura & “got it” right away…Nancy was quality control!
Laura left them to it & promised to return at about 12 midday to take them to Cedesa with the rest of the group…
Jim & Steve were waiting at Sautto (our meeting point) with wives & daughter, & Susan gracefully bowed out since there was going to be a crush in the van…The others piled in & off we went.
We collected hot & dusty, Larry, Pedrito & Nancy, bade farewell to the people with whom they had been working & drove approx. 45 mins to Dolores Hidalgo, collecting Saul on the way. We were supposed to also collect Humberto but apparently he didn’t realize this, (just as well, as would definitely have been suffocation in the back of the van with an extra!).
Cedesa Visit
We arrived at Cedesa (in Dolores Hidalgo) & were greeted by Tere & Holly, the visitors watched the video which tells the history of Cedesa, it’s people & mission.
We had a delicious lunch, schnitzel, rice, tortillas, nopal (cactus) salad, choko, beans, washed down with lemonade & followed by desert of guava paste (Pedrito calls it Guava cheese in Jamaica)…
Holly gave us a great tour of the eco-technologies that Cedesa teaches, lorena stove, dry/composting toilets, cisterns, grey water recycling, dehydrator, solar distiller & solar hot water, & viewed the scale diorama of the water shed of this area. We also saw nopal orchard & herb & vege gardens, big piles of healthy compost & skipped the worm farm (Holly doesn’t like worms… ).
After a spot of shopping at the onsite produce store, (Pedrito bought Jamaica tea, coffee, guava cheese, honey, orange marmalade & other assorted goodies), happy with full bellies & bulging knowledge banks, we climbed (crammed!) back into the trusty steed (known as a chevy astro!) & made tracks back to San Miguel…
