Record of Event
Where: Vivienda de Arriba – courtyard of church(40 mins from SMA)
When: 14th March 2012 1.40pm – 3.20pm
Who: Chela, Holly & Saul, (Cedesa) Laura, (Rotary), + 27 adults (incl. 7 men) & 10 kids & 2 dogs…
Purpose of assembly: To plan the next phase of the GG/Direct grant Water Cistern project which will be 19 more cisterns in Vivienda de Arriba (10) & Tierra Blanca (9).
Note: Re Guerrero : today’s assembly was postponed from March 7, as on that day there was an issue in the community of Guerrero which Chela & Saul needed to attend to. Guerrero is another community we have been working in. There are 12 families whose land is currently in dispute.
On March 7th a lawyer, earthmoving equipment & 50 police turned up to evict & bulldoze the house of at least one of the families.
Many people came in support of the families, including representatives from communities of the Citizen’s council – Cocira (formed by as a result of the water cistern projects).
It was stated by a member of the community that this was a rare event, ie to see other communities supporting one another, & was due to the organizational process of the water projects over the last 3.5 yrs.
As a result of the solidarity provided to the community, the lawyer decided to call off the earthmovers & the families are still in their homes.
Rotary has stayed out of the legal battle, but it should be noted we have continued to support the families to provide them with safe drinking water as the level of fluoride in this area is very dangerously high at 4+mg/l…
As an aside, at least one family mentioned that not only were they born on this land, but also their father & grandfather. There has also been a countersuit (filed co-incidentally the same day as the eviction notice was received), stating that the judge & the complainant have been colluding at the house of the complainant.
Regardless, the 19 (+1 pilot) cisterns in the community of Guerrero are almost completed & we continue our mission to assist people to resolve their drinking water situation.
When Vivienda de Arriba & Tierra Blanca community members heard the assembly of March 7 was postponed (& why) they decided to go to Guerrero to support their neighbours.
Consequently the first part of the assembly was a debrief of the current situation, Saul also read out an article that appeared in the newspaper Sol del Bajio on 14th March describing the situation in Guerrero on the 7th March.
The assembly moved onto usual routine.
Chela asked for a show of hands as to who was attending from Tierra Blanca & who from Vivienda de Arriba.
VdA had 15 people attending & Tierra Blanca had 16 (& more arrived later, not sure if Vda or TB)
Call for a co-ordinator & record taker for each community was made…
Lorena was appointed co-ordinator, & there were 2 record takers.
Page 2 of 2
Chela asked why everyone was here…
The response was “about the cisterns, to make agreements as to who will receive them”
“to define the training sessions, time & who”
There are 10 on the list for Vivienda de Arriba (with more waiting) & 11 on the list for Tierra Blanca.
They have already organized themselves into work groups (each community will work in one group). This the 2nd phase for each of these communities, so they are already very aware of what is involved, & even better are happy to support their fellow community members & work with them to train them. Saul will of course still be visiting to ensure there are no issues, but this is an excellent result & more evidence of community building.
Anna – from Vivienda, mentioned there are 8 more people who would also like cisterns, Chela asked if they were current residents or were away in the USA working – reiterating that the project was not just a cistern project but involved participation in the process , Anna said they were local & have been participating.
We asked how each of the communities had “prioritized” the participants, ie there are more people wanting cisterns than we have cisterns available. Vivienda de Arriba decided based on attendance at meetings, & Tierra Blanca had had a “raffle” (drawing straws). Tierra Blanca advised that there are at least 38 people still wanting to be involved in the cistern project, of which we had mentioned 11 cisterns were available…
The situation currently is that we have only materials for 35 extra cisterns (although we have funding for more materials)… the materials are special order & have a lead time as much as 3 wks depending on the factory, hence our supplier had ordered in advance sufficient materials for 35 more cisterns & so we have had to split into additional phases.
When we receive the additional funds promised from Port Lavaca Rotary Club we will be able to place the next order of materials & therefore have another meeting with Tierra Blanca (& maybe VdA) to allocate the next number of cisterns. (ay carray – life is complicated!)
It was decided by VdA that no pilot training session was necessary, that past cistern builders would assist the newbies. Tierra Blanca initially decided to do a pilot at the Kinder (39 kids) then decided to give it to one of the families on the list instead, & do without a pilot training session.
We mentioned the tools required, & they all knew what was needed (in fact Anna was listing them out loud from memory) & they all have them or can borrow them.
They decided they would like to get started this weekend & so asked if I could order & pay for the materials in time for delivery on Friday. (which I have done).
Contact details were given for the driver – ie the driver calls the first person & that person guides him for deliveries to each of the houses on the list in each of the communities.
Saul mentioned we have sufficient Plywood left from previous projects, order for Sand & Gravel was made on the following day, & order for the doors will be made once we have final cistern numbers (since the process of ordering the doors is a little more complicated).
The meeting came to a close approx. 3.20. We then headed over to Anna’s place for tacos of nopal & chicheron with boiled eggs – yum!!
