Report of Regional Meeting & Inauguration Cruz del Palmar

Where: Casa of Cata in Cruz del Palmar (& 3 other family casas)

When: March 29 2012 11am – 4.20pm

Who: Chela, Holly, Saul (Cedesa) Laura, (Rotary), + more than 158 people.

Purpose:

1. Regular Regional meeting of the now 22 communities part of the Consejo – Cocira formed as a result of the Water Cistern Project.
2. Inauguration of the 41 cistern project part of the Global Grant 25437 funded by Calgary RC & Alberta CIP & combined with Direct grants from Tallahassee RC, Port Lavaca RC & private donations, as well as excess funds from previous water cistern projects.

Holly & I arrived a little late at 11.40 & the meeting was in full process. There was a huge gathering of people seated & standing & participating in the discussions.

The roll had already been “called” & a list of communities & numbers of representatives was already made. Attendance was listed as follows:-

Corralejo 5, Pena Blanca 18, Capaderillo 3, La Tinaja 16, Tierra Blanca 3, Artesanos 3, Juan Gonzalez 17, Palmita II 14, Vivienda de Arriba 4, Villa de Guadalupe 8, Vivienda Urbana 5, Guerrero 2, Magueyes 2, Presita de Santa Rosa 10, Los Torres 3, San Lorenzo 3, Cienega 5, Cruz del Palmar 31, Montecillo de Nieto 4, La Joya 1, Banda 1. (there were more late arrivals but these were not recorded by community).

The Co-ordinator had been chosen – Roberto & record takers were taking notes for each community as well as for the Consejo.

The agenda had been decided & listed:

1. Presentation & Introduction
2. Programing of regional meetings, micro regional meetings & community direct attention assemblies.
3. Sanitarios secos update re resources
4. Cistern project – inaugurations/ next project with Sapasma
5. Pipa Communitario
6. Diplomado de turismo Rural
7. Report re Codecin
8. Inauguration of 41 cisterns at Cruz del Palmar

Item 1:This had already taken place (hence the list of attendees above)

Item 2: Programming of regional meetings, micro regional meetings & community direct attention assemblies.

After some discussion it was agreed that micro regional meetings were ideal to discuss issues closer to each community & with smaller more productive groups enabled. The list of micro regions was drawn up, & each decided when they would next meet, they will meet on a 2 monthly basis.

Regional meetings will be held every 3 mths (ie qtrly) unless there is a special meeting called.

Community direct attention/organisation assemblies will be every month with Saul or Chela attending each one.

Traspatios (backyard production) & health workshops will continue in each of the communities that wishes them, with other Cedesa “specialist” promoters, ie Juana for health, & Benigno for backyard production.

The special training workshops will also continue at Cedesa, with the next one being on alternative construction techniques, this one is aimed at the young men, many of whom are currently unemployed, to teach them inexpensive alternatives to the normal brick construction. They will learn rammed earth techniques as well as adobe. The idea being as a team they can assist eachother to construct housing for themselves. Traditionally young men in this state go to the USA to accumulate enough money to begin to build themselves (& their new families) a house. We know how fraught this tradition is & in attempt to offer alternatives this new workshop is being offered.

Micro region 1 – close to the Presa. Next Meeting 18/4 10am at Vivienda Urbana

Capaderillo, Guerrero, Vivienda Urbana, Presita de Santa Rosa

Micro region 2 – Next Meeting 16/5 10am Montecillo de Nieto

Montecillo de Nieto, Los Torres, Cruz del Palmar, Banda, Artesano, Magueyes

Micro region 3 – Next Meeting 25/4 Juan Gonzalez 10am

Vivienda de Arriba, Tierra Blanca, Juan Gonzalez, San Lorenzo, Villa de Guadalupe, Cienega, La Joya

Micro region 4 – Next Meeting 23/5 10am La Tinaja

Corralejo, Cinco Senores, La Tinaja, Palmita II, Pena Blanca

General Assemblies, or Regional meetings will be every 3 mths, the next one June 28/6 at Guerrero 11am.

Item 3: Sanitarios Secos

The work continues on this project, the funding has been promised but they are still working through all the requisites to receive the $$ & begin the actual project.

Item 4:

Cistern Project Inaugurations:

Cruz del Palmar today, La Tinaja Tues 24/4 at 11am, Guerrero Sat 28/4 at 11am (3 Esquinas to be advised).

A commission from Cocira will attend the inauguration in Guerrero in solidarity.

Sapasma next project:

Holly advised Waldo has said a next Sapasma project is likely within the next 2 months. Sapasma currently has a policy of providing cisterns only to communities without water, not to communities with Contaminated water, Cocira would like to discuss this with Sapasma, ie to see whether this can be changed, as it is essential that people with contaminated water have access to safe drinking water, even if they have well water for domestic use.

A list of priority communities was created, but depends on the existing policy of Sapasma & whether that can be changed.

Action: water tests need to be done at the following communities – ie not yet tested

La Joya, Corralejo, La Tinaja, Palmita II, Vivienda Urbana. The cost to the communities for these tests is $300 pesos, $150 for arsenic test & $150 for Fluoride test. These costs are to cover the consumables for the Cedesa Lab ie bottle, testing strips, chemicals etc. Chela asked that each community ask families to contribute even 5pesos each, to cover these costs.

Item 5: Pipa Communitaria

It had previously been proposed by Sapasma that a plan for the Consejo to operate their own Pipa (water truck) for deliveries of water to their own communities could be put into place. This has been discussed at great length in previous assembly & each representative has spoken with their communities. Each of the communities were asked to comment & vote on the proposal, there were many comments, “the purpose of cisterns is to collect rain water, which is pure water, it makes no sense to fill the cisterns with other water & will be very complicated to administer” “we don’t know the exact costs but we know it is likely to be expensive & it will be very complicated” “we just want rain water or people will not value it & will waste water” “it will be too complicated, we are many communities & it will be difficult to administer & control” “I don’t think it is viable with all the issues that could pop up, like a broken pump, no electricity, lots of potential expenses” “lots of responsibility & a lot of work” “difficult to prioritise deliveries, we could have lots of people wanting water at the same time & this would mean competing against eachother, & risking solidarity”

The vote was unanimously “NO”.

A commission will go to Sapasma to explain the reasons for “NO” vote & make alternative suggestions for resolving the issues - & work hard on getting existing Pozos(wells) functioning – in Los Torres, Cienega & Montecillo de Nieto – this will cut down the number of families without water significantly.

Also, extra pipa deliveries need to be asked for for the communities without water in Villa de Guadalupe for example.

At this point an additional item was added – discussion on ethics & values. Chela worked with the crowd to discuss the value of working hard to improve your community & your region, working with good heart & good conscience.

Item 6: Diplomado de Turismo Rural

Cedesa is hosting another rural diploma similar to the water one held 2008/09. It is described as follows:

Diploma course on Sustainable Rural Tourism, taught by Dr. Felipe Macias, University of Guanajuato (Social Science and Humanities)

Module 1 – social organization

Module 2 – sustainable energy in the rural environment

Module 3 – Territory and natural resources

Module 4 – Gender, environment and sustainable development

Module 5 – Landscape and special aspects of the countryside

Module 6 – Reception, services and goods to offer to visitors

Northern Guanajuato is diverse, not only because of its people and the natural reosuces, but also because of the ecology that provides food, medicine, fuel, rest, tranquility and recreation for its inhabitants. Without a doubt, rural areas have much to offer the urban population, including goods and services and the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences. Campesinos are the ones who protect, maintain and take care of natural ecosystems, especially the water, soil, flora and fauna and cultural heritage. Rural tourism includes actions that teach/confirm respect for the environment and natural resources as well as an opportunity for campesinos to improve their socio-economic situation.

Item 7: Codecin – Coalition of the Cuenca

Cedesa & representatives from Cocira are part of a coalition of the Cuenca (the region that includes the 7 municipalities sharing the same aquifer). They are working on various issues including maintaining conservation & defence of the aquifer & defence of the native seeds. This coalition is made up of many national organisations & is beyond just San Miguel.

At this point the assembly concluded & the Inauguration began.

Cata described the agenda which included first a banquet & rest & relaxation (after the long meeting), we then headed off to visit 3 cisterns nearby.

The 41 cisterns in this community were completed in record time, 3 wks to construct all the cisterns, which is an average of 2 cisterns per group per week.

The participants receiving the cisterns spoke their thanks at each of the houses. A huge thanks was extended to Rotary both local San Miguel & the international clubs who have made this project & continuing process possible. The speakers spoke with love about their cisterns & the difference it will make to their lives.

Two of the cisterns had been amazingly decorated. The first one had a very cute cobbled path around the circumference of the cistern, with another width of garden defined by large jagged rocks. The garden was filled with lillies & the cobbled path included specially selected rocks found in the dry river bed nearby. They had even created a little bridge going over the space where the water from the discharge would flow when they clean the cisterns out…There was also a little stone carved deity which they had found while excavating dirt to make the tepetate bricks in the area, he was placed looking over the tap. It was topped off with a full glass bottle of coke, & the woman joked that when her children & grandchildren come to visit they will be very happy to drink fresh water instead of the unreachable coke.

The last cistern was also incredibly decorated, this one had coach lanterns placed evenly around the top rim of the cistern, it was surrounded by a ledge of cement with little stone carvings placed evenly watching, it was topped off with a very ornate metal cross with a plastic baby doll attached, & with a terracotta bird watching on.

There were streamers & balloons & a ribbon strung across a metal arch way… Chela asked me to say a few words, I was choked up & could barely get any out but managed to congratulate the large crowd on their accomplishments in the last 3.5 yrs, beyond just the water cisterns, to have organised themselves to continue to have council meetings of this size & continue to work on their issues is a mammoth achievement.

Chela spoke & explained this is likely my last project since I am moving to Mexico City with my family. I invited them to visit us in Mexico City & couldn’t get any more words out with tears streaming. Flashing past were many memories of where this all started, all the zillions of emails & huge support from Bill Webb in Tallahassee & the many other clubs, Districts, Foundation & organisations that have supported these communities. How these communities continue to have faith that their work will be rewarded & how it has been.

The ribbon was cut & confetti was tossed. Cheers went up, & Holly & I made our excuses & raced off.

I really wish that Bill, Norman, Skip & all the members from all the other clubs that have been involved in this project from the start could have been there with us, but actually in a huge way you all were!!

Love

Laura

(As an addendum, 3 of the women from Los Torres were at the assembly, they bought with them a list of 12 more families who would like to receive cisterns, this will bring the total to 82 out of 91 families, & will be the last phase – we have decided to include them in this final project, bringing the project full circle – Los Torres is where we started & will be where we finish this final project – ay carray!)

Mini Regional Consejo Meeting 13.10.11

Who: Saul, Holly (Cedesa), Waldo, Alva (Sapasma)
Absent (Laura, Chela)
Communities represented:......

A mini Regional meeting was held at Cienegita on Thurs 13th Oct. to determine the priority for the receipt of resources for water cisterns.

It was decided Cienega would receive the 19 cisterns available from the Sapasma Funding Grant II...

****The next priorities are Juan Gonzales, La Palmita II and Correlejos.****

Communities of Cinco Señores, Villa de Guadalupe didn't show up at today's meeting, (nor La Tinaja, but Saul didn't advise them - they are difficult to reach since there is no cel phone signal there).

9th Regional Event of the Communities requesting assistance with water

Record of Event

Where: La Tinaja Community – Health Clinic

When: 28^th Sept. 2011

Who: Holly, Saul, Chela & Jacqueline -Visitor from Honduras (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), 104+ adults incl. 11 men,

Purpose of the meeting: usual 4-6wkly meeting of the representatives forming the Consejo for the 18 communities in this región. (there have been more tan 9 events, but this is the 9th I have atended).

The Consejo was formed in Oct. 2010 to work together on common issues affecting the communities in this Consejo, primarily wáter but also other issues, such as dry toilets, roading, backyard production & health issues.

La Tinaja is on the outermost extremity of San Miguel, on the road to GTO.

Pickup truckloads of people arrived from all communities, 3 women had walked for more than 2 hrs from Cinco Senores to be here.

Tarpaulins had been strung to extend the shade structure, & people from La Tinaja arrived carrying as many chairs as they had.

Saul welcomed everyone, thanked them for making the journey here today & handed over to Adela from La Tinaja… She also thanked everyone for coming & welcomed everyone.

Saul said, lets get going & plan today’s agenda, Cata – president of the Consejo is here, but unfortunately Roberto – Secretary could not make it.

Each of the communities was invited to stand, introduce themselves & give a count of attendees:

1. Juan Gonzalez 10 2. Guerrero 4 3. Montecillo de Nieto 3 4. Vivienda de Arriba 6 5. Vivienda Urbana 1 6. Villa de Guadalupe 2 7. Cruz del Palmar 11 8. Cienega 2 9. Capaderillo 6 10. Tierra Blanca 8

11. Corralejo de Abajo 6 12. Los Magueyes 6 13. Cinco Senores 3 14. Presita de Santa Rosa 3 15. Los Torres 8 16. La Tinaja 18 + 2 + 6 17. La Palmita II 1 18. San Lorenzo 3 Total 109

Chela introduced Jacqueline from Honduras she is a co-ordinator of Misereor a global organisation. She is here to know more of work being done here, she was grateful to be able to see what is being achieved on various levels, congratulated the gathering on a grand meeting & encouraged them to continue to keep up the good work & commitment.

Chela introduced the board of the Consejo, some members couldnt make it but had sent representatives in their place.

Chela gave a brief introduction of the history of the consejo & the work Cedesa has been doing in the región. Holly & Laura explained that when they are talking it is for Holly to translate finer points that Laura may have missed in spanish. Chela explained that it is Rotary’s “fault” that Cedesa began working in SMA, they have previously worked in Dolores Hidalgo & surrounds.

3 yrs ago Laura from Rotary approached Cedesa to begin a Project in the first community of Los Torres, “we have been a good team, working on solutions piece by piece & we have come a long way” Saul has been working in same “symphony” with Cedesa & Rotary for almost 1 yr.

Proposal for co-ordinator – Adela (31), Ana (34)

Proposal for record taker – Adela

Call for points for the Agenda:

Cata proposed the following points.

1. Sanitarios Secos update
2. Cisternas update
3. Workshop
4. Information re coalition in defence of the Cuenca de la Independencia
5. Propose an “encuentro” (conference) of Consejo in November
6. General points

Moment of inspiration:

Saul explained he had been tasked to come up with the moment of inspiration & the more he looked the more confused he became, he quoted a phrase about organisation that loosely translates to “now is the time to raise our voice to the govt. Because if we don’t we deserve what we get”

Everyone was asked to add to this –

“if the govt leaves it to us, it’s up to us to make ourselves Heard”

“we need to work together to organise ourselves”

“it’s a question of what we do to deserve things, if we don’t work & are lazy we don’t deserve anything, & we should also know our rights”

Chela asked why we need to raise our voices – “so people can hear us”

“so people are aware of the situation in the campo”

Do we have enough wáter & toilets for example? “no” , then we deserve to not have these things if we don’t raise our voice & work for them.

Saul: Organisation in families, communities & between communities is essential, to organise to achieve solutions to our common problems. One person does not have the voice of 18 communities, for this reason it’s good to work together.

There is planning for 8000 houses near Atotonilco, they are going to need sanitation & wáter, which is not easy for 8000 houses. We need to be more informed of the plans & in this decisión, one comment from the crowd was “this development will not have dry toilets, they are likely to want drainage which will affect our river”

Item 1: Sanitarios Secos (dry toilets)

Cata: We have been working for a long time on this Project, we’re at the point of having resources for some Sanitarios Secos.

We feel we have 1st priority for SS since we have been working so hard for them, even if there are others with more need, it’s not fair if those not working receive them for nothing.

We are receiving $4milliones pesos out of $8milliones originally slated for another community Tambula. The Govt wants to administer the funds, not through Cedesa or Rotary, we would have preferred to receive the $$ for the materials & provide the labour ourselves to extend the funds further, but since this is more than $2milliones the restriction is that a contractor (& bid process) must be followed.

Unfortunately that means the $$ will not stretch so far, as the labour & co-ordinators will have to be paid for out of the $4m… The new design, 2 chambers, has been accepted.

Next week Desarrollo Social will be sending out social workers to verfiy that families on the list do not have any form of toilet currently. Unfortunately this will exclude many on the list that have been working hard for this, for example DIF houses must have flush toilets installed as part of the requirements, even if there is no wáter to flush the toilets. So, these toilets sit there, not functioning but because they exist they exclude the participant from this phase of the dry toilet Project.

We are currently awaiting the result of the “bid” process to see how much 1 dry toilet will cost, to know exactly how many can be built.

We attempted to argue the situation re the bid process, but it is a requirement. “I have a septic tank, but no wáter to uses it, so I don’t qualify – even though it’s a decoration because of the lack of wáter”

“many people on the list no longer qualify, even though they have been working on this for ages, & there will be others that do qualify that havent worked at all, it’s not really fair”

“it is unlikely we will just be able to ‘replace’ people on the list, we will probably just lose our allowance”

Chela- We are working in Phases, this will be the 1st Phase. Our objective will be for all campesino families to obtain a dry toilet, so we will continue to work & do it in phases.

If we do it in less than $2millones phases, we don’t need a “bid” process, but since this one if $4milones bids are needed.

Concha (from Los Torres) “we have been working continuously for 3 years & multiple phases, & often the ones inthe last phase are the ones that work the least or the Young ones who just got a house. It’s a struggle to ensure the ones working are the ones receiving the benefit, in some cases the ones working are not eligible as they have a “toilet” even if it does not function, so we need to make sure it doesnt just go to just anyone that “qualifies” by not having a toilet”.

A list of names was created of the people who will accompany the social workers in each community.

There was a vote as to whether or not to accept the conditions of receiving the $$ (ie the bid process), all voted yes, despite it ultimately no being favourable for all.

Item 2 – Cisterns

Saul gave an update, there is a 108 cistern grant with 95% likelihood, coming from Rotary grant, funded by Chinook RC & District & Alberta Govt & The Rotary Foundation. It will be for

Presita Santa Rosa : 24

La Tinaja 23

3 Esquinas (near Palencia) 23

Cruz del Palmar phase II 38

Laura asked for confirmation that CdP phase II was priority, Tierra Blanca person said “CdP have been working a long time so maybe they should receive the available 38”, the rest of the communities all voted in favour of CdP receiving the phase II cisterns.

Saul also explained that Sapasma have agreed to fund a 2nd Project with us.

This will be for approx 62 cisterns.

So far Guerrero is included for 24 cisterns

& Los Torres phase III for 19 cisterns

Sapasma have 4 solo cisterns they would like to build, therefore 15 available…

Currently looking at Los Magueyes & San Jose de los Allende…

One genteman in the crowd commented “I have been to San Jose de Los Allende, I was working there one time, & they have a really bad wáter situation, they are basically drinking out of puddles”

Item 3 – Workshop

Saul talked about the forthcoming “workshop” – ie working in groups on the backyard production Project. Production of food is going to be crucial this year, since no rains have come & many crops are failing. People will be forced to buy food & the prices will be pushed up since many are having to buy it.

During the workshop we will learn how to grow a vege garden including:

A micro tunnel for Nopal cactus

Natural medicines

& the next workshop will cover:

Conservation of soils & plants to grow for health.

What is your biggest urgency? “wáter” & “food”

It’s a priority to achieve wáter & food, do you guys have maize? “no, because no rain, no beans, no maise no calabassas” “the maize are all drying & dying, we desperately need wáter, so it’s going to be urgent to find food from other sources” “we’ll have to eat nopal”,

Who know’s how to grow nopal in a tunnel? (only a couple) so let’s have a training sesión…

3 people per community can come to Cedesa for the training, these people will be the Train the trainer people, they will be expected to pass on the valuable info they learn. You will need to co-ordinate & contribute for transport costs. Holly is going to try to find money to subsidise the cost of food for the day, & maybe help with a bus.

Who wants training? – they all eagerly raised their hands.

Laura mentioned that it is difficult for Holly to raise money & that participants could contribute at least what they can, eg 10 pesos. After brief discussion this was agreed, they will contribute what they can.

Taller/Workshop will be Saturday 29th October at 10am in Cedesa /leaving Cienegita at 8am

Item 4 Form part of the coalition in defence of the Cuenca de Independencia

Saul asked Audelia to report on what happened in the recent meeting re the Cuenca, held in Juriquilla, this was a follow up sessión of the diploma of wáter studies carried out by Dr Ortega from Unam. It included extras in the latest session, ie those that had joined the Consejo since then.

The subject covered the Aquifer that serves this región including 7 municipalities. Topics included contamination (natural & man-made), agriculture over-use. All attendees reviews info & dicussed issues, including prevention of over-use, pollution etc. The Consejo was described to these 7 municipalities as a good example of how to achieve positive change, it was decided a coalition should be formed to bring together the 7 municipalities, to work together to defend the aquifer.

Saul said the Consejo needed to appoint representatives if they considered this a worthwhile action, hence he is informing them today of the purpose of the coalition & the Consejo can choose to be part of it or not.

Chela asked who remembers what a coalition is – Saul re-explained, it is unión & organisation of people in defence of a common cause – what cause? Wáter, tres, natrual resources, rivers. There were about 10 organisations meeting at Cedesa in Sept. & do you think it is worthwhile to be part of this?all answered “yes”… the only responsibility is to have responsibility.

It is a process we are building Little by Little, we dont need to know how as you are all learning how to be part of this coalition, is everyone in agreement? “yes”

Saturday 22.10.11 10am @ Cedesa – Coalition in defence of the Cuenca

Previous attendees Cata, Roberto & Abraham – Consejo board members.

Item 5 – Consejo reflection, summary

Formed in approx Oct 2010, Saul invited people to evaluate the work & process to date & see if there are people who want to become reps or resign – how is it working, what needs to change?

Cata said it has been a lot of work, hopefully she has done a good job, but she doesnt actually have much time, for example she is here today, but supposed to be working. There have been lots of papers involved, lots of planning, lots of meeting, but they have achieved a lot…

Item 6 General Points

One of the delegados at the meeting said he was interested in forming a committee to ensure delegados do what they are appointed to do. He has begun working on this & asked if the Consejo was in agreement, the general consensus was that it was a good idea.

Chela asked Jacqueline – our visitor from Honduras to sum up, & describe how she found the meeting,

Jacqueline said she was impressed with the respect & harmony with which people participated in the meeting, that organisation is the prime key, & that Chela is doing a great job of demonstrating the benefits of organisation, that organisation costs (time, effort & commitment) but that it’s value for the pain… She invited everyone to keep active.

The meeting closed at 2.50 - & everyone enjoyed a lunch hosted by our host Community La Tinaja…

Beans, rice, tortillas, juice-water,

Then all piled back on the back of pick-ups & crammed into vehicles & made our way back along the dusty road home

Next meeting of Regional Consejo at Juan Gonzalez 26.11.11 at 11am, this will be an aniversary party & a meeting.

June & July Regional Activities, report by Holly Yasui

June-July 2011 newsletter

First of all, apologies for the lateness of this newsletter. We had our biggest event of the year, the 12th Annual National Fair “Lucha Rivera” (for a dignified and sustainable life, and for fair trade and solidarity marketing) on August 5-7, with nearly 700 producers coming from 18 states. I was been extremely busy with preparations for that event, about which I will report in the next bi-monthly newsletter, and then catching up with projects and meetings postponed during the preparations.

A second apology: during the month of June, I was recovering from hip surgery and so I did not attend any meetings for the first half of the month and only a few during the second half, though I did receive reports from the my team members, which I will summarize.

Without further ado, notes on our activities in the months of June and July, 2011 follow.

Wednesday, June 1 –Community Assemblies at La Tinaja and Palmita II. These two communities are located on the west side of the highway to Guanajuato, in mountainous terrain (as opposed to the other communities where we have worked, which have been mostly riverside communities). Both La Tinaja and Palmita II are interested in dry toilets, and we hope to include La TInaja in the next International Rotary grant for rain-harvesting cisterns.

Wednesday, June 8 – Inauguration of the Tierra Blanca cisterns. The 40 families of Tierra Blanca completed their rain-harvesting systems in time for the rains expected this month (note: we did have good rains the last week of June, which filled many of the Tierra Blanca cisterns nearly to half-full, but July was an unusually dry month with only occasional light showers). Thank you Laura Stewart for the great photos!


Wednesday, June 15 – Full Council Assembly at Vivienda de Arriba. At this meeting, representatives of all 17 communities of the Citizen’s Council attended, plus two persons from a new community, Los Magueyes were introduced (Los Magueyes is a small community of about 20 families, located near the Atotonilco turnoff on the highway between San Miguel and Dolores Hidalgo).

It was decided that the next communities within the SMA Citizen’s Council to embark on cistern projects will be Presita de Santa Rosa (Rotary), Guerrero (SAPASMA), Cruz del Palmar II (Rotary), Los Torres III (SAPASMA), and La Tinaja (Rotary).

Saul reported on the application for dry toilets referred to the Department of Social Development by the mayor. Social Development proposed 125 dry toilets to be “given” to the “most needy”, financed by the federal SEDESOL program, at a cost of $25,000 per toilet, with a 15% cash contribution by the beneficiaries. Some comments: these types of programs benefit the laziest people and outside contractors (as opposed to our participatory methodology of having the families provide labor rather than cash, and employing local workers), and have no social context or follow-up. All agreed that we want to continue with our application which includes using local construction workers assisted by the families receiving the materials, training and follow-up technical assistance by CEDESA. The council rejected the SEDESOL proposal and voted to send a committee to the Department of Social Development to insist upon our proposal, and if unsuccessful, to the Mayor’s office.

Holly reported on a research project sponsored by CEDESA on medicinal plants – an internationally renowned expert on healing with herbs, Dr. Rosita Arvigo, is gathering information from local healers on plants of Guanajuato for a book in order to preserve knowledge that has traditionally been passed down from generation to generation orally. With the advent of “modern” medicine, this knowledge is in danger of being lost since many people now prefer to go to doctors and buy medicines made in laboratories. Revalorizing traditional knowledge of healing herbs can help families spend less and cure simple ailments in a more natural way with fewer side-effects. Representatives from several communities in the San Miguel Rural Citizen’s Council volunteered to contact their local traditional healers for interviews.

illustration for plant book

Ana of Vivienda de Arriba reported on her meeting with the Cruz del Palmar Ejido Commission regarding donation of land in that community for a meeting room and eco-technology demonstration center for the Citizen’s Council. The Council decided to request a plot next to the Vivienda de Arriba kindergarten, off the main road, rather than a more distant plot next to the football field. Irene of Capaderillo offered a piece of land in her community, but it does not have road access. Emelia of Cienega mentioned that the Cienega Ejido is selling land in the wedge between the old and new Guanajuato roads. For the moment, it was decided to pursue the donation first, and if that does not come through, to consider the purchase possibilities.


Monday, June 20 – Meeting with SAPASMA to review the progress of the cistern-building projects in Villa de Guadalupe and Cienega de Juana Ruiz. Both projects are proceeding on schedule in spite of problems of delivering water during several weeks of construction.


Friday, June 24 – Tierra Blanca: meeting with Dr. Ortega, who reported on the results from the water tests taken at and around Tierra Blanca, and discussed the symptoms of fluorosis (fluoride poisoning). The 80+ people attending were very attentive and expressed interest in knowing more about the quality of all the sources of water in the region. Results from Dr. Ortega’s fluoride tests:
1. Well – Cruz del Palmar: 1.99 mg/L
2. Well – Cruz del Palmar: 0.40 mg/L
3. Spring – Artesano: 2.56 mg/L
4. Well – Presita Santa Rosa: 2.67 mg/L
5. Well – Tierra Blanca de Abajo: 0.86 mg/L
6. Spring – Tierra Blanca d Abajo: 2.72 mg/L
7. Spring – Tierra Blanca de Abajo: 2.40 mg/L
8. Spring – Tierra Blanca de Abajo: 2.36 mg/L
9. River – Tierra Blanca de Abajo: 0.74 mg/L
10. Well – Rancho Nuevo de Banda: 3.47 mg/L
11. Spring – Los Torres: 0.70 mg/L


Wednesday, June 29 – Inauguration of cisterns at Juan Gonzales. The 21 families of this community celebrated the completion of their rain-harvesting systems at the old primary school – literally the day before the heavy rains at the end of June, which half-filled most of the cisterns.


Saturday, July 2 – Founders Day Gathering at CEDESA. From the municipality of San Miguel, representatives from 14 communities attended: Capaderillo, Los Magueyes, VIvienda Urbana, Guerrero, Presita Santa Rosa, Cruz del Palmar, Juan Gonzales, Cinco Señores, Correlejos, San Lorenzo, La Palmita II, Villa de Guadalupe, Cienega de Juana Ruiz, Tierra Blanca. The event included talks, displays and workshops on this year’s theme of natural health as well as activities for children.

Tuesday, July 5 – Meeting at Fondo Verde – a commission of six representatives from the Citizens Council visited the Department of Ecology and agreed that the $200,000 pesos that we turned down for another cistern project should be applied to a dry toilet project – pilots in the 15 communities that have requested them.
The written application was submitted on Tuesday, July 12 for fifteen dry toilets.

Thursday, July 7 – Assembly at Tierra Blanca to explain the protocol written by Dr. Georgina Mejia (SMA rep of State Health Dept) for an epidemiological study of the high incidence of cancer in that community. The assembly agreed to send a small committee to the Mayor’s office on July 20 to seek support for the study to be done by the Instituto Biomedico of UNAM .
Monday, July 11 - Visit to Cienega de Juana Ruiz to interview healers for the medicinal plant book. Holly took Dr. Rosita Arvigo to this community in order to interview Emelia, Socorro and Juana about the medicinal plants that they use. Their kids helped out by gathering wild plants.



Saturday, July 16 – Inauguration of cisterns at Cinco Señores. The 11 families of Cinco Señores celebrated the completion of their rainwater-harvesting systems. The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place at Josefina´s and Esther’s homes, a double-barreled system with two cisterns connected to one roof since the roof of Josefina’s house is higher and larger than Esther’s.



Wednesday, July 20 – Meeting with the Mayor. The Council met with Mayor Lucy Nuñez to discuss the application for dry toilets. Lucy supported the Council’s participatory project (over the SEDESOL outside-contractor project) and committed $4 million pesos to the Council project.
On this same day, we had a Community Assembly in Guerrero primarily to discuss the cistern project that we are proposing with SAPASMA.

Monday, July 25 – Visit to La TInaja and Espejo (next to Tierra Blanca). Holly took Dr. Rosita Arvigo to these communities to interview traditional healers about the plants they use.



Thursday, July 28 – Full Council Assembly at Cienega. Approximately 70 people from all the communities except Vivienda de Arriba and Vivienda Urbana attended. The meeting was initiated by Chela with a reflection on the phrase: “Today our Mother Earth is wounded, and the future of humankind is in danger.”

The rest of the meeting mainly dealt with the dry toilet application with the municipality. New clusters were established, and one community within each designated as the site for dry toilet construction training (marked with asterisk below).
Cluster 1 – Capaderillo*, Guerrero, Vivienda Urbana de Abajo, Presita Santa Rosa
Cluster 2 – Cruz del Palmar, Los Torres*, Montecillo de Nieto, Los Magueyes
Cluster 3 – Tierra Blanca, Vivienda de Arriba, Juan Gonzales*, Cinco Señores, Correlejos
Cluster 4 – Cienega de Juana Ruiz, Palmita II*, La Tinaja, Villa de Guadalupe, San Lorenzo

The Council was invited to participate in a panel at the National Fair in Dolores Hidalgo on August 5-7, to discuss the environmental problems of the region and the projects taking place or being proposed to resolve them (rain-harvesting cisterns and dry toilets)

On that same day, the four families of San Lorenzo celebrated the inauguration of their cisterns.

8th Regional Assembly of the Consejo Ciudadano Rural de Agua de San Miguel de Allende

Regional Assembly of the Consejo Ciudadano Rural de Agua de San Miguel de Allende
(SMA Rural CItizens Council on Water)

Over 70 men and women, plus a dozen children and babes-in-arms, attended this assembly in the chapel patio of Vivienda de Arriba. They represented 18 communities, including a new community, Los Magueyes:

Juan Gonzales – 3
Tierra Blanca – 10
Correlejos – 2
Villa Guadalupe – 2
Capaderillo – 3
Montecillo de Nieto – 6
Vivienda Urbana – 2
Cruz del Palmar – 3
Los Torres – 7
Cinco Señores – 2
Ciénaga de Juana Ruiz – 5
La Tinaja – 8
La Palmita – 4
Presita de Santa Rosa – 4
Guerrero – 5
San Lorenzo – 2
Vivienda de Arriba – 2
Los Magueyes – 6

The Council representatives explained to the newcomers the purpose and objectives of the Council – to represent campesino communities before the government and NGOs, to resolve problems in common, to generate resources for development projects, such as but not limited to rainwater-harvesting systems, dry toilets and health issues. Chela cited two concurrent objectives: organization of (within) the communities and unity among the communities to be able to have a stronger voice in dealing with regional issues.

Saul explained how a community can join the Council – with the Acta de Nombramiento, signed bya majority of members of the community and notarized with the seal of the community’s delegado. There are also application forms for cisterns (community application and family application) and dry toilets (family applications).

Chela asked how long everyone wanted to meet; and given that not everyone was informed that this meeting was “traje” (bring your food), it was decided to adjourn the meeting at 2 p.m. so that everyone can return home to eat. A discussion regarding the question of food ensued. Chela and Holly explained that Vivienda de Arriba hosts many meetings because of its central location and meeting place appropriate for large groups – even more so now since the community has enlarged the patio and built benches along the walls – but that we did not want them to feel obligated to prepare food for the whole regional assembly. Others stated that their community would provide food for people who attend meetings, since travelling to get to the meeting represents a cost that those in the host community don’t incur. Ana noted that they did not prepare any food for today’s meeting because Holly explicitly said not to, but they usually provide food for meetings. The discussion was tabled since it was taking up a good deal of time and since we decided to try to adjourn at 2 p.m., we need to get to other issues.

Ana Torres of VIvienda de Arriba was chosen to coordinate the meeting, and Abraham of Tierra Blanca to take notes.

The agenda was established:

1. Creation of a Regional Center for the Citizens Council.
2. Report on dry toilet applications with the department of Desarrollo Social (Social Development)
3. Encuentro Campesino (Campesino Conference)
4. Research for book on Medicinal Plants

1 Citizen’s Council Regional Center – a place to hold our meetings, for training and workshops, for showcasing model eco-technologies
a. Ana of Vivienda de Arriba reported that she went to the Cruz del Palmar Ejido Commission to find out about donating a piece of ejido land to the Citizens Council. The commissioner told her that the petitioners need to choose a piece of land that is not occupied or disputed, and make a request to the Ejido at their next meeting. Ana then called an community assembly and they chose two pieces of land in and near the community not in use or disputed: one next to the kindergarten on the main road and the other by the football field in the valley.
b. Irene of Capadrillo said that she has a piece of land about 5 minutes from the highway that she would be willing to loan to the Council, near the northern entrance to Capaderillo, but that it does not have road access.
c. Emelia of Cienaga reported that their ejido is selling land near the intersection of the old and new highways to Guanajuato.
d. Roberto of Presita Santa Rosa said that he and Abraham would seek out the owner of the building at the curve of the Vivienda de Arriba road to find out for how much the owner wants to sell it.
e. Chela mentioned that she, Holly and Saul checked out the building near the entrance to VIvienda de Arriba, just off the highway, and got a Mexico City phone number to inquire about the property.
Of all the options, everyone agree that (a) was best since it would be a donation and Vivienda de Arriba is the most central location for all the communities in the Council.
A commission including Ana, Gloria and Angela will find out about the next meeting of the Cruz del Palmar ejido and report back to CEDESA.
After the assembly, a group took a look at the land next to the kindergarten – about a half hectare, partly wooded with mesquite trees and large nopales which we liked. The other location within the community of Vivienda, next to the football field, does not have good road access, so after the meeting, we decided to pursue the possibility of donation of the lot next to the kindergarten.

2. Dry toilet applications.
Saul gave some background on the application that the Council made in March of 2011 (458 dry toilets in 17 communities): at the April meeting with the Presidencia, Lucy referred the Council to the department of Social Development since they have funds for dry toilets as part of a “sustainable campesino home” project. In May, Social Development accepted the applications presented by the Council, which requested funding for materials, construction to be done by local masons, and coordination and consulting by CEDESA for a cost of $11,000 pesos per toilet, with the families providing “chalan” (mason helper) labor.
At the end of May, Social Development told the Council that they needed a few more details, such as the number of people in the families that would benefit from the project. The Council collected this information and Saul went to present it to Social Development yesterday (June 14) and got a big surprise when they told him that they have decided to utilize outside consultants and contractors to build 225 dry toilets, each costing about $25,000 pesos, of which the families will be required to pay 15%, or about $3700 pesos. Furthermore, Social Development would not respect the organizational work already done by the Council, but rather visit the communities and choose whom they felt were“the most needy,” who would get the ready-made toilets.
Saul argued that the applications submitted by the Council represent people who have expressed their interest and motivation by participating in the Council, which would also provide follow-up in terms of training in the use and maintenance of the toilets so the likelihood of their being properly utilized would be much greater than Social Development’s non-participatory plan.
Other members of the Council also expressed their displeasure with Social Development’s first accepting the Council’s dry toilet project, then switching to a typical government-imposed plan that is more costly, less participatory and therefore less likely to succeed.
Discussion ensued as to what to do about this – return to Social Development to negotiate; appeal to the Mayor; publicize the situation through press conferences, interviews, articles and mass demonstrations. It was decided that a committee consisting of at least one member of each Council community will go to the office of Social Development on Tuesday, June 21 – if Social Development does not respond favorably, they will go to the Mayor’s office that same day; if there are still no concrete results, the Council will plan a publicity campaign to pressure the government officials to honor their word.

3. Encuentro Campesino
This was postponed last month due to an unexpectedly large increased workload (SAPASMA’s funding of 54 cistern projects in addition to the four communities funded by Rotary and Fondo Verde). Chela offered CEDESA as the site for the five workshops mentioned at the first Encuentro Campesino: 1) backyard design 2) bio-intensive gardens 3) cultivation of nopal in “tunnels” 4) medicinal plants and 5) terracing. Though CEDESA is in the municipality of Dolores Hidalgo, Chela suggested it would be worth it for participants to see the finished results of these techniques that have been implemented on site at CEDESA for many years. Also, participants can see other eco-technologies that CEDESA has or is testing and promoting in campesino communities.
The date was agreed upon: Saturday, June 25 and it will be an all-day event, starting at 10 a.m. and finishing at 5 p.m. Lunch will be provided by CEDESA, and we will help organize transportation. Roberto of Presita knows a bus driver and will investigate costs; all interested persons should explore ride- and expense-sharing options in their communities. Saul can lead a caravan up the new Guanajuato road to CEDESA via Xoconostle; Los Torres, Montecillo and Los Magueyes can make arrangements to go to CEDESA via the Dolores-SMA highway.

4. Medicinal Plants
Holly explained the book project that CEDESA is collaborating on with Dr. Rosita Arvigo, an international expert on nutrition and alternative medicine. Dr. Arvigo would like to interview healers who have traditional knowledge of plants and their uses for treating and curing common ailments. Her goal is to rescue this folk wisdom that is being abandoned for commercial medicines and doctors. The book will be given to all persons who participate in the project, as a way of sharing information and techniques. Several people from various communities including Los Torres, La Tinaja and Cienaga said they would talk with healers In their communities, and find out if they were willing to participate in the project and will get in touch with Holly.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:20 p.m.