Celebration Salitrillo 10 December 2016

Today the Community of Salitrillo celebrated the completion of its cistern project.

Started in September, Salitrillo built eight cisterns with the pilot cistern being built at the home of Señora Cecilia Luna Rosas.  The project team was comprised of seven women and two men.  

Salitrillo is located west of San Miguel de Allende a short distance from the old road to Guanajuato.

The project begun with the project team attending a three-day training program which consisted of learning about the importance of the project and clean water, how to build a cistern and how to properly maintain the system in the future to ensure continued pure water.  The training program was conducted by a team from CEDESA.  The format of the three-day training program is a recent addition to the project.

The community then went on to jointly construct their cisterns.

Today's program consisted of comments on the project by each of the project team members, Lee Carter (project manager for the Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende Mid-Day Club) & by Chela Martinez (of CEDESA, the founding partner of these ongoing water projects - CEDESA is a non-profit organization which conducts the training and provides technical support for the project).  

Members of the project team each received a Certificate of Completion from CEDESA and Lee.  Following a beautiful song by those in attendance, the ribbon cutting ceremony was conducted by Chela, Lee and Fred Collins, (President-elect, Rotary Club SMA Mid-day).

Following the official ceremony, a great meal of mole chicken and rice.  Cake was enjoyed by all especially the children.

The communities of Alonso Yanez, Presa Allende, Begoña de Progreso and Boca de la Cañada, were represented, many members of COCIRA joined in for the festivities, along with Mayra & Hilda, CEDESA promotors from Coralejos, 7 San Miguel Midday Rotarians, 2 visitors to SMA & a member of the Rotary Club of Somerville Tennessee.

Submitted by John Wallace (Rotary Club of Somerville Tennessee)

Eight Cisterns in Eight Weeks | Salitrillo Cistern Project

Wrapping Up   - 22nd Sept 2016

The cistern project in Salitrillo is well and truly underway. The Pilot cistern at the home of Señora Cecilia Luna Rosas is finished except for a curing period to set the concrete. 

Meanwhile the second cistern of eight which make up the first phase of the Salitrillo project is just about ready for its “gorro” or roof. At this point, the build team of seven women and two men are on their own except for weekly visits from Señor Abel, the technical advisor from CEDESA.

This year the Rotary San Miguel Midday Club working with the Rotary Action Group for Water and Sanitation (WASRAG) introduced an innovation in the cistern construction process: plastic wrap! 

As with any ferro-cement structure, cement must be allowed to cure slowly to prevent cracking and to attain its maximum structural strength. Normally ferro-cement structures are “watered”, sprayed down with water on a daily basis, for a period of days or weeks to make sure that the cement sets up slowly and remains crack-free. 

Needless to say this involves both careful attention to the watering schedule and the use of water which is then wasted. 

Hence, the use of plastic wrap. By wrapping the entire structure in a double layer of industrial sized plastic wrap (think kitchen plastic wrap on a grand scale), the cisterns wall and roof can undergo a slow curing period with much less care and feeding, and with virtually no wasted water.

Though it may seem modest, it’s important to place Salitrillo’s cistern project in perspective. The eight Salitrillo cisterns are among a total of 819 cisterns constructed since 2008. Each cistern collects 12,000 liters of rainwater when full. If you do the math, CEDESA and COCIRA, Project Beneficiaries and Rotary San Miguel Midday have created an amazing above ground reservoir capable of holding a whopping 9,828,000 liters of potable water storage. 

Think about that for a minute. 10 million liters is approximately 3 million gallons or roughly four Olympic sized swimming pools of water captured each year for the drinking and cooking needs of people living within the area of the Independencia aquifer.

When the current Global Grant is completed in the spring of 2017, a total of 1,092 cisterns will have been built representing an investment of over $10,000,000 pesos ($550,000 USD). Total rainwater collection capacity will top 13 million liters. And the geographic area serviced by the combined Rotary projects will include the communities surrounding San Miguel de Allende, San Diego de la Union, Dolores Hidalgo and San Luis de la Paz.

Guest post by Roger Brudno.

Ready for a Top Hat: Salitrillo Cistern Project

Day Three - 16th September 2016

It’s been two days since my last visit and I can’t believe the progress the build team has made. Not only has the concrete base of the cistern been set, but the walls of the cistern are up, and the metal work for the “gorro” or cap is laid out on the ground.

At this stage, you can see just how massive the finished cistern will be. Four workers are busy inside the cylinder applying the next-to-last coat of concrete. 

Cement is applied first in one direction (horizontal), then after a short period for layer-one cement to set up, a second layer is overlaid in the opposite direction (vertical). 

The bidirectional application makes for tough and water-tight walls. I am amazed to learn that, when full, the walls flex. Okay, the walls don’t actually bulge, but the ferro-cement expands dynamically under the weight of the water.

The “masa” or concrete mud for the gorro is mixed at a ratio of four parts cement to one-part sand, and significantly stiffer than the walls because the wet mix is applied directly to the metal mesh without the aid of plywood backing.

The gorro is equipped with an access door to permit maintenance on the interior of the cistern. 

And the exterior of the cistern is fitted with a clever, but commonsense water level gauge. A clear plastic hose will be connected between the water spigot at the bottom of the cistern and a narrow diameter pipe protruding from the top of the cistern. As the interior water level is drawn down, there is a corresponding drop in the water level in the transparent hose.

Recommended cistern maintenance consists of two primary elements: 1) yearly brushing of interior walls, and 2) if the catchment roof surface is of any material other than concrete or tin, then it must be repainted annually. 

Next stop, the final finish work.

Guest post by Roger Brudno.

Launched! Salitrillo Cistern Project

Day One - 13th September 2016

When Lee Carter and I arrive, the Salitrillo cistern build team had already laid out a base layer of chicken wire. As a first-time visitor to a cistern pilot, I’m excited to learn the basics of ferro-cement cistern construction.

Once completed, the cistern will hold 12,000 liters, harvesting enough water during one rainy season to serve all of the potable water needs, both drinking and cooking, for a family of 6-8 for a year.

It turns out that the metal structural elements of the cistern walls form a kind of layer cake—a layer of chicken wire folded over a layer of heavy-gauge iron mesh, then covered with a second layer of chicken wire all woven neatly together. Or rather, a layer cake that rolls up into a cylinder to create the walls of the cistern which are then set on a concrete base and lined with a temporary barrier of bendy plywood designed to support the application of an exterior coat of concrete until it dries.

Members of the community are hard at work weaving the chicken wire together under the watchful eye of Señor Abel, a technical expert from CEDESA in charge of teaching community members the basics of cistern construction. 

What stands out for me right away is the ratio of women to men in the work group: most of the team consists of women. And it’s obvious, that the team is already a well-oiled machine. Tasks are carried out with little discussion and a light-hearted atmosphere prevails.

This Salitrillo Pilot is cistern number 48 out of 319 cisterns funded by the Rotary Club’s recent Global Grant (GG1524911) and implemented in collaboration with CEDESA and COCIRA. 

It’s the first cistern for this little community of just 52 families. A total of eight cisterns are planned for Salitrillo. Once the core group is trained, they will cooperate to assist their neighbors with subsequent cisterns. Señor Abel from CEDESA will then make weekly visits to monitor progress and ensure quality-control.

Guest post by Roger Brudno.

Nombre de Dios Cistern Project Completion Celebration – August 13, 2016

Approximately 50 people - friends & neighbors - came together today to celebrate the completion of the last of five cisterns. 

The night was full of rain & the road there was sometimes good & sometimes a muddy slip-sliding mess, but a 90 minute drive got us there. The day was overcast with a breeze & chairs were set up in a large circle under a large Mesquite tree. The view to the west to get to Guanajuato was beautiful. Everything green from recent rains. The cisterns already had 2 feet of water.

After thanks to the people coming, CEDESA, COCIRA, & Rotary Club Midday, the people all held hands & gave (one at a time) thanks. Some took longer but you were allowed to pass the “prayer” to the next person. 

The nice thing about travelling is seeing how people are the same but different. This prayer circle was a perfect example. They all held hands left under and right over. After “prayer” we all went to three cisterns close by & had ribbon cutting with the owners. 

One elderly woman, instead of materials for a cistern, received a tinaco (large plastic container) because she would not be able to do the work of building a cistern. 

Lunch was a potluck type where all families come together with rice, tortilla, mole, beans, macaroni & ham, beef, horchata (a rice drink with cinnamon), & pineapple water.

Lee Carter, Nate Fultz, Beatriz Salcedo from Rotary attended as did Carla Cadena, intern/administrator of GG1524911.

Guest Report by Nate Fultz, President Midday Rotary Club SMA

Project Update July 23, 2016

The project (1624911) has been moving along at break neck speed!

We have now presented the education program 3 times: Boca de la Cañada, Charco de Araujo, La Colorada. 

This week I went with Ceci (CEDESA) to observe the final day of the program in La Colorada. Universally the beneficiaries are finding the program both helpful & also very fun. A number of people told me that they thought spending three days in water education was going to be boring & too much time. However, after experiencing the program, they are all very excited & relate that they understand much better now the water problems of the region & why the cisterns are so important. 

We are administering a Pre-education questionnaire & a Post-education questionnaire so that we can measure the success of the education program. I look forward to reporting those results at a later date.

We have cisterns under construction in Charco de Araujo (14 cisterns & 3 tinacos), La Colorada (24), & Boca de la Cañada (21) now. 

We have used all of the special caliber chicken wire from our vendor, Hierro Comercial, & are now waiting for it to be re-stocked. It is a special factory order & will take from four to six weeks to be restocked. This is OK as we are at a point that we need to review our progress to date & take care of many details. 

We hope to have the final version of the Water Education Manual finished & ready to go to the printer late next week. We are moving forward on the second draft of the Cistern Construction & Maintenance Manual next week. 

We still have not found a suitable truck for CEDESA & without it, getting CEDESA promotors & technicians to the project sites has been a challenge. With this respite in construction, I hope we can get these important details completed in the next few weeks. 

Next Thursday we will have a planning meeting at CEDESA to reschedule the project details & resolve questions about the next phases of the project.

Lee Carter - Rotary San Miguel Midday

Charco de Araujo, San Diego de la Union June 21 to June 23, 2016

After many meetings & lots of hard work on the part of CEDESA, COCIRA, UCCANG & Rotary under the guiding hands of Wendy Coulson; our expert in curriculum & adult teaching methods, the first five modules of the education program were presented in Charco de Araujo. 

The program is very hands-on & participatory so it is much more than just a presentation.

There was much enthusiasm among the participants with several persons proclaiming that EVERY person in the community should have an opportunity to learn all of this!

Overall, we are very pleased. We are now teaching at Boca de la Cañada in San Miguel & next week Wendy & I will meet to review & talk about revisions to the curriculum & also the manual which is in its "almost final draft" form. 

I will let the photos tell the story. Enjoy - Lee

A Day at CEDESA

May 19, 2016

Yesterday, after going to Nombre de Dios with Chela and Abel, we returned to CEDESA for additional planning of our new global grant (GG1524911) for 319 more water harvesting cisterns in San Miguel, Dolores Hidalgo, San Diego de la Union & San Luis de la Paz. 

Present were Chela, Abel, Meche, Benigno, and Ceci.

We reviewed first the progress on the new education program & the principal objectives of that program. Meche has been working hard with Wendy Coulson to develop the program & didactic materials to go with that. We all agreed that in a nutshell our goals are to have people fully understand

1.       the reason for cisterns is lack of an improved water source or having water that is terribly contaminated with fluoride and arsenic.

2.      the cistern water is free from those poisons & they should never drink water from wells.

3.        they can improve their water & health even more by integrating disinfection steps to improve the cistern water & avoid any potential biological contamination &

4.       have people learn how to self-construct their water harvesting system & maintain it to get maximum benefit from it.

Those are our primary objectives for this project &grant. However we also will be using this opportunity to continue to develop the communities' capacity to work together to analyze their problems & seek solutions (resources). 

We'd like to build on this opportunity so that they can take advantage of other opportunities such as backyard gardens, natural medicine, beekeeping, & other eco-technologies such as gray water filtering & the eco-cina stoves. We'd like the cistern projects to continue to be the first step in the long process of community empowerment.

The education program is ready now to “beta test” in the first communities. We are going to start in Boca de la Cañada (San Miguel) in two weeks & then in Las Claveles (Dolores) after that. 

We will present the didactic materials in the “final draft” format & then make adjustments before going to press & printing enough materials to carry us through the project.

Everyone in the communities are enthusiastic & champing at the bit to get started. They all want to work through the summer rainy season in order to be able to harvest at least a little rain before the dry weather returns in the fall. 

CEDESA is going to work up a draft schedule next week so we can plan out each mini-project. They are talking about doing as many as four different communities per month. Yikes, that is going to be a lot of work for all of us!

As we worked through potential pitfalls & bottlenecks in this ambitious program, we realized that we would need another technician in addition to Benigno & Abel to be able to do the site visits in each community during the construction process. 

A great solution was devised that will also allow us to continue to develop our youth program in the process. We will select a young person in each community where we are working to become an expert in construction & maintenance of the systems. This person will do the project monitoring throughout the construction process & will be report & consult with Abel &/or Benigno as the mini-project proceeds. Instead of having a once a week visit from the technician, we will have someone there overseeing the construction on a daily basis as each group builds cisterns at each home. 

Once the project is complete we will be leaving behind “a community expert” who can continue to monitor cisterns & even assist in repairs as needed. We already have a budget for an albanil for the pilot week. Since each group is now obligated to provide an albanil throughout the mini-project including the pilot cistern week, those funds can be used as a stipend for developing our new community expert. CEDESA will be responsible for handling the payment process.

We also reviewed the financial resources available in the grant so that we could come up with a simplified billing plan. When we combine our organization budget with our education teaching budget, we have 2,400 pesos for Pre-Pilot expenses. For the Pilot stage of the project we have $4,750 in funds available. And for post-project monitoring & evaluation we have 900 pesos available. 

We budgeted for 11 mini-projects as we were developing the project but as the number of cisterns grew the number of mini-projects is likely to be 15 to 18 … thank heavens for our contingency budget!

CEDESA is to be responsible for tracking certain costs/expenses each month & reporting them to Rotary for reimbursement. They need to record all KM driven in CEDESA vehicles in executing the projects to be reimbursed @ 3.5 pesos / KM. They also need to keep all tickets from using public transportation so that can be reimbursed as well up to a total of $9000 for the project. We will also be providing an $800 peso phone allowance per month to be split up between the various promotors & technicians.

Equipment: We need to get the new vehicle as soon as possible. Rotary has $5,000 dollars to contribute to that. CEDESA has 30,000 pesos set aside as well. We are going to purchase one “very good” vehicle that will last many years into the future for project monitoring. We are going to invest about 10,000 pesos of that money in upgrading an existing vehicle. Even with two new vehicles in play, transportation will still be a headache for CEDESA. 

The electrode in the fluoride testing laboratory has failed & we are looking into replacing that. Initial quotations that Meche got are expensive … about US$1,500. We had not counted on needing this within the time frame of this grant. We will probably reduce our “tools” budget to get this back on-line &I will try to see if we can find outside resources to help cover this unexpected expense.

We are working to be able to get the communities on the edges of San Diego de la Union & San Luis de la Paz involved in this grant. To do so, the two “subgroups” will have to work under UCCANG. 

UCCANG is responsible for carrying out several functions … community selection, receiving solicitudes & for providing monitoring and evaluation for six months after the construction phase. Integrating them into UCCANG does not seem to be a problem. The two subgroups are SECOPA (Servicios Comunitarios de Pozos Ademada – San Diego Union) and CUVA (Comunidades Unidas Para La Vida y Agua – San Jose Iturbide).

Recently a well in the San Jose Iturbide area, in the community of La Cantera, was discovered to have radioactivity in the water. There has been a high rate of documented child leukemia in that town as well. Dr. Ortega of UNAM is studying the problem to determine if this is an isolated instance of industrial contamination or if it is going to be as a result of the ever-challenging problems we are facing in the aquifer. There are 120 affected families & the government is, of course, denying that there is a problem.

Submitted by: Lee Carter

New Grant Funded for 319 more cisterns

In May of 2016 a new water harvesting grant was funded to construct 319 more rainwater harvesting cisterns in the Independence Aquifer. 

The grant is supported by 25 different groups including 12 Rotary clubs, 10 Rotary Districts, The Rotary Foundation, the San Miguel Community Foundation, The Lotus Foundation and Fondation Coup de Coeur. 

As always, we are working hand in hand with Centro de Desarrollo Agropecuario (CEDESA) and the two grassroots rural community development organizations COCIRA (Consejo Ciudadano Rural de Agua - San Miguel de Allende) and UCCANG (Union de Comunidades Campesinas del Norte de Guanajuato - Dolores Hidalgo, San Diego Union and San Luis de la Paz). 

CEDESA supplies the expertise in organizing and technical matters, the Beneficiaries provide the labor and Rotary supplies the materials and project administration.

We are adding a new education program for the project beneficiaries. The CEDESA promotors will be our teachers. They already know immense amounts of information about water and our problems here in the region. Many completed the dimplomada given by Dr. Marcos Adrian Ortega of UNAM in 2009. 

Our goal is to help them impart this information in a structured way that will create the best learning environment possible. Wendy Coulson, a specialist in curriculum development, is helping us with the program.

Vivienda de Abajo – 12 cisterns project GG1422619 & Amigas de Vivienda

Materials are being supplied by a private group calling themselves “Amigas de Vivienda”. Rotary is financing the education, training and  project management through GG1422619.

Progress at Vivienda is going well. The pilot is finished & now all wrapped up in plastic sheeting to allow the cement to cure at a slower rate which should increase its strength as well as reduce hairline cracking that sometimes takes place with ferro-cement construction. It is an experiment & I am curious to see if it works. Cisterns 2 & 3 are almost complete.

We have put several new innovations into practice with this project:

1. painted the galvanized nipples with Eco-Prim a special material that will allow the cement to adhere to the galvanized.
2. added a more “convenient” first flush mechanism that will likely result in more people using the first flush as a way to divert water from a dirty roof.
3. plan to add a cement pad under the first flush so a tambor (barrel) can be placed there to collect this water for non-cooking & non-drinking uses. The pad will also discourage erosion around the cistern.
4. produced a sizing chart so families will know how much water to divert.
5. improved the door design for ease of installation
6. added mosquito netting to the overflow pipe.
7. will put a cement pad under the spigot to improve cleanliness and reduce chances of bio-contamination.
8. wrapping the cisterns with shrinkwrap.
9. changed from 3 inch PVC to 4 inch PVC for only a $115 peso price increase. This will make gutters capable of carrying more water & make the installation more secure.

Photos of the pilot cistern and cisterns 2 & 3 can be seen on this link: https://picasaweb.google.com/103368367507077443111/6276876235386985009

Lee Carter
San Miguel Midday Rotary.

And So It Begins...GG1524911 Progress Report – April 10, 2016

We are full forces ahead in getting our new Global Grant for US$199,400 for the next 319 water harvesting systems in the Independence Aquifer. 

The first step in this grant is to develop a comprehensive education program to teach beneficiaries about water & water safety. The program also includes cistern construction & maintenance.

We have contracted with Wendy Coulson, a professional curriculum writer & an experienced teacher in the Waldorf method to help us develop the program but more importantly the teaching methods to use in making this program as effective as possible. Wendy is also a Rotary Peace Scholar.

Alejandro Guerra & Lee Carter have been working with Wendy for several weeks in filling in the blanks for the program. CEDESA has been consulted constantly as they will be the “teacher” &their buy-in & enthusiasm is critical for the success of the program.

On Wednesday, April 6^th, Alejandro, Wendy & I traveled to CEDESA headquarters to present our final “draft”. At this point the didactic method is written down on paper & we wanted to hear from CEDESA & UCCANG about how to proceed. In addition to that, we wanted to discuss the didactic materials that we will develop along with this. Present from CEDESA were Chela Martinez, Director, Meche Paramo, coordinator for COCIRA,  Cecilia Vazquez, Coordinator for UCCANG, & Abel Seratze, Cedesa technician for cistern construction. Araceli Rojas, President of UCCANG also joined us.

It was a long day in project planning as well as presentation of the education program. We arrived at 9:00 am & finished at 5:00 pm. I felt very anxious that CEDESA be truly excited about the education program. Upon leaving we all felt that we were right on track & we had very valuable input from CEDESA throughout the day. Wendy is following up with Meche about various details next week. Once everyone’s input is incorporated in our plan, we will have our next project planning meeting on Friday, April 22 at CEDESA. We will be finalizing the education plan & also planning out the details of the grant including the communities where we will start, billing and administrative issues, & so forth.

This project will be a lot of work but it will be a lot of fun as well. I have seen both Meche & Abel since that meeting &I have been communicating with Ceci also. All three have independently said how excited they are with the new education program. I think we are doing well.

Lee Carter

Rotary San Miguel Midday

March 28, 2016 COCIRA DIRECTOR’S MEETING CIENEGA DE JUANA RUIZ

10:00 am CIENEGA DE JUANA RUIZ

Today Lee Carter, Rotary, traveled to meet with the Directors of COCIRA & talk about the newly approved Global Grant (GG1524911) for 319 more cisterns in San Miguel, Dolores Hidalgo & San Diego Union. 

The grant is for US$199,400 (approx. MXN3,500,000).

There were approx 29 people present incl. Meche from CEDESA. After everyone presented themselves, we had a moment of reflection before beginning the meeting. A meeting leader was elected as well as the Secretary of the Day. Following that the agenda & a time schedule for finishing the meeting by 2:30 was established.

Meche emphasized the importance of COCIRA to continue to develop its independence & to look at CEDESA & Rotary as resources while they made their own decisions in things that affected the organization.

Lee Carter announced that the next grant for 319+ cisterns had been approved & explained that the Rotary Foundation would like to have a MOU with COCIRA and UCCANG in addition to CEDESA. This is important as it formalizes all of the responsibilities that COCIRA has been taking on over the course of the last water project. Lee presented the list of responsibilities that he recommended for the MOU & after discussing them in detail, COCIRA was in favor of all.

COCIRA for its part is asking Rotary to provide them with the didactic materials developed for the new grant so that they can use these as they continue to evaluate all of the cisterns built since 2008. COCIRA is committed to completing their role in the whole water harvesting process. As we have budgeted printing hundreds of extra copies of didactic materials in the next grant, I believe that we can provide them with what they need without having to increase our printing budget or seeking additional funding outside of the grant.

COCIRA further discussed the “rules & guidelines” that they would like to place on beneficiary families including a simple contract between COCIRA & the beneficiary that they would complete their obligations & work. Other rules were suggested that would ensure that beneficiaries completed their obligations in both the education program & in the construction process.

It is a great pleasure seeing COCIRA carrying out their role with such vigor & enthusiasm to ensure that this next project will be a great success.

Lee Carter

Rotary San Miguel Midday

STATISTICS UPDATE DECEMBER 2015

WHAT WE'VE ACHIEVED TO DATE (December 2015)

Since the successful collaboration in Los Torres (3 phases), we have completed projects in Montecillo de Nieto , Cruz del Palmar, Vivienda de Arriba, Capaderillo, Palencia , Vivienda Urbana, Tierra Blanca, Juan Gonzalez, Cinco Senores, Villa de Guadalupe, Cienega & San Lorenzo, Presita de Santa Rosa, La Tinaja,Guerrero,3 Esquinas (near Palencia),Cruz del Palmar phase II,Corralejo,Vivienda de Arriba phase II,Tierra Blanca phase II...

New Water project team have to date completed projects &/or pilots in Los Magueyes, La Palma, Viviendilla, Exhacienda Peña Blanca , Exhacienda de Jesus(San Caytano & Adjuntas de San Jose, as well as La Banda

Presa Allende, Lindero & Alonso Yanez, plus in  Juan Gonzalez Phase II,  XH Peña Blanca Phase II, Vivienda de Abajo Phase II & San Lorenzo Phase II, Montecillo de Nieto Phase II & the work continues!!!

MASSIVE THANKS to the women, men & children in all of the participating communities – for showing us your strength, courage & commitment to improving the lives of yourselves & future generations - living with such dignity often under incredible hardship.

***Please see further gratitude extended at the end of this post

Numbers:

751 Cisterns 

29 Communities 

39 projects (this is counting each “mini project” also multiple phase communities)

Ie 4800+ family members (+ other school & kinder children) 

TOTAL FUNDING SUMMARISED:

Rotary US$317,588    (including direct grant private donations)

SMCF US$10614

Sapasma mxn$953353 (ie approx. US$73334)
Fondo Verde mxn$150,000(ie approx. US$11,500) + US$21,850
Lotus Foundation mxn$93530

Other donations to date US$1000
+ $750 in memory of Merle Howard 2015
+ $800 in memory of Gordon Logan 2015

+ $5000 donation from Walla Walla Rotary 2015.

(total approx. US$449,630)

IN THE PIPELINE:

Pending grant for $199,400 ie 314 more cisterns planned.

Participating: TRF + 10 Rotary Clubs, from 8 Rotary Districts + 3 Foundations

November 2015 – A new  Global Grant application was submitted to TRF for 314 cisterns at a cost of US$199,431. 

Ten percent of the budget is to fund a new educational component. Partners are TRF, Lotus Foundation, Simi Sunrise Rotary, Middletown Rotary, Grand Cayman-Sunrise, Nanaimo Rotary, Harlingen Sunburst, Titusville, Somerville, Grass Valley South, Districts 5240, 4160, 6930, 6600, 6940, 7980, 5190 and 3720 (Korea). Also San Miguel Community Foundation and Fondation Coup de Coeur (Canada).

Additional New Team Projects since last update Aug 2014 

Sept 2014 – start of new Global grant for $78,000 to fund 110 cisterns (we have actually stretched that to 124 so far as at Dec 2015) Partners are Lotus Foundation, Rotary Foundations, Eau Gallie Rotary Club and District 6930

The 124 cisterns completed as part of this global grant to date are:

October 2014 - Juan Gonzalez phase II – 16

January 2015 - Banda and Montecillo de Nieto phase II – 17

March 2015 - Vivienda Urbano (Abajo) Phase II – 10

April 2015 - Alonso Yanez and Lindero – 38

June 2015 - Presa Allende – 22

August 2015 - San Lorenzo Phase II 2

August 2015 - ExHacienda de Pena Blanca Phase II 19

2nd New Team Project - Completed July 2014 19 + 2 Cisterns from here included in Update Aug. 2014.

Summary of Funding
ExHacienda Pena Blanca 19 Cisterns

Lotus Foundation Mxn$72056 

(nb this amount was under budget & the balance will be counted in the next project planned - global grant)
Sapasma Materials Donation value mxn$82,954.69

Planned for ExHacienda de Jesus - which became San Cayetano 1, Adjuntas de San Jose 1 (*municipality of San Diego Union)

Lotus Foundation Managed by RSMM

mxn 15077


1st New Team Project - Completed May 2013 18 Cisterns

Summary of Funding
Chinook Rotary Direct Grant $5000 , 
Rotary of Middletown Direct Grant $3021  
District 7980 District simplified Grant  $2320
Rotary San Miguel Midday $200 
(total USD$10,541)

Los Magueyes 8 cisterns
La Palma 8 cisterns
Viviendilla 2 Cisterns (1 at school, 1 demonstration cistern at factory)

Completed May-Jun 2012 11 Cisterns

Summary of Funding

San Miguel Community Fund $5911

Tierra Blanca 11 cisterns

Completed Jan-May 2012 169 cisterns in 8 Communities

Summary of Funding

Global Grant Rotary $65,300

Direct grants & donations $21,147 breakdown as follows:

Tallahassee US$10k club & $2.5k private donation
Port Lavaca  US$6k
Peggy Purcel US$462.45
Pancake breakfast fundraiser $14950pesos
Excess funds from Port Lavaca/New braumfels proj. $11420pesos
Excess funds from Cap II proj. $487pesos
Excess funds from Bellingham water proj. $1163.5 pesos
private donation $250pesos

La Tinaja 22 cisterns

Cruz del Palmar 41 Cisterns

Guerrero 20 Cisterns

Tres Esquinas 24 Cisterns

Tierra Blanca 23 Cisterns

Corralejos 15 Cisterns

Vivienda de Arriba 10 Cisterns

Los Torres 14 Cisterns

Completed Nov 2011-Jan2012 60 cisterns in 5 communities

Summary of Funding

Sapasma mxn$435399

Chris Hosford private donor US$500

Los Torres 18 cisterns (Phase IV in this community)

Presita de Santa Rosa 21 Cisterns (Pilot paid for by private donation - thankyou Chris Hosford, 20 cisterns funded by Sapasma)

Cienega Juana Ruiz 18 Cisterns (Phase II in this community)

Lomas de Cocina 2 Cisterns

Cinco Senores 1 Cistern 
(**)

Completed March – Jun 2011 134 cisterns in 6 communities

Summary of funding

Rotary $44,000

Fondo Verde mxn$150,000

Sapasma mxn$435,000

Tierra Blanca 28
Juan Gonzalez 22
funded by Global Grant from Baton Rouge Capitol City RC & District 6200 US$33,500

(completed June 2011)

Tierra Blanca 14 - direct grant donation from New Braumfels RC $2k, & Port Lavaca RC $7k

(completed June 2011)

San Lorenzo 4
Cinco Senores 11 (incl pilot in JG)
Fondo Verde Mxn$150k

(Completed June 2011)

Villa de Guadalupe 27
Cienega Juana Ruiz 26
Sapasma mxn$435k

(completed June 2011)

Villa Pilot x1
Cienega Pilot x 1
Bellingham RC US$1500

(completed June 2011)

Completed Jan 2011 – March 2011 25 cisterns

Summary Funding

DSG Tallahassee $3800,Tallahassee RC$6000,Walla Walla $7000

Vivienda Urbana (Cap II) 25 cisterns

Completed Jan 2009 – Jan 2011 Total 188 cisterns in 6 communities.

Summary Funding
Rotary$81,800
SMCF$4,703
Fondo Verde$21,850
Skymed $500
total funding = USD $108,853

Palencia 21 Cisterns $7k (+ balance of excess from other projects)

Capaderillo 40 Cisterns FV US$21850

Cruz del Palmar 28 Cisterns combined $24700

Vivienda de Arriba 17 Cisterns

Montecillo de Nieto 30 Cisterns $16700

Los Torres 52 Cisterns (27+4+17+1+3) Including $21,700 + 12,200+smcf US$2468+ smcf 2 U$2235  

= 188 cisterns (& 4 rotoplas tanks)


FURTHER GRATITUDE IN THE FORM OF A VERY BIG THANK YOU IS EXTENDED TO:

A BIG THANK YOU to all the hardworking men & women belonging to the Rotary Clubs & Districts & the Foundation who have been part of this solution:

Ann Arbor RC USA

Baton Rouge Capital City RC USA
Bellingham RC USA

Calgary RC Canada
Eau Gallie RC USA
Middletown RC USA

New Braumfels RC USA

Paso Robles RC USA

Port Lavaca RC USA

Richmond RC TX USA

Sechelt BC RC Canada

Tallahassee RC USA
Trail BC RC Canada
Tyron RC USA
West U RC TX USA
San Miguel Midday RC Mexico
Districts 4160, 6060, 6200, 6940, 7670, 7980

& THE ROTARY FOUNDATION (Ashley & Lauren)
(not including pending project)

HUGE THANK YOU’s to:

Cedesa, (especially Beatrice, Abel, Holly, Chela, Saul – The TEAM!!), & our family members who put up with long, late hours…

Sapasma (Previous Administration - Camilo, Waldo, Alva, Juan Jose & the other promoters & the new administration)

Fondo Verde

Alberta Govt’s Community Initiative Program (BC Canada)
The Lotus Foundation (private donor)

The many other private donors/supporters

Our Suppliers, especially Raul from Hierro Comercial Dolores Hidalgo, Eric our Herreria & his boys, Jesus our sand guy, Madera Providencia, Cemex, Talego, Don Pedro,

Our Banks: Frost Bank, Bancomer, Monex, Intercam, CI banco,

Our accountant (wish we had her in the early days) : Liliana

Our publicity: Atencion!,

Members & Board of San Miguel Midday, for continuing support, attending Inaugurations, making speeches on behalf of the project, attending meetings with govt, fundraising!

Lee Carter: answering all the tricky finance questions in the past & leading the new team Alejandro, Denis & Alex, &  for the new Projects
Gary Reid for continuing to take excellent photos for us.