Record of Event pg 1 of 3
5th report of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project
Where: Montecillo de Nieto Kindergarten
When: 18,19,20 & 21st January 2010 9am-1.30 & other times
Who: Elena & Laura (Rotary), Benigno (Cedesa) , Rafael & Jose Miguel Cruz (Los Torres Crew) + approx 12 others.
Purpose: Train the trainers demonstration, & instructional build of the 1st Cistern in the MdN water project.
Take a deep breath, there’s lots to read here!!!
A bit of background & how the day was saved!
The date for these training days was set at the previous assembly on 16th December.
During this assembly, Chela was very keen to set a date for the beginning of the training (ie the first actual action) since we had met 4 times with only talking meetings. We all optimistically believed the money would be well in hand by this stage, & I had thought to myself, well it’s only 1 cistern I could bridge it if need be...
Chela & us, would be meeting on the 13th January to nut out the details, & make sure everything was in place, so in December we thought we had it sorted.
On the 13th Jan (the supposed next meeting time for Traspatio workshop in Los Torres) it was pouring with rain!!! Great for the cisterns already constructed! – not so great for outside backyard training sessions – so we cancelled.
This had great ramifications, 1st. We were not able to get hold of Los Torres to cancel the session – so hoped they assumed like us that it was off, & left a message on the only cellphone they have... 2nd we didn’t get to plan the purchase & delivery of materials in time for the 18th or make sure the Cedesa technician was booked to appear that day!!
At midnight on the Fri 15th as I was climbing into bed, it suddenly hit me, Monday was the 18th & they had no materials or trainer!!!! I emailed Holly (our contact with Cedesa) & explained the issue, quietly hoping Chela (from Cedesa) had all of this in hand, since they always organised this side of things, & it was her that booked the dates!!. Luckily Holly was going to Cedesa the next day (Saturday) & was able to order the materials (for delivery on Mon. 18th) & book Benigno (the technician), & we put in an urgent call in to Los Torres to see if the LT Crew could come to train the MdN people on Monday.
Holly & the LT crew saved the day!!!
It snowed that night in San Miguel for the first time in more than 30 years!
What next?!
Elena & I headed to MdN on Monday morning, not really knowing what to expect. The day was crisp with blue skies.
We were greeted by Jose Miguel (one of the Los Torres Crew), he was there waiting with his bicycle!
We headed down the path to the kinder & found a few people milling around (whew, at least they remembered) & explained we were just waiting for Benigno & the materials.
Secondino – one of the men who had attended all meetings & was confident they didn’t need the LT Crew & that he knew how to do it all, was absent, he sent his son instead, who informed us his dad had a sore foot & couldn’t make it. The son said he could attend Monday & no other day, & Elena told him if there weren’t people there for the whole 4 days, they wouldn’t know the whole process. She mentioned if they couldn’t find the team in MdN we could move to another community that was ready. Within an hour 3 more men arrived! & a few more women.
The truck arrived at 11am, the MdN reps. Checked off the invoice, & then the rest of the team unloaded the truck, men carrying 1 bag of cement each & women, carrying 1 bag between 2. It was stored in the corner of the little classroom, (in case we happened to get any more of this unseasonal weather), & by the time Benigno arrived at 11.30 the metal mesh was laid out & the people were already binding it together with ganchos “metal crochet hooks”, under the LT crew’s instructions.
pg 2 of 3
MdN people bought tools with them, including a ladder that was too short, so Rafael stood behind it & held it vertical for his brother Miguel to climb onto the roof & begin the measuring!
We met the Maestra, Mireya Figaroa, very kind & accommodating, & she was happy for Elena to tell the kids what was going on in their playground.
When Benigno arrived he joined the work crew, & during a break explained more about the water situation & reinforced the purpose of building a cistern, & the beauty of solving their own issues!
We spoke with the LT Crew (in this case the Cruz brothers) & confirmed they were confident about what additional materials they needed to purchase - sand, Gravel, bricks, glue, wood & the door to the cistern, along with a couple of things missing from the delivery.
I asked their estimate for cost of these materials & after discussion decided $4000 should cover it.
We confirmed they were able to work the 4 days & complete the training & the cistern.
There were more people than ganchos, so one of the guys bought a grinder from home & cut some lengths of rebar, sharpened them with the grinder & bent a handle on each, then there were plenty.
As we were leaving one of the women arrived with 2 big buckets, one with food & the other with agua fresca... they insisted we have a snack before we left. We had tostadas with TVP, which was miraculously like chicken, with onion, tomato & cilantro, & horchata (rice drink), both delicious!
Day 2. Tuesday
We had Rotary Committee meeting from 10am, & midday meeting didn’t finish until 3pm, Elena drove out to MdN early morning & peaked through the fence, the cistern was already standing upright! Great progress! & bricks, gravel & sand were there, the Crew had done their ordering.
Day 3 Wednesday 20th Jan.
This was Los Torres Assembly day (see separate report), on the way back, at 3pm we “popped” in to MdN Kinder to see what was going on.
Again good progress, both men & women were working, & a group of about 5 very small kids were playing building games in the sandpit! They had their mini shovels out & were filling plastic containers with sand, & moving them to their own construction area! Everyone was busy!
Day 4 Thursday 21st Jan
Elena & I headed out to MdN about 12midday to find a hive of industry. The top of the cistern was being plastered, Cal (lime) was mixed in a big bucket with chunks of Nopal cactus, which adds elasticity, essentially “self heals” small fissures.
We collected the “receipts” for materials that had been itemised for us, & paid the LT Crew.
We also made arrangements to meet Miguel & Rafael Saturday morning at an alternative materials supplier here in SMA (the other one we have been using is in Dolores Hidalgo, which is too difficult for the LT crew to get to), Enrique (another Rotarian) will accompany us on Saturday, to negotiate better prices & put in place arrangements (for the LT crew to sign for & Rotary to pay) for the materials, in an effort to simplify the process.
Some other things that happened-
There was a small dead rabbit in the grounds, the kids had found, they were very carefully inspecting it with sticks, & discovered the cause of death was ticks that were still attached to it’s ears.
They discussed it amongst themselves & decided they should bury it under the tree where it lay.
They asked one of the mums if they could use her shovel, & the smallest boy tried to dig a hole, then handed it to the biggest girl. She dug the hole to agreed specifications, & the smallest boy then gently moved the rabbit into his final resting place with the shovel (they already knew not to touch it with their bare hands!). Then they carefully placed the dirt on top, & ran to the flower garden & returned with bunches of geraniums & handfuls of green weeds & decorated the grave!
We advised MdN of the forthcoming monthly workshops in Los Torres, to which MdN is invited. NB Cedesa is doing this with no funding from us, it is their own initiative! (again see Los Torres next report),
pg 3 of 3
1st Wednesday of each month is to be a Traspatio workshop (backyard food production)
3rd Wednesday of each month is Health workshop (natural health methods),
In March Cedesa will begin bee keeping workshop on the 2nd Wednesday of each month.
There were some cups with bees trapped in them with stones on top, I thought this was a great sign, since bee keeping training is starting in March!
Miguel (from Los Torres) proudly mentioned that their cisterns were overflowing again, thanks to the unseasonal rain last week. The cistern at the school that was half full is now full!
The other model of cistern the Ecology dept. installed at the MdN primary school (across the road from the kindergarten) is still empty, despite the rains, & the school teachers both asked if there was a chance we could build one our ferro cement cisterns there!
We told them we might be able to as, so far we have budget for 26, built 1, & have names down for 24, & to raise the issue at the next assembly.
They asked when the rest of the materials could be purchased, I said still waiting on money to arrive to the right place, & hopefully should be 1 month.
They wrote a big schedule of the workshops at Los Torres & intend to attend! Elena organised with Benigno from Cedesa to bring a big van & stop in MdN on the way to the workshop each Wednesday, to collect anyone interested. They informed us the ones that go will spread the info to the ones that can’t.
3 of the women asked what happens to the materials for the families of the people who committed to attending but haven’t shown up. We explained it can easily be made available to the people that did turn up, & it would be discussed at the next assembly.
One cistern up, 25 to go!!
NB Next assembly will be scheduled by phone on confirmation of receipt of all funds into the Frost Account.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
1st Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Palencia
Record of Event pg 1 of 3
1st Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Palencia
Where: Community House in Palencia – 1hr north of Dolores Hidalgo,
When: 14.1.10 12 midday meeting began (left SMA at 10am)
Who: Elena & Laura from San Miguel Midday Rotary, Georgina Sautto (President Elect for San Miguel Rotary), Chela – Cedesa & 13 women, 1 man & 4 kids from the Palencia Community
Purpose:
Look at possibility of a joint project with SMA rotary, to assist the community to solve Palencia’s contaminated water issue.
Background.
Chela & Cedesa have been working with this community for 22 years. When they began here there were no services (electricity, water) no registered land ownership, & no solidarity. The community was run by Machismo & Caciques (self appointed bosses/oppressive men).
Little by little this community has come together to achieve many things (as detailed below), the current issue they are struggling to solve, is their contaminated water. They share a govt. drilled well with 3 other communities, unfortunately the water from this well has been tested to contain extremely high levels of both fluoride & arsenic. More than 5mg/l of Fluoride for example. (maximum safe level by World Health Org. is 1.5mg/l)
Chela has previously bought us a petition for help from the community with the signatures of more than 20 families on it.
The issue is, although this community has a higher need, ie higher level of contamination, than any of the communities in SMA municipality, it is outside our Municipality, & the community service committee of SMA Midday RC, have previously discussed, we should first work to resolve water issues in our own municipality before going outside our region.
This is a dilemma, there is an obvious high need here, Elena (as District Chair) has spoken with SMA RC & is trying to enlist interest from clubs within this neighbouring municipality to come together in the hope we can co-operatively solve this.
Today´s visit is to gather information & a preliminary needs analysis.
Item 1 – introductions
Everyone introduced themselves this was the common introduction “ I work in the community & participate in community projects”
Some brief facts about the community were raised
• Approx 80 families /500 people
• Cedesa have been working with this community for 22 years
• Palencia is approx 1 hr from Cedesa in Dolores Hidalgo
• The community well was drilled 18 years ago,
* they have been drinking contaminated water for 18years
• There are smaller family wells that fill up when it rains, but they do not last the dry season
• There was a cacique (self appointed boss) when cedesa began work here, he is still apart from the community
• They have worked on many community projects together, including fighting for land rights, building a community centre (with funding for materials from local govt.), obtaining electricity
We explained a little about the joint project in Los Torres & what the community now has there.
pg 2 of 3
Item 2 History described
The members of the community articulated the following:
The community has been working for 22 years to improve their community for their children. With collaboration & resources we can help transform conditions, with the work of your hands & minds you can achieve change.
We do not encourage dependence, but encourage people to take their future into their own hands, assume responsibility for yourselves as subjects, not objects & work co-operatively to achieve improvements like backyard gardens & resolve issues.
Elena & Georgina were invited to speak, & reiterated the beauty of working on things together, & that it takes planting the seed first, then tending that plant for it to bear fruit, good things take time, & they were commended on their achievements, like the construction of the Salon de Asamblea we were currently meeting in.
Chela explained the relationship Rotary Midday & Cedesa have built while working together in the last year in Los Torres.
Item 3 – appoint co-ordinator & secretary & raise agenda for today´s meeting.
The community had done this many times before & quickly voted for Victoria & Lola.
The agenda was written up
a. how the community had changed over 22 years.
b. Organization of the community
c. Projects in common
d. Future projects
The members of the community were invited to speak of how their community had changed over the last 22 years. Each & every member was very keen to speak, & in turn articulately described the struggles, & challenges they had faced & how they had overcome adversity.
As an aside - in other communities we have been working in, the participants are often reluctant to speak, in this case it was the opposite, each wanted to speak, & had a lot to say, they were very happy, & proud to share their history.
a. how the community had changed over 22 years.
22 yrs ago they had no services or land rights & were dominated by a cacique (self appointed community bully) & machismo. They originally had to meet under the trees on the edge of the community. They were very afraid to participate. They are very proud to list their achievements,
• They now have electricity
• They demanded their freedom from Caciques
• Individual land ownership (a result of protests in 1992)
• Raised enough money to build two community “salons” meeting places.
• They now have their own school
• Each generation carries on the learning & meetings & work & many of the women here today were little kids when Chela first began work here.
• 20% of the men are in the United States (ie 1 in 5 are single mums)
• It was very hard to talk to the women originally, for them to understand the future was in their own hands.
• They fought for equal respect & equal rights for the women
•
b. Organization of the community
• The community well is approx 200 mtrs deep & reducing at a rate of 5 mtrs per year
• Organization has been carried out by assembly
• Issues are raised at the assembly for resolution
• They organize into groups & mini commissions to achieve results
• Every 2 months they meet with 3 other communities who have joint water services, re main of pumps, payments for electricity.
• There are approx 230 families in the 4 communities
pg 3 of 3
C Projects in common
They have many projects in progress – Bees, Health, Backyard production, parcel production.
D. Future projects
The Community are working on a resolution to the issue of no safe drinking water in their community. They would like each family to have their own cistern to be responsible for their own collection, & conservation of water. They have currently made a “solicitude” request for assistance to the local Govt. in San Diego de la Union, but have had no response so far.
The community is also asking if there is any help Rotary could provide.
They are already organized so would only need funding for materials & training & are fully prepared to carry out the rest themselves.
They are also working on Dry toilets as they would like to prevent more contamination of the water table.
We explained the Rotary funding process, & timeframe, it is a long timeframe for response.
Georgina & Elena undertook to bring it to their clubs as a potential joint project.
San Miguel Midday RC has already stated they would prefer to continue to work inside the municipality of San Miguel, which is why we have bought Georgina from the other San Miguel club to see if it is something her club would be prepared to work with other clubs to solve.
There is a list of 21 families that has been presented as a petition to SMA midday RC as a request for assistance.
The money needed to fund the materials for the construction of 21 cisterns (with just 4 days training & 4 days follow up/trouble shooting, is approx US$11,000.
Conclusion
This community has done the hard yards & is organized, now they just need financial assistance with materials only. & a simple solution can be put in place to resolve the drinking water for these people for ever (as long as it continues to rain annually).
We need to work to find a solution for this community, Elena is working at a District Level, & Laura is seeking other possibilities.
The meeting finished at 2.30.
There is no date for a next meeting as the respective clubs need to work with their committees on this.
1st Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Palencia
Where: Community House in Palencia – 1hr north of Dolores Hidalgo,
When: 14.1.10 12 midday meeting began (left SMA at 10am)
Who: Elena & Laura from San Miguel Midday Rotary, Georgina Sautto (President Elect for San Miguel Rotary), Chela – Cedesa & 13 women, 1 man & 4 kids from the Palencia Community
Purpose:
Look at possibility of a joint project with SMA rotary, to assist the community to solve Palencia’s contaminated water issue.
Background.
Chela & Cedesa have been working with this community for 22 years. When they began here there were no services (electricity, water) no registered land ownership, & no solidarity. The community was run by Machismo & Caciques (self appointed bosses/oppressive men).
Little by little this community has come together to achieve many things (as detailed below), the current issue they are struggling to solve, is their contaminated water. They share a govt. drilled well with 3 other communities, unfortunately the water from this well has been tested to contain extremely high levels of both fluoride & arsenic. More than 5mg/l of Fluoride for example. (maximum safe level by World Health Org. is 1.5mg/l)
Chela has previously bought us a petition for help from the community with the signatures of more than 20 families on it.
The issue is, although this community has a higher need, ie higher level of contamination, than any of the communities in SMA municipality, it is outside our Municipality, & the community service committee of SMA Midday RC, have previously discussed, we should first work to resolve water issues in our own municipality before going outside our region.
This is a dilemma, there is an obvious high need here, Elena (as District Chair) has spoken with SMA RC & is trying to enlist interest from clubs within this neighbouring municipality to come together in the hope we can co-operatively solve this.
Today´s visit is to gather information & a preliminary needs analysis.
Item 1 – introductions
Everyone introduced themselves this was the common introduction “ I work in the community & participate in community projects”
Some brief facts about the community were raised
• Approx 80 families /500 people
• Cedesa have been working with this community for 22 years
• Palencia is approx 1 hr from Cedesa in Dolores Hidalgo
• The community well was drilled 18 years ago,
* they have been drinking contaminated water for 18years
• There are smaller family wells that fill up when it rains, but they do not last the dry season
• There was a cacique (self appointed boss) when cedesa began work here, he is still apart from the community
• They have worked on many community projects together, including fighting for land rights, building a community centre (with funding for materials from local govt.), obtaining electricity
We explained a little about the joint project in Los Torres & what the community now has there.
pg 2 of 3
Item 2 History described
The members of the community articulated the following:
The community has been working for 22 years to improve their community for their children. With collaboration & resources we can help transform conditions, with the work of your hands & minds you can achieve change.
We do not encourage dependence, but encourage people to take their future into their own hands, assume responsibility for yourselves as subjects, not objects & work co-operatively to achieve improvements like backyard gardens & resolve issues.
Elena & Georgina were invited to speak, & reiterated the beauty of working on things together, & that it takes planting the seed first, then tending that plant for it to bear fruit, good things take time, & they were commended on their achievements, like the construction of the Salon de Asamblea we were currently meeting in.
Chela explained the relationship Rotary Midday & Cedesa have built while working together in the last year in Los Torres.
Item 3 – appoint co-ordinator & secretary & raise agenda for today´s meeting.
The community had done this many times before & quickly voted for Victoria & Lola.
The agenda was written up
a. how the community had changed over 22 years.
b. Organization of the community
c. Projects in common
d. Future projects
The members of the community were invited to speak of how their community had changed over the last 22 years. Each & every member was very keen to speak, & in turn articulately described the struggles, & challenges they had faced & how they had overcome adversity.
As an aside - in other communities we have been working in, the participants are often reluctant to speak, in this case it was the opposite, each wanted to speak, & had a lot to say, they were very happy, & proud to share their history.
a. how the community had changed over 22 years.
22 yrs ago they had no services or land rights & were dominated by a cacique (self appointed community bully) & machismo. They originally had to meet under the trees on the edge of the community. They were very afraid to participate. They are very proud to list their achievements,
• They now have electricity
• They demanded their freedom from Caciques
• Individual land ownership (a result of protests in 1992)
• Raised enough money to build two community “salons” meeting places.
• They now have their own school
• Each generation carries on the learning & meetings & work & many of the women here today were little kids when Chela first began work here.
• 20% of the men are in the United States (ie 1 in 5 are single mums)
• It was very hard to talk to the women originally, for them to understand the future was in their own hands.
• They fought for equal respect & equal rights for the women
•
b. Organization of the community
• The community well is approx 200 mtrs deep & reducing at a rate of 5 mtrs per year
• Organization has been carried out by assembly
• Issues are raised at the assembly for resolution
• They organize into groups & mini commissions to achieve results
• Every 2 months they meet with 3 other communities who have joint water services, re main of pumps, payments for electricity.
• There are approx 230 families in the 4 communities
pg 3 of 3
C Projects in common
They have many projects in progress – Bees, Health, Backyard production, parcel production.
D. Future projects
The Community are working on a resolution to the issue of no safe drinking water in their community. They would like each family to have their own cistern to be responsible for their own collection, & conservation of water. They have currently made a “solicitude” request for assistance to the local Govt. in San Diego de la Union, but have had no response so far.
The community is also asking if there is any help Rotary could provide.
They are already organized so would only need funding for materials & training & are fully prepared to carry out the rest themselves.
They are also working on Dry toilets as they would like to prevent more contamination of the water table.
We explained the Rotary funding process, & timeframe, it is a long timeframe for response.
Georgina & Elena undertook to bring it to their clubs as a potential joint project.
San Miguel Midday RC has already stated they would prefer to continue to work inside the municipality of San Miguel, which is why we have bought Georgina from the other San Miguel club to see if it is something her club would be prepared to work with other clubs to solve.
There is a list of 21 families that has been presented as a petition to SMA midday RC as a request for assistance.
The money needed to fund the materials for the construction of 21 cisterns (with just 4 days training & 4 days follow up/trouble shooting, is approx US$11,000.
Conclusion
This community has done the hard yards & is organized, now they just need financial assistance with materials only. & a simple solution can be put in place to resolve the drinking water for these people for ever (as long as it continues to rain annually).
We need to work to find a solution for this community, Elena is working at a District Level, & Laura is seeking other possibilities.
The meeting finished at 2.30.
There is no date for a next meeting as the respective clubs need to work with their committees on this.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
4th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project
Record of Event pg 1 of 2
4th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project
Where: El Cortijo & Montecillo de Nieto Primary School
When: 16 December 2009 11.20-12.10, & 12.30 – 2pm
Who: pre planning meeting –Elena & Laura (Rotary), Chela Cedesa.
Assembly, Elena, Laura & Chela, Hector & Leon (2 professors), 25 women, 4 men, 1 youth about 17yrs & many children.
Purpose: Pre planning session at El Cortijo & then Community Assembly at MdN Primary School – continuing planning of the project, including designation of training days & sessions.
Summary of proceedings
It was a cold day so we held the meeting inside the classroom, in traditional classroom format. Chela led the discussions, from the front of the room. As an observation, there seems to be less participation with this format, v the sitting in a circle, which encourages more participation & eye contact.
When we arrived Hector (one of the teachers) greeted us & asked how long our session was going to take since they had another meeting planned after ours. We optimistically said we thought it should only take half an hour or so! Famous last words!
First was creation of the agenda
1. a quick review reiterating the objective of construction of the cisterns, with a Q& A session.
2. Planning of construction of the first cistern, where, when, who
3. Invitation to a traspatio (back yard) design workshop being held in neighbouring Los Torres on the 13th Jan.
4. Brief explanation of SODIS, solar disinfection purification method
For speed, Chela was the co-ordinator & the teachers were taking notes, as well as calling the roll.
Item 1. Review of objectives of cistern/water collection project.
Q&A re water quality, scarcity, pollutants etc.
Item 2. Training days/Demonstration build
The primary teachers proposed the primary school (as an aside interesting that the teachers at the primary school were keen to have the 1st cistern built at the school, despite the fact they have the ecology department model there) & others suggested the Kindergarten.
It was put to a vote & majority decided the kinder should be the first site.
a. lots of the community benefit (as will future generations)
b. they don’t currently have safe drinking water
c. the kinder teacher is very keen.
Chela confirmed the number of families on the list is still 24, (although we have a budget for 26, so this means enough to build the cistern at the kinder, & 1 spare for any late comer).
One family – Lorena asked to be removed from the list as she is moving from MdN, & another family asked to take their place Leonore Ramirez, so the list stays at 24.
More items decided/informed:
• They have already decided on 4 work groups at the previous assembly.
• The training/demonstration build takes place over a 4 day period.
• The attendees voted to start at 9 & finish at 5 each day (after much debate!)
• As many people as possible from each group need to attend as many days as possible - to ensure a full skill set.
• A minimum of 2 people per group should attend each day.
• Chela described each of the days’ processes involved, & that the first 2 days tasks are ideal for women as they involve essentially “hooking together” 2 layers of wire using a metal hook.
• There was some discussion about each cistern taking 4 days, but it was explained that while it takes 4 days to make a cistern, more than 1 cistern can be constructed in 4 days, they could do as many as 7 or 8 cisterns per 4 days per group of 8.
• There are 22 kids currently at the kinder.
Page 2 of 2
• Secondino Jimenez is an abanile (experienced builder) & has volunteered to help train during the demonstration build, they think they don’t need much help from the Los Torres crew (seemed to be some good hearted neighbourly rivalry).
• Many people have tools they can bring “ganchos” (hooks) & wire cutters.
The days for demonstration build are 18th, 19th, 20th & 21st January.
Each of the people in each group then committed to attending which ever days they could, a list was made. (Teachers & Chela have the list) This took quite some time!!
One woman raised a point
“if there are people that have kids at the kinder that haven’t volunteered to participate in the families cistern project then what?”
Solution was decided – Eva & Erendina will talk to the Maestra & ask her to co-ordinate the participation of those parents that have kids at the kinder but are not involved in the big project.
We asked where the materials should be delivered, ie a secure spot, & it was decided that into the kinder grounds was best.
Eva & Erendina will be responsible. Erendina’s cellphone number is 415 10 60 318.
Item 3. invitation to traspatio workshop.
Chela described briefly what a backyard garden was, & discussed what could be grown in it, answers were yelled out, carrots, onions, chilli, cilantro, beans, trees, fruit trees, cactus, magueys, tunas (a type of cactus fruit), herbs, chickens, etc,
The workshop is about producing your own food, first for the family & then excess to trade or sell. Money is hard to come by, so the more food you can grow yourself the better, also it is more healthy, no pesticides & not junk food.
Anyone interested in learning more about this was invited to be waiting at 11.45 on the 13th Jan when we would be driving by on our way to Los Torres. We will give them a ride.
Item 4, Sodis Solar Disinfection purification method
Laura & Elena briefly described firstly bacteria, & how they can occur & how kill them using the solar purification method. See www.sodis.ch for more info.
Actually, I think most had discounted this, since they figure the water they get from their roofs will be many times better than the water they have been drinking for years from who knows where (truck deliveries).
We concluded the assembly at 2pm. (so much for ½ an hour!)
NB Next assembly date was not decided upon, we will need to decide that at the demonstration build days on the 18th-21st..
(note from me – I noticed there were more men at this meeting, could be they had nothing better to do & it was a cold day, or hopefully, they wanted to know more & are keen to get it going, they certainly seemed to think they would not need much help from the demonstration team. Hmmmm....)
4th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project
Where: El Cortijo & Montecillo de Nieto Primary School
When: 16 December 2009 11.20-12.10, & 12.30 – 2pm
Who: pre planning meeting –Elena & Laura (Rotary), Chela Cedesa.
Assembly, Elena, Laura & Chela, Hector & Leon (2 professors), 25 women, 4 men, 1 youth about 17yrs & many children.
Purpose: Pre planning session at El Cortijo & then Community Assembly at MdN Primary School – continuing planning of the project, including designation of training days & sessions.
Summary of proceedings
It was a cold day so we held the meeting inside the classroom, in traditional classroom format. Chela led the discussions, from the front of the room. As an observation, there seems to be less participation with this format, v the sitting in a circle, which encourages more participation & eye contact.
When we arrived Hector (one of the teachers) greeted us & asked how long our session was going to take since they had another meeting planned after ours. We optimistically said we thought it should only take half an hour or so! Famous last words!
First was creation of the agenda
1. a quick review reiterating the objective of construction of the cisterns, with a Q& A session.
2. Planning of construction of the first cistern, where, when, who
3. Invitation to a traspatio (back yard) design workshop being held in neighbouring Los Torres on the 13th Jan.
4. Brief explanation of SODIS, solar disinfection purification method
For speed, Chela was the co-ordinator & the teachers were taking notes, as well as calling the roll.
Item 1. Review of objectives of cistern/water collection project.
Q&A re water quality, scarcity, pollutants etc.
Item 2. Training days/Demonstration build
The primary teachers proposed the primary school (as an aside interesting that the teachers at the primary school were keen to have the 1st cistern built at the school, despite the fact they have the ecology department model there) & others suggested the Kindergarten.
It was put to a vote & majority decided the kinder should be the first site.
a. lots of the community benefit (as will future generations)
b. they don’t currently have safe drinking water
c. the kinder teacher is very keen.
Chela confirmed the number of families on the list is still 24, (although we have a budget for 26, so this means enough to build the cistern at the kinder, & 1 spare for any late comer).
One family – Lorena asked to be removed from the list as she is moving from MdN, & another family asked to take their place Leonore Ramirez, so the list stays at 24.
More items decided/informed:
• They have already decided on 4 work groups at the previous assembly.
• The training/demonstration build takes place over a 4 day period.
• The attendees voted to start at 9 & finish at 5 each day (after much debate!)
• As many people as possible from each group need to attend as many days as possible - to ensure a full skill set.
• A minimum of 2 people per group should attend each day.
• Chela described each of the days’ processes involved, & that the first 2 days tasks are ideal for women as they involve essentially “hooking together” 2 layers of wire using a metal hook.
• There was some discussion about each cistern taking 4 days, but it was explained that while it takes 4 days to make a cistern, more than 1 cistern can be constructed in 4 days, they could do as many as 7 or 8 cisterns per 4 days per group of 8.
• There are 22 kids currently at the kinder.
Page 2 of 2
• Secondino Jimenez is an abanile (experienced builder) & has volunteered to help train during the demonstration build, they think they don’t need much help from the Los Torres crew (seemed to be some good hearted neighbourly rivalry).
• Many people have tools they can bring “ganchos” (hooks) & wire cutters.
The days for demonstration build are 18th, 19th, 20th & 21st January.
Each of the people in each group then committed to attending which ever days they could, a list was made. (Teachers & Chela have the list) This took quite some time!!
One woman raised a point
“if there are people that have kids at the kinder that haven’t volunteered to participate in the families cistern project then what?”
Solution was decided – Eva & Erendina will talk to the Maestra & ask her to co-ordinate the participation of those parents that have kids at the kinder but are not involved in the big project.
We asked where the materials should be delivered, ie a secure spot, & it was decided that into the kinder grounds was best.
Eva & Erendina will be responsible. Erendina’s cellphone number is 415 10 60 318.
Item 3. invitation to traspatio workshop.
Chela described briefly what a backyard garden was, & discussed what could be grown in it, answers were yelled out, carrots, onions, chilli, cilantro, beans, trees, fruit trees, cactus, magueys, tunas (a type of cactus fruit), herbs, chickens, etc,
The workshop is about producing your own food, first for the family & then excess to trade or sell. Money is hard to come by, so the more food you can grow yourself the better, also it is more healthy, no pesticides & not junk food.
Anyone interested in learning more about this was invited to be waiting at 11.45 on the 13th Jan when we would be driving by on our way to Los Torres. We will give them a ride.
Item 4, Sodis Solar Disinfection purification method
Laura & Elena briefly described firstly bacteria, & how they can occur & how kill them using the solar purification method. See www.sodis.ch for more info.
Actually, I think most had discounted this, since they figure the water they get from their roofs will be many times better than the water they have been drinking for years from who knows where (truck deliveries).
We concluded the assembly at 2pm. (so much for ½ an hour!)
NB Next assembly date was not decided upon, we will need to decide that at the demonstration build days on the 18th-21st..
(note from me – I noticed there were more men at this meeting, could be they had nothing better to do & it was a cold day, or hopefully, they wanted to know more & are keen to get it going, they certainly seemed to think they would not need much help from the demonstration team. Hmmmm....)
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
33rd Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres
Record of Event pg 1 of 4
33rd Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres
Where: Los Torres (Chucha´s house)
When: 2.12.09 11am – 3.40pm
Who: Chela, (Cedesa), Laura & Elena (San Miguel Midday), + Los Torres people 32 women, 4 men + about 10 small kids, + Annamaria Torres from Vivienda de Arriba, & Teresa Gonzalez from Cruz del Palmar. (+ about 5 people from those communities).
Purpose:
Planning session for phase III, water purification talk, additional issues for the community to begin work on, eg small business opportunity re Sue & Fred from Ann Arbor.
We arrived at 11.30 – there was some confusion as to when the assembly had been booked for, I thought 11am & so did some of the women & Chela thought 11.30 & so did some of the women. Chucha insisted we have a taco in her kitchen before we began, so the assembly didn´t start until around midday.
!. Reflection – led by Elena, Elena personally gifted 3 Joyce Meyer books to the community, 1 for kids, 1 for youths & 1 for adults. They are books on good core topics, morals, treating people with respect, self dignity etc.
Elena read a quote from one of the books for inspiration, Chela talked about responsibility, obligations & harmony.
Chela talked about the earth, & asked where Maize comes from, where milk comes from, where beans come from – to which the answer was – The Earth!
The earth is our mother, our life, our food, our health.
The water arrives & causes erosion.
When the land is fertile, there is no erosion.
When the land is fertile, the wind does not cause dust storms, ie no erosion.
What other problems are there with the earth?
“contamination”
What kinds of contamination – rubbish, plastic, diapers, tyres, bottles, organic, & fecal.
What can we do to help –
• Collect the plastic, reuse wherever possible, collect the organic & fecal matter in compost bins.
• Plant trees on the edge of rivers to prevent erosion.
• Protect resources, don´t let sand extraction happen in your area.
• Know your rights & your obligations.
• Cultivate, conserve, plant & grow – look after your earth.
• Don´t rely on the “give me, give me” attitude, learn how to do things yourselves.
She gave an example of one of the children eating “cheetos”, & discussed the problems with this “food”. Lack of nutrition, toxic chemicals etc. Discussed also the benefits of eating healthily, eg apples v cheetos…
There was discussion of “free toileting” ie pooing in the open, without digging a hole or covering it, & how this affects the whole community, & should be a question of conscience.
2. Agenda/ appointing a co-ordinator & records taker for the meeting
The meeting started proper at 1.10pm & a proposed finish time for 3pm was set.
Veronica was appointed Co-ordinator (she is the young woman that has co-ordinated before & is very efficient). Annamaria (from Vivienda de Arriba) was appointed record taker. (good practice for when it´s her community´s turn!).
Agenda items were proposed
A. Lomas de San Jose technical team (coming from Los Torres)
B. Bacteria/sodis workshop
C. Phase III update
D. Planning next steps for the next 2 communities, Vivienda de Arriba & Cruz del Palmar
E. Traspatio (backyard garden) & road issues (extra issues for community to solve)
F. Proyecto Productivo (productive project – ie small business possibility)
pg 2 of 4
Agenda items discussed
A. Lomas de San Jose technical team (coming from Los Torres)
In LT there is a team of 4 guys who are the experts on constructing the cisterns & water collection systems now. These guys – with some additional training on the social & ecology aspects of the technical implementation – are going to be paid as the trainers & technical project advisers for the Lomas & Montecillo projects.
The team is Miguel Cruz, Juan Alvarado, Guillermo Alvarado, & Rafael Cruz.
It was suggested they come to the first official planning assembly meeting at Lomas de San Jose on Saturday 23rd January at 4pm, to meet with the community.
This will also be the first meeting for Chela & Benigno in that community as Enrique & I have been organizing the community without Cedesa for the first 3 meetings.
It will be suggested the team attend the first day´s training with Benigno, to learn the social & ecology aspects, (they have the technical side down pat).
The full plan for the project will be made in conjunction with Lomas community on the 23rd Jan.
B. Bacteria/sodis workshop
We are aware we need to ensure the potential issue of bacteria in the water in the cisterns is dealt with.
We have done lots of research on the internet & have decided the most fail-safe & easiest method to purify the water is the Sodis method, ie leaving the water in the sun in plastic bottles for 6 hours kills all bacteria. (please see website www.sodis.ch for more info, & to answer any questions you might have regarding plastic leaching into the water, the issue is dealt with thoroughly on this site).
We have touched on this topic in previous assemblies, today we covered it thoroughly.
Elena translated for me.
First I asked who has been drinking the water from the cisterns - & they all replied they all had.
I asked if anyone had been sick from drinking the water, stomach, diarrhea etc No – no-one has been sick. They love the taste of the water & drink more of it.
I explained the potential for bacteria to get into the water from the dust on the roof, especially if there is a surprise rain outside the rainy season. In case there are issues with bacteria they should be aware of a simple technique to kill all bacteria, virus & cysts. (this does not remove fluoride or chemicals from the water, only biological contaminants).
I showed 2 example bottles, & said the label must be removed (& removable) & the bottle must lay on it´s side in full sunlight for 6 hours, & then be emptied into a drinking water storage container (eg a garafon/20 litre bottle). They should have 1x 2ltr bottle per person, & do this each day.
Someone asked if they could use a coke bottle, & I said yes, as long as the label is able to be removed, & the plastic is transparent, so the UV rays can enter. They asked if they could do it using a garafon, I said no, must be a maximum of 10cm´s depth of water for full penetration by the UV rays.
Alejandro, Pofiria & Fabiana volunteered to go to the Kinder to demonstrate this method. The cistern at the kinder has a combination of water from the Pipa´s (trucks) & rainwater. The kinder teacher was very keen to learn this method. I gave the 2 demonstration bottles to Alejandro.
C Phase III update
I explained (with Elena´s help) the Rotary funding process has many levels, & we´ve just received final approval, & are now waiting for the actual cash to get to where it needs to go, to begin.
The next assembly at Los Torres is on the 20th January, & at this point I hope to have access to the funds to purchase the materials & begin the construction of the final cisterns.
pg 3 of 4
D. Planning next steps for the next 2 communities, Vivienda de Arriba & Cruz del Palmar
I updated the communities on our efforts to find funding for projects in their community.
We have spoken with the Ecology Depart director & also with the new Major – Luci, & are attempting to secure matching dollars through these avenues. I also mentioned we have another club - Walla Walla - who would like to work with us on a water project (or 2?) & we need to move quickly to write a grant for this.
We set community meeting times for each of these communities – on the 10th Feb. 2010.
Cruz del Palmar at 11am & Vivienda de Arriba at 3pm.
The women agreed to attend the next assembly at Los Torres on the 20th Jan. & report on their progress re arranging/organizing their assemblies on the 10th Feb.
Both of the representatives of these communities are very efficient, well spoken & excellent participators, if they can pull this together it will be a testament to them & the project in Los Torres, & is following the perfect model of a community project – ie one that grows legs itself, is replicated & motivates others. It is early days, but we are very excited about this development.
The visiting women thanked the LT assembly & left at this point.
E & F. Traspatio (backyard garden) & road issues (extra issues for community to solve)
Proyecto Productivo (productive project – ie small business possibility)
Chela led the discussion with a question to the community, what are they interested in learning about & what do they want to achieve?
They are very interested in being able to produce more of their own food, & were thrilled by the idea of being able to grow enough to be able to trade or sell.
A “traspatio” is literally a back yard garden, in which can be grown fruit trees, flowers, plants for food, & also to produce compost as a way of reducing waste & fertilising the land.
Chela also mentioned:
• A new type of oven they have just built at Cedesa, which is essentially a pizza or bread oven, made of bricks & adobe. For cooking bread, biscuits, baking roasts etc. It is very efficient in it´s use of wood, & burns hot with just a little wood.
• Some of the community are currently producing maize, frijol, calabasa, garbanzo beans, lentils & wheat, but only a few have parcels of land, most only have small back yards.
• Talked about bees, & honey & they said they would like to learn about how to use honey (lots have not tried it!!), & about beekeeping.
• Some of the benefits of pollen, good for your brain, & moto-neuron function, immunity etc.
• She asked what they know about bees – they knew that bees are essential for pollination & that without them the earth would likely die.
• She explained the potential to sell honey as part of the bee keepers union, or just in their own community. They were very interested & animated & want to know more.
There was no trouble getting a list of the following people who would like to be involved in a workshop to know more:
Concha, Leova, Hilaria, Lupe, Alejandro, Chuy, Fabiana, Carmela, Dulce, Cecilia, Marta, Vero, Consuelo, Cecilia (another Cecilia), Sofia, Juana, Juana (another Juana) & Caratina…
The first workshop/Project planning session will be held on Wednesday 13th January 12pm (& we expect to also to write up a draft project plan to submit to Sue Beutler of Ann Arbor RC as a result of this workshop).
Chela stated in a year they would have bees & backyard gardens, “1st produce for yourselves, thereby increasing your intelligence (re the pollen!), then produce enough to sell in the market of SMA.” (everyone laughed!!)
pg 4 of 4
Chela explained the first step for a traspatio is to clean their backyards, remove all the rubbish to one spot, & begin to collect organic waste in one spot. Bring ant poo to mix with the organic waste, & this is the beginning of compost production, necessary to enrich the soil they plan to grow plants in. They can bring other animal poo too, to help, eg donkey, sheep, chicken…
G. A visitor Saul Juarez Cabrerra ph 415 114 3156 asked about getting our help with other communities – Cienegita, Vivienda de Abajo (a long way from VdA)& Capadrillo(?) – we told him to come back to the next assembly with an update of who would like to be involved, names/numbers.
The meeting closed about 3.40 with everyone joining hands & giving thanks.
Dates of next meetings:
Wednesday January 13th 12 midday Los Torres
(Traspatio/Bee project planning workshop)
Thursday January 14th visit to Palencia with Georgina (president elect of the other SMA Rotary Club), Elena & Chela to Cedesa then Palencia (leave Sautto SMA at 10am, 11am leave Cedesa/Dolores Hidalgo for Palencia, 12midday at Palencia (site of potential water project for other Rotary Club).
Wednesday January 20th 12midday Los Torres
(community assembly)
Saturday 23rd January 4pm Lomas de San Jose & team from Los Torres, 1st Planning assembly
These records were made by Laura Stewart (San Miguel Midday RC – Community Service Committee)
33rd Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres
Where: Los Torres (Chucha´s house)
When: 2.12.09 11am – 3.40pm
Who: Chela, (Cedesa), Laura & Elena (San Miguel Midday), + Los Torres people 32 women, 4 men + about 10 small kids, + Annamaria Torres from Vivienda de Arriba, & Teresa Gonzalez from Cruz del Palmar. (+ about 5 people from those communities).
Purpose:
Planning session for phase III, water purification talk, additional issues for the community to begin work on, eg small business opportunity re Sue & Fred from Ann Arbor.
We arrived at 11.30 – there was some confusion as to when the assembly had been booked for, I thought 11am & so did some of the women & Chela thought 11.30 & so did some of the women. Chucha insisted we have a taco in her kitchen before we began, so the assembly didn´t start until around midday.
!. Reflection – led by Elena, Elena personally gifted 3 Joyce Meyer books to the community, 1 for kids, 1 for youths & 1 for adults. They are books on good core topics, morals, treating people with respect, self dignity etc.
Elena read a quote from one of the books for inspiration, Chela talked about responsibility, obligations & harmony.
Chela talked about the earth, & asked where Maize comes from, where milk comes from, where beans come from – to which the answer was – The Earth!
The earth is our mother, our life, our food, our health.
The water arrives & causes erosion.
When the land is fertile, there is no erosion.
When the land is fertile, the wind does not cause dust storms, ie no erosion.
What other problems are there with the earth?
“contamination”
What kinds of contamination – rubbish, plastic, diapers, tyres, bottles, organic, & fecal.
What can we do to help –
• Collect the plastic, reuse wherever possible, collect the organic & fecal matter in compost bins.
• Plant trees on the edge of rivers to prevent erosion.
• Protect resources, don´t let sand extraction happen in your area.
• Know your rights & your obligations.
• Cultivate, conserve, plant & grow – look after your earth.
• Don´t rely on the “give me, give me” attitude, learn how to do things yourselves.
She gave an example of one of the children eating “cheetos”, & discussed the problems with this “food”. Lack of nutrition, toxic chemicals etc. Discussed also the benefits of eating healthily, eg apples v cheetos…
There was discussion of “free toileting” ie pooing in the open, without digging a hole or covering it, & how this affects the whole community, & should be a question of conscience.
2. Agenda/ appointing a co-ordinator & records taker for the meeting
The meeting started proper at 1.10pm & a proposed finish time for 3pm was set.
Veronica was appointed Co-ordinator (she is the young woman that has co-ordinated before & is very efficient). Annamaria (from Vivienda de Arriba) was appointed record taker. (good practice for when it´s her community´s turn!).
Agenda items were proposed
A. Lomas de San Jose technical team (coming from Los Torres)
B. Bacteria/sodis workshop
C. Phase III update
D. Planning next steps for the next 2 communities, Vivienda de Arriba & Cruz del Palmar
E. Traspatio (backyard garden) & road issues (extra issues for community to solve)
F. Proyecto Productivo (productive project – ie small business possibility)
pg 2 of 4
Agenda items discussed
A. Lomas de San Jose technical team (coming from Los Torres)
In LT there is a team of 4 guys who are the experts on constructing the cisterns & water collection systems now. These guys – with some additional training on the social & ecology aspects of the technical implementation – are going to be paid as the trainers & technical project advisers for the Lomas & Montecillo projects.
The team is Miguel Cruz, Juan Alvarado, Guillermo Alvarado, & Rafael Cruz.
It was suggested they come to the first official planning assembly meeting at Lomas de San Jose on Saturday 23rd January at 4pm, to meet with the community.
This will also be the first meeting for Chela & Benigno in that community as Enrique & I have been organizing the community without Cedesa for the first 3 meetings.
It will be suggested the team attend the first day´s training with Benigno, to learn the social & ecology aspects, (they have the technical side down pat).
The full plan for the project will be made in conjunction with Lomas community on the 23rd Jan.
B. Bacteria/sodis workshop
We are aware we need to ensure the potential issue of bacteria in the water in the cisterns is dealt with.
We have done lots of research on the internet & have decided the most fail-safe & easiest method to purify the water is the Sodis method, ie leaving the water in the sun in plastic bottles for 6 hours kills all bacteria. (please see website www.sodis.ch for more info, & to answer any questions you might have regarding plastic leaching into the water, the issue is dealt with thoroughly on this site).
We have touched on this topic in previous assemblies, today we covered it thoroughly.
Elena translated for me.
First I asked who has been drinking the water from the cisterns - & they all replied they all had.
I asked if anyone had been sick from drinking the water, stomach, diarrhea etc No – no-one has been sick. They love the taste of the water & drink more of it.
I explained the potential for bacteria to get into the water from the dust on the roof, especially if there is a surprise rain outside the rainy season. In case there are issues with bacteria they should be aware of a simple technique to kill all bacteria, virus & cysts. (this does not remove fluoride or chemicals from the water, only biological contaminants).
I showed 2 example bottles, & said the label must be removed (& removable) & the bottle must lay on it´s side in full sunlight for 6 hours, & then be emptied into a drinking water storage container (eg a garafon/20 litre bottle). They should have 1x 2ltr bottle per person, & do this each day.
Someone asked if they could use a coke bottle, & I said yes, as long as the label is able to be removed, & the plastic is transparent, so the UV rays can enter. They asked if they could do it using a garafon, I said no, must be a maximum of 10cm´s depth of water for full penetration by the UV rays.
Alejandro, Pofiria & Fabiana volunteered to go to the Kinder to demonstrate this method. The cistern at the kinder has a combination of water from the Pipa´s (trucks) & rainwater. The kinder teacher was very keen to learn this method. I gave the 2 demonstration bottles to Alejandro.
C Phase III update
I explained (with Elena´s help) the Rotary funding process has many levels, & we´ve just received final approval, & are now waiting for the actual cash to get to where it needs to go, to begin.
The next assembly at Los Torres is on the 20th January, & at this point I hope to have access to the funds to purchase the materials & begin the construction of the final cisterns.
pg 3 of 4
D. Planning next steps for the next 2 communities, Vivienda de Arriba & Cruz del Palmar
I updated the communities on our efforts to find funding for projects in their community.
We have spoken with the Ecology Depart director & also with the new Major – Luci, & are attempting to secure matching dollars through these avenues. I also mentioned we have another club - Walla Walla - who would like to work with us on a water project (or 2?) & we need to move quickly to write a grant for this.
We set community meeting times for each of these communities – on the 10th Feb. 2010.
Cruz del Palmar at 11am & Vivienda de Arriba at 3pm.
The women agreed to attend the next assembly at Los Torres on the 20th Jan. & report on their progress re arranging/organizing their assemblies on the 10th Feb.
Both of the representatives of these communities are very efficient, well spoken & excellent participators, if they can pull this together it will be a testament to them & the project in Los Torres, & is following the perfect model of a community project – ie one that grows legs itself, is replicated & motivates others. It is early days, but we are very excited about this development.
The visiting women thanked the LT assembly & left at this point.
E & F. Traspatio (backyard garden) & road issues (extra issues for community to solve)
Proyecto Productivo (productive project – ie small business possibility)
Chela led the discussion with a question to the community, what are they interested in learning about & what do they want to achieve?
They are very interested in being able to produce more of their own food, & were thrilled by the idea of being able to grow enough to be able to trade or sell.
A “traspatio” is literally a back yard garden, in which can be grown fruit trees, flowers, plants for food, & also to produce compost as a way of reducing waste & fertilising the land.
Chela also mentioned:
• A new type of oven they have just built at Cedesa, which is essentially a pizza or bread oven, made of bricks & adobe. For cooking bread, biscuits, baking roasts etc. It is very efficient in it´s use of wood, & burns hot with just a little wood.
• Some of the community are currently producing maize, frijol, calabasa, garbanzo beans, lentils & wheat, but only a few have parcels of land, most only have small back yards.
• Talked about bees, & honey & they said they would like to learn about how to use honey (lots have not tried it!!), & about beekeeping.
• Some of the benefits of pollen, good for your brain, & moto-neuron function, immunity etc.
• She asked what they know about bees – they knew that bees are essential for pollination & that without them the earth would likely die.
• She explained the potential to sell honey as part of the bee keepers union, or just in their own community. They were very interested & animated & want to know more.
There was no trouble getting a list of the following people who would like to be involved in a workshop to know more:
Concha, Leova, Hilaria, Lupe, Alejandro, Chuy, Fabiana, Carmela, Dulce, Cecilia, Marta, Vero, Consuelo, Cecilia (another Cecilia), Sofia, Juana, Juana (another Juana) & Caratina…
The first workshop/Project planning session will be held on Wednesday 13th January 12pm (& we expect to also to write up a draft project plan to submit to Sue Beutler of Ann Arbor RC as a result of this workshop).
Chela stated in a year they would have bees & backyard gardens, “1st produce for yourselves, thereby increasing your intelligence (re the pollen!), then produce enough to sell in the market of SMA.” (everyone laughed!!)
pg 4 of 4
Chela explained the first step for a traspatio is to clean their backyards, remove all the rubbish to one spot, & begin to collect organic waste in one spot. Bring ant poo to mix with the organic waste, & this is the beginning of compost production, necessary to enrich the soil they plan to grow plants in. They can bring other animal poo too, to help, eg donkey, sheep, chicken…
G. A visitor Saul Juarez Cabrerra ph 415 114 3156 asked about getting our help with other communities – Cienegita, Vivienda de Abajo (a long way from VdA)& Capadrillo(?) – we told him to come back to the next assembly with an update of who would like to be involved, names/numbers.
The meeting closed about 3.40 with everyone joining hands & giving thanks.
Dates of next meetings:
Wednesday January 13th 12 midday Los Torres
(Traspatio/Bee project planning workshop)
Thursday January 14th visit to Palencia with Georgina (president elect of the other SMA Rotary Club), Elena & Chela to Cedesa then Palencia (leave Sautto SMA at 10am, 11am leave Cedesa/Dolores Hidalgo for Palencia, 12midday at Palencia (site of potential water project for other Rotary Club).
Wednesday January 20th 12midday Los Torres
(community assembly)
Saturday 23rd January 4pm Lomas de San Jose & team from Los Torres, 1st Planning assembly
These records were made by Laura Stewart (San Miguel Midday RC – Community Service Committee)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
3Rd Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project
Record of Event pg 1 of 3
3Rd Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project
Where: El Cortijo & Montecillo de Nieto Primary School
When: 18 November 2009 11.20-12.10, & 12.30 – 3.05
Who: pre planning meeting –Elena & Laura (Rotary), Chela Cedesa.
Assembly, Elena, Laura & Chela, Hector & Leon (2 professors), 26 women, 1 man & many children.
Purpose: Pre planning session at El Cortijo & then Community Assembly at MdN Primary School – continuing planning of the project, including deciding which families will be receiving cisterns in the first phase, (limited to 26 cisterns) & establishing working groups.
We decided to hold the meeting outside under a big tree, so we could sit in a circle, & be less constrained by the desks & layout in the classroom. It was more conducive to participation & involvement.
When we first arrived only a few women were there, & about 6 women were washing dishes after the lunch. (Feed the Hungry provides this school lunch program).
Elena & I looked more closely at the water collection system the municipal govt. had put in place. The membrane tank & it´s lid are ill fitting, for the support structure, & when we peered into the tank the level is only about 3 inches of water at the bottom. This is at the end of the rainy season, so the tank should be almost full!
We walked around the tank, & found a slimy puddle leading from under the tank, which seems to indicate there is a slow leak. We mentioned this to Leon (one of the teachers) who said they know about it & have informed the Ecology department, who are waiting for it to empty before repairing. This is additional confirmation for us that the ferro cement tank is the better solution.
Chela, Elena & I asked to be shown the kindergarten, which is across the road. We were led there by Eva & Enerina. Chela asked lots of questions about the community. The kinder is a lovely building with a grove of about 8 mature mesquites shading most of the grounds. They have a 1500ltr tinaco (plastic tank) at the kinder, not connected to the roof, but for delivery by the water truck.
Most people in the community have sold their land to foreigners. Only about 3 locals still own parcels of land. The lots they now live on are small unproductive lots. The people sold their land out of ignorance, & have spent the money in most cases.
There is a small springfed creek at the back of the kindergarten, but it is dry except in the rainy season, most of the year the “spring” is dry.
The meeting started at 1.20pm.
1. Hello & thank you for coming. (Chela)
2. “Reflection” (Elena)
a review of what has happened since the last assembly 1 month ago.
The women who committed to collecting a census of the community, listing who would be like to participate in the project, collected all the names & ages of each of the members of all the families (42 in total).
Elena thanked them for their hard & excellent work. She thanked everyone for coming today, walking here to attend the meeting, & described this as the seed, or beginnings, & congratulated them on their motivation to attend.
Is there anything pending from the previous meeting? No.
3. Chela engaged the community´s responses with a number of statements & questions
• It´s important for everyone to take responsibility in their own hands & make their family & community wellbeing a priority.
• “in this community you have a problem with water – what´s the problem?”
• They all responded the water is contaminated, & that fluoride was the contaminant. Chela gave a bit more background re the contamination issue around their region.
Page 2 of 3
• “You have yellow teeth from drinking this water, we are here to work to solve this issue for who?” & they all responded “for our kids!”
• How many people are at today´s meeting who also attended the 1st meeting – 20 people raised their hands. She congratulated them for organising themselves to attend this 2nd meeting.
• Is it a free project? – no! we need to work.
• People have rights, but with rights come obligations.
• Chela asked where else it talks about rights & obligations, Elena offered – in the bible, & Chela said, also in the Constitution of Mexico, & talked a little about the rights of the people as described in the constitution. An example was described using a book the teachers use in the 3rd grade class.
• The right to drinking water is a basic human right.
• One of the men at the meeting has been buying bottled water for 30 years.
• They all want clean water for their kids & grand kids.
• “you can all speak, not just listen”
• What are you prepared to do for safe drinking water – work & participate, by building the cisterns & attending the meetings.
They all recorded their names in the “roll book” from the first meeting.
4.What future do you see for your kids? What can you imagine?
Interestingly, this was a difficult one for the women to answer. Either they were trying to work out what it was we were expecting them to say, or they weren´t able to visualise anything for their kids´future… I suspect from their eventual answers, it was the former.
a. safe drinking water
b. the awareness to conserve water (because it´s not a renewable resource!)
c. for the kids to learn the bible, know the words of the bible. (living in harmony with eachother & resources, learn values).
(I was imagining how a group of American women would answer this question, with things like to be happy, to have good jobs, be passionate about what they do, be successful in their fields, travel the world, be good people, but nothing like this came up, again maybe they were wanting to provide the “right” answer).
5. Phase 1 Participants selection
The list of people interested in participating has 42 families.
The scope of this project (at least phase 1) is 26 cisterns, we communicated this & then set about determining who the first 26 families would be.
There were 28 people attending the meeting. We worked through the attendees, & called out the name & asked each person how many in their family. This is how the list transpired.
1. Maria del Carmen Villa Franco 7 people (2 families will share, 1 of 3, 1 of 4 people)
2. Margarita Pastor 6
3. Irene Jimenez 8
4. Maria Griselda 5
5. Soledara Ramirez 5
6. Alicia Peña 8 (2 families will share)
7. Marie Elena Cortez 6
8. Nancy Galvan 6
9. Lorena Garcia 5
10. Maria Irene Ramirez 6
11. Emelia Ramirez 7
12. Gloria Peña 6
13. Maria Cruz Jimenez 13 (2 families)
14. Victoria Vazquez 5
15. Lorena Ramirez 3
16. Hermalinda Barranca 7
17. Micaela Muñoz 7
18. Casilda Ramirez 8
19. Aurelia Peña 7
20. Secondido Ramirez 11 (3 families)
21. Eva Garcia 5
Page 3 of 3
22. Enerina Ramirez 3
23. Irma Carmona 9 (2 families)
24. Maria Blanca Ramirez (Taboada) 4
One elderly woman (with just her & her husband) said her husband can not help build it since he has a job, but she still wanted one, we pointed out that she could do the work herself, but since there are only 2 of them, maybe she could share with her close neighbours (family), she said she had not organised this, in the meantime we have her as the next phase, in an attempt to maximise the number of people we can serve.
We were lucky that so many families have chosen to co-operate as this will definitely maximise the solution!
6. Dividing into working groups
We explained the process of work groups, ie to build one cistern would take 1 family for days, but that 7 families could build 7 cisterns in 4 days, & that the group was collectively responsible for ensuring all cisterns are built.
There are currently 24 people on the list (with a space for 2 more if they attend the meetings in future & seek permission of the community).
It was decided to work in 4 groups of 6 (not 3 groups of 8). The names in bold are the leaders of each group.
Group 1. Group 2. Group 3. Group 4.
Margarita Carmen Griselda Gloria
Casilda Victoria Alicia Soledad
Eva Secondino Elena Audelia
Micaela Emelia Lorena R Enedina
Irene Nancy Maria Cruz Lorena G
Maria Blanca Maria Irene Irma Hermelinda
The next Assembly (#3) date was set for December 16th at 12.30
With luck we will have the funding approved by TRF, & be ready to begin the project by this date.
Photo album http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=steve.mckee&target=ALBUM&id=5395898476865345153&authkey=Gv1sRgCN3a_7DOi7iACg&feat=email
3Rd Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project
Where: El Cortijo & Montecillo de Nieto Primary School
When: 18 November 2009 11.20-12.10, & 12.30 – 3.05
Who: pre planning meeting –Elena & Laura (Rotary), Chela Cedesa.
Assembly, Elena, Laura & Chela, Hector & Leon (2 professors), 26 women, 1 man & many children.
Purpose: Pre planning session at El Cortijo & then Community Assembly at MdN Primary School – continuing planning of the project, including deciding which families will be receiving cisterns in the first phase, (limited to 26 cisterns) & establishing working groups.
We decided to hold the meeting outside under a big tree, so we could sit in a circle, & be less constrained by the desks & layout in the classroom. It was more conducive to participation & involvement.
When we first arrived only a few women were there, & about 6 women were washing dishes after the lunch. (Feed the Hungry provides this school lunch program).
Elena & I looked more closely at the water collection system the municipal govt. had put in place. The membrane tank & it´s lid are ill fitting, for the support structure, & when we peered into the tank the level is only about 3 inches of water at the bottom. This is at the end of the rainy season, so the tank should be almost full!
We walked around the tank, & found a slimy puddle leading from under the tank, which seems to indicate there is a slow leak. We mentioned this to Leon (one of the teachers) who said they know about it & have informed the Ecology department, who are waiting for it to empty before repairing. This is additional confirmation for us that the ferro cement tank is the better solution.
Chela, Elena & I asked to be shown the kindergarten, which is across the road. We were led there by Eva & Enerina. Chela asked lots of questions about the community. The kinder is a lovely building with a grove of about 8 mature mesquites shading most of the grounds. They have a 1500ltr tinaco (plastic tank) at the kinder, not connected to the roof, but for delivery by the water truck.
Most people in the community have sold their land to foreigners. Only about 3 locals still own parcels of land. The lots they now live on are small unproductive lots. The people sold their land out of ignorance, & have spent the money in most cases.
There is a small springfed creek at the back of the kindergarten, but it is dry except in the rainy season, most of the year the “spring” is dry.
The meeting started at 1.20pm.
1. Hello & thank you for coming. (Chela)
2. “Reflection” (Elena)
a review of what has happened since the last assembly 1 month ago.
The women who committed to collecting a census of the community, listing who would be like to participate in the project, collected all the names & ages of each of the members of all the families (42 in total).
Elena thanked them for their hard & excellent work. She thanked everyone for coming today, walking here to attend the meeting, & described this as the seed, or beginnings, & congratulated them on their motivation to attend.
Is there anything pending from the previous meeting? No.
3. Chela engaged the community´s responses with a number of statements & questions
• It´s important for everyone to take responsibility in their own hands & make their family & community wellbeing a priority.
• “in this community you have a problem with water – what´s the problem?”
• They all responded the water is contaminated, & that fluoride was the contaminant. Chela gave a bit more background re the contamination issue around their region.
Page 2 of 3
• “You have yellow teeth from drinking this water, we are here to work to solve this issue for who?” & they all responded “for our kids!”
• How many people are at today´s meeting who also attended the 1st meeting – 20 people raised their hands. She congratulated them for organising themselves to attend this 2nd meeting.
• Is it a free project? – no! we need to work.
• People have rights, but with rights come obligations.
• Chela asked where else it talks about rights & obligations, Elena offered – in the bible, & Chela said, also in the Constitution of Mexico, & talked a little about the rights of the people as described in the constitution. An example was described using a book the teachers use in the 3rd grade class.
• The right to drinking water is a basic human right.
• One of the men at the meeting has been buying bottled water for 30 years.
• They all want clean water for their kids & grand kids.
• “you can all speak, not just listen”
• What are you prepared to do for safe drinking water – work & participate, by building the cisterns & attending the meetings.
They all recorded their names in the “roll book” from the first meeting.
4.What future do you see for your kids? What can you imagine?
Interestingly, this was a difficult one for the women to answer. Either they were trying to work out what it was we were expecting them to say, or they weren´t able to visualise anything for their kids´future… I suspect from their eventual answers, it was the former.
a. safe drinking water
b. the awareness to conserve water (because it´s not a renewable resource!)
c. for the kids to learn the bible, know the words of the bible. (living in harmony with eachother & resources, learn values).
(I was imagining how a group of American women would answer this question, with things like to be happy, to have good jobs, be passionate about what they do, be successful in their fields, travel the world, be good people, but nothing like this came up, again maybe they were wanting to provide the “right” answer).
5. Phase 1 Participants selection
The list of people interested in participating has 42 families.
The scope of this project (at least phase 1) is 26 cisterns, we communicated this & then set about determining who the first 26 families would be.
There were 28 people attending the meeting. We worked through the attendees, & called out the name & asked each person how many in their family. This is how the list transpired.
1. Maria del Carmen Villa Franco 7 people (2 families will share, 1 of 3, 1 of 4 people)
2. Margarita Pastor 6
3. Irene Jimenez 8
4. Maria Griselda 5
5. Soledara Ramirez 5
6. Alicia Peña 8 (2 families will share)
7. Marie Elena Cortez 6
8. Nancy Galvan 6
9. Lorena Garcia 5
10. Maria Irene Ramirez 6
11. Emelia Ramirez 7
12. Gloria Peña 6
13. Maria Cruz Jimenez 13 (2 families)
14. Victoria Vazquez 5
15. Lorena Ramirez 3
16. Hermalinda Barranca 7
17. Micaela Muñoz 7
18. Casilda Ramirez 8
19. Aurelia Peña 7
20. Secondido Ramirez 11 (3 families)
21. Eva Garcia 5
Page 3 of 3
22. Enerina Ramirez 3
23. Irma Carmona 9 (2 families)
24. Maria Blanca Ramirez (Taboada) 4
One elderly woman (with just her & her husband) said her husband can not help build it since he has a job, but she still wanted one, we pointed out that she could do the work herself, but since there are only 2 of them, maybe she could share with her close neighbours (family), she said she had not organised this, in the meantime we have her as the next phase, in an attempt to maximise the number of people we can serve.
We were lucky that so many families have chosen to co-operate as this will definitely maximise the solution!
6. Dividing into working groups
We explained the process of work groups, ie to build one cistern would take 1 family for days, but that 7 families could build 7 cisterns in 4 days, & that the group was collectively responsible for ensuring all cisterns are built.
There are currently 24 people on the list (with a space for 2 more if they attend the meetings in future & seek permission of the community).
It was decided to work in 4 groups of 6 (not 3 groups of 8). The names in bold are the leaders of each group.
Group 1. Group 2. Group 3. Group 4.
Margarita Carmen Griselda Gloria
Casilda Victoria Alicia Soledad
Eva Secondino Elena Audelia
Micaela Emelia Lorena R Enedina
Irene Nancy Maria Cruz Lorena G
Maria Blanca Maria Irene Irma Hermelinda
The next Assembly (#3) date was set for December 16th at 12.30
With luck we will have the funding approved by TRF, & be ready to begin the project by this date.
Photo album http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=steve.mckee&target=ALBUM&id=5395898476865345153&authkey=Gv1sRgCN3a_7DOi7iACg&feat=email
Friday, November 6, 2009
28th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project
Record of Event pg 1 of 3
28th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project
Where: El Cortijo (behind La Gruta) & Los Torres Casa of Chuy.
When: 11.06.09 10.30 – 2.40pm
Who: Chela (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), Britta (Bi lingual visitor), & approx 26 community members
Purpose: Pre-assembly planning meeting & details catch up.
& Community assembly/meeting follow up.
I asked Chela (Cedesa), if she was able to continue her good work in another community that we are proposing as our next water Project – Lomas de San Jose.
She agreed, & we will need to firm up details closer to the time, when we have funding committed etc.
Chela mentioned 2 communities Cedesa have been working with for a long time that have horrendously high levels of fluoride. In the municipality of Palencia there are 8 communities with high levels of Fluoride & Arsenic. 4 of those are particularly high, San Deigo de la Union & San Luis de la Paz. SLdlP has approx 200 families, their levels are 6.8mg/l fluoride (1.5 is maximum safe level), & 60-70 ppm for Arsenic (25-30 parts per million is max safe level).
I said I would raise it at the Community Service Committee meeting – NB I did & it was decided that we should concentrate on communities in our own region first, this is outside the municipality of SMA.
We continued on to Los Torres.
There was a school meeting at the same time so slightly fewer people than normal, but still a good turnout on a very hot day.
The four groups constructing the 27 cisterns were roll called,
Attending were 5/7 group 1, 4/6 group 2, 6/7 group 3, & 3/7 group 4.
There were 4 phase III attendees.
The co-ordinator & records keeper were elected. Co-ordinator Veronica, Records Maricela.
The following agenda items were first decided & then discussed in order.
1. Review of the work to date.
Group 1. 3 almost finished (pipes to be connected)
Group 2 2 almost finished
Group 3 People in the group are not helping
Group 4 No materials have been delivered yet.
As of today the sand has arrived & there are materials for 6 more.
Group 1, only have materials for 1 more
Group 2 only have materials for 1 more
Group 3 only have materials for 3 more
Group 4 only have materials for 1 more
There was a lot of discussion about the difficulties they are finding working in groups. Working in groups is a new concept for many of these people. Some comments Concha “it is important to be in groups & not split off by family” Juan “when men are working with women around they should be aware of their language if women want to work with them” this was echoed by another young man. Juana “her husband started in a group, thought it was too much work now wants to just do it with his neighbours.”
Page 2 of 3
Porfiria “they have been too busy washing clothes, because of the swine flu the teacher has said they have to wash the kids clothes every day, so they have no time to help building the cisterns”
Veronica was the co-ordinator of this meeting & was very firm with everyone, she was a complete natural at the role, & had the meeting running very smoothly.
There was more discussion about what makes good groups, respect, motivation etc, & it was agreed that group 1 would help group 4 solve their problems. Also Benigno (Cedesa) will visit to help resolve any outstanding issues.
Group 2 said that they have 2 people working 100% of the time & others a lot less. Some people are helping by lending their tools.
Hilaria “ there needs to be an arrangement made re lending of tools, eg trade, gift, exchange”
Guillermo “ has had training, knows the full process is happy to help & his tools are used everywhere, still waiting for materials”
Concha “if people need help they should ask for it, otherwise who will know?”
Chela mentioned that asking shows interest, & then explained the definition of solidarity.
Group 3
Was some dispute about mis communication of arranged time to meet at someone´s house. Veronica asked the meeting if the rest of the people were prepared to help the woman or not, they all said they would. Another woman said if someone offers to help doesn’t mean they will do it for you!
Priority was decided – people with more knowledge should get their materials & build their cisterns 1st, then those people will help the next ones.
A new priority list for order of delivery of materials was created.
A young man said “at a lot of the meetings people say they will do things, & then don’t do it, people should stick to their word”.
2. Phase IV the school cisterns (funded by San Miguel Community fund 2nd Grant)
Who went to meet with the teacher (to plan re school phase IV)
Chuy, Hilaria, Catalina (Juan´s wife), Ofelia, Nicolasa & Elana
At first the Teacher said No, because she thought it was the same as the Montecillo de Nieto school Project completed by the govt & Ilan, & she thought it was dangerous, too easy to damage.
When they explained the cisterns would be the same as the one at the Kinder she happily agreed.
They asked when the materials would be available, I said whenever they are ready.
There was a discussion as to whether it should happen during or after phase II, some suggested during, as no-one would help afterwards.
Guillermo suggested small groups as big groups are inefficient.
The mini committee (as above) need to inform all of the parents of the school that they need to help with construction of the cisterns in 15 days at a meeting at the school.
There are approx 80 kids at school
Page 3 of 3
There should be a representative at school when the Maestra cant be there.
Make up the groups with the people here & then ask others at school to join the groups.
The 3 groups were decided.
It was agreed that they should either work or if they cant work then pay $100 pesos, this will pay the leaders of the groups who will be there all day every day to co-ordinate & need to be reimbursed for time off work.
There will be 2 abiniles for the 3 cisterns, they will be paid $250 pesos per day from the money collected from the people that are unable to work.
Meeting finished at 2.40pm
The next meeting is scheduled for 25.06.09 (I will be away in NZ)
It needs to be noted that the meeting today was so well organized, the community involvement was huge & there is a real sense of progress organization & motivation & an attitude of “we can do this!”… Amazing!
28th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project
Where: El Cortijo (behind La Gruta) & Los Torres Casa of Chuy.
When: 11.06.09 10.30 – 2.40pm
Who: Chela (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), Britta (Bi lingual visitor), & approx 26 community members
Purpose: Pre-assembly planning meeting & details catch up.
& Community assembly/meeting follow up.
I asked Chela (Cedesa), if she was able to continue her good work in another community that we are proposing as our next water Project – Lomas de San Jose.
She agreed, & we will need to firm up details closer to the time, when we have funding committed etc.
Chela mentioned 2 communities Cedesa have been working with for a long time that have horrendously high levels of fluoride. In the municipality of Palencia there are 8 communities with high levels of Fluoride & Arsenic. 4 of those are particularly high, San Deigo de la Union & San Luis de la Paz. SLdlP has approx 200 families, their levels are 6.8mg/l fluoride (1.5 is maximum safe level), & 60-70 ppm for Arsenic (25-30 parts per million is max safe level).
I said I would raise it at the Community Service Committee meeting – NB I did & it was decided that we should concentrate on communities in our own region first, this is outside the municipality of SMA.
We continued on to Los Torres.
There was a school meeting at the same time so slightly fewer people than normal, but still a good turnout on a very hot day.
The four groups constructing the 27 cisterns were roll called,
Attending were 5/7 group 1, 4/6 group 2, 6/7 group 3, & 3/7 group 4.
There were 4 phase III attendees.
The co-ordinator & records keeper were elected. Co-ordinator Veronica, Records Maricela.
The following agenda items were first decided & then discussed in order.
1. Review of the work to date.
Group 1. 3 almost finished (pipes to be connected)
Group 2 2 almost finished
Group 3 People in the group are not helping
Group 4 No materials have been delivered yet.
As of today the sand has arrived & there are materials for 6 more.
Group 1, only have materials for 1 more
Group 2 only have materials for 1 more
Group 3 only have materials for 3 more
Group 4 only have materials for 1 more
There was a lot of discussion about the difficulties they are finding working in groups. Working in groups is a new concept for many of these people. Some comments Concha “it is important to be in groups & not split off by family” Juan “when men are working with women around they should be aware of their language if women want to work with them” this was echoed by another young man. Juana “her husband started in a group, thought it was too much work now wants to just do it with his neighbours.”
Page 2 of 3
Porfiria “they have been too busy washing clothes, because of the swine flu the teacher has said they have to wash the kids clothes every day, so they have no time to help building the cisterns”
Veronica was the co-ordinator of this meeting & was very firm with everyone, she was a complete natural at the role, & had the meeting running very smoothly.
There was more discussion about what makes good groups, respect, motivation etc, & it was agreed that group 1 would help group 4 solve their problems. Also Benigno (Cedesa) will visit to help resolve any outstanding issues.
Group 2 said that they have 2 people working 100% of the time & others a lot less. Some people are helping by lending their tools.
Hilaria “ there needs to be an arrangement made re lending of tools, eg trade, gift, exchange”
Guillermo “ has had training, knows the full process is happy to help & his tools are used everywhere, still waiting for materials”
Concha “if people need help they should ask for it, otherwise who will know?”
Chela mentioned that asking shows interest, & then explained the definition of solidarity.
Group 3
Was some dispute about mis communication of arranged time to meet at someone´s house. Veronica asked the meeting if the rest of the people were prepared to help the woman or not, they all said they would. Another woman said if someone offers to help doesn’t mean they will do it for you!
Priority was decided – people with more knowledge should get their materials & build their cisterns 1st, then those people will help the next ones.
A new priority list for order of delivery of materials was created.
A young man said “at a lot of the meetings people say they will do things, & then don’t do it, people should stick to their word”.
2. Phase IV the school cisterns (funded by San Miguel Community fund 2nd Grant)
Who went to meet with the teacher (to plan re school phase IV)
Chuy, Hilaria, Catalina (Juan´s wife), Ofelia, Nicolasa & Elana
At first the Teacher said No, because she thought it was the same as the Montecillo de Nieto school Project completed by the govt & Ilan, & she thought it was dangerous, too easy to damage.
When they explained the cisterns would be the same as the one at the Kinder she happily agreed.
They asked when the materials would be available, I said whenever they are ready.
There was a discussion as to whether it should happen during or after phase II, some suggested during, as no-one would help afterwards.
Guillermo suggested small groups as big groups are inefficient.
The mini committee (as above) need to inform all of the parents of the school that they need to help with construction of the cisterns in 15 days at a meeting at the school.
There are approx 80 kids at school
Page 3 of 3
There should be a representative at school when the Maestra cant be there.
Make up the groups with the people here & then ask others at school to join the groups.
The 3 groups were decided.
It was agreed that they should either work or if they cant work then pay $100 pesos, this will pay the leaders of the groups who will be there all day every day to co-ordinate & need to be reimbursed for time off work.
There will be 2 abiniles for the 3 cisterns, they will be paid $250 pesos per day from the money collected from the people that are unable to work.
Meeting finished at 2.40pm
The next meeting is scheduled for 25.06.09 (I will be away in NZ)
It needs to be noted that the meeting today was so well organized, the community involvement was huge & there is a real sense of progress organization & motivation & an attitude of “we can do this!”… Amazing!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
32nd Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres
Record of Event pg 1 of 3
32nd Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres
Where: El Cortijo & Los Torres (school, upper community & Chucha´s house)
When: 28.10.09 10am – 4.15,
Who: Chela, (Cedesa), Bill & Montse Webb (Tallahassee Rotary) Laura (San Miguel Midday, + 51 adults including 7 men, + many children.
Purpose: Pre meeting planning in the car on the way. This visit was dual purpose, 1. to show Bill & Montse the results of the project to date, & introduce them to the people, & methods, 2. to plan next steps with the assembly. The plan included Visit to school to take photos, & meet with teachers & kids, then walking tour of close cisterns for Bill & Montse & visit to the kinder, again to meet with kids & teacher.
11am, we met with some of the community leaders, the teachers & children at the school. We took photos needed to complete the San Miguel Community Fund 2nd Project reporting (SMCF funded the cisterns at the school, which allowed Rotary funding to include more families).
We were met with much enthusiasm. Chela talked to the gathering of teachers & children about the great volunteer effort to build the cisterns, generally about water & conservation, & the water in the cisterns (2 of the 3 are full, the 3rd is waiting for roofing replacement). After a photo session we thanked them all for their involvement & moved on.
We visited another family cistern on the way. This cistern was less than 1/3rd full. The small roof was sited as the cause, I suspect it is lack of conservation, as the roof size should have been more than adequate to fill it by this point. The community also mentioned the municipality truck deliveries were very rare during the rainy season, so I suspect they have been using the water for general use (not just drinking & cleaning as it is designed). We will talk more on conservation at the assembly.
We visited the Kinder, & met with a happy welcome, at the first cistern built. It was completed in February, months before the rainy season, so they opted to have it filled with water from the town deliveries. This is not ideal as the town water was not emptied out before capturing rain water. Also the teacher has been using this water to wash the floors & for general cleaning. We explained there is not sufficient water for this, & other water should be used for this.
We explained this water is not ideal for drinking without treatment, (it should be mentioned the people in Los Torres have been drinking municipality truck delivered water for years, so actually this is not too drastic, considering it will have been diluted with pure rain water, so be a better quality than they have been used to). We will be doing another session on Solar disinfection, for the communities & children/teachers in the kinder & school.
We all squished in the van & drove down to the lower part of the community.
We were met by a big crowd, running a little behind schedule they were already waiting for us, but despite this, Chucha & Jose Miguel (the delegado & his wife) insisted on feeding us, we were treated to a delicious campo meal, of chicheron (pork skin) & nopal (cactus) & beans & rice with warm home made tortillas. We scoffed it down, knowing that the crowd was waiting outside & then joined the gathered assembly.
Assembly began at 1.30.
Chela mentioned they have tested Chucha´s well & it measured 5.8mg/l (this is very high, highest recommended safe level is 1.5mg/l), this testing took place while I was in NZ so I was previously unaware of this.
1. Chela introduced the team & gave a general talk on water & the aquifer. & how we must all work together to improve the situation.
2. A co-ordinator was nominated – Cecilia, & Alejandro was nominated to take records.
3. The roll was called, including the 2 visiting parties representing, Cruz del Palmar & Vivienda de Arriba.
4. Items for the agenda were called for :
The road.
Traspatios (backyard gardens)
Equipo de Acesoria (technical work team)
Conservation of water
Planning the 3rd phase of the project
New communities ie new projects in neighbouring communities
pg 2 of 3
cont.d agenda items.
New solicitudes (ie new projects for the Los Torres community)
These agenda items were prioritised & following is the order in which they were discussed.
Third phase planning
The meeting asked when funding will be available, I responded by end of November with luck, & explained the process to receive funding has many steps.
Veronica raised the point, some people still have not paid their contribution re the construction of the cisterns at the school, (this was an agreement made by the parents of the school kids, who ever could not attend to assist in the construction of the 3 cisterns, agreed to pay a fee) after much back & forth, it was decided to give the list to the teacher to chase. She is difficult to avoid…
A new person came forward to ask to be added to the list of recipients for phase III. Maria de Jesus Ramirez works in Montecillo de Nieto during the week & comes home at the weekend, she is a resident of Los Torres, & is prepared to pay her contribution towards the construction of the school cisterns.
Chela said there are strong volunteers & weaker ones, in this case the strong ones have managed to prove the concept for the others, & it should be decided whether others will be allowed to enjoy the fruits of their labours… & they need to take real need into consideration.
There were several others that asked to be included, Caritina Ramirez, Christina Maya & Juana Soria, with these additional 4, that brings us to 24 for phase III – including 3 tinacos for the elderly solo people.
The delegada also asked if we could provide materials for a cistern to be built for the padre of the church they go to in Cruz del Palmar. They are happy to build it for him, if we could provide the materials. I said I would have to check our budget, as we only have funding budgeted for 20 cisterns & are hoping to use the credit balance from phase II to pay for the difference.
The 3 groups for the 24 people were formed. (3 groups of 7, with no mention of the tinaco receivers, this will need to be addressed when the funds arrive.
Conservation of water
Elena & Laura discussed the need to be very sparing with water use. We demonstrated the cistern when full contains 12,000 ltrs, & at 3 ltrs per day per person, for 275 dry days of the year, this will be sufficient for a family of 14. The formula changes depending on how many litres the cistern currently has, & how many people there are in the family, but basically there is not enough to use for washing dishes or floors & it MUST only be used for drinking & cooking. They need to ration themselves.
Also, I mentioned I am worried the taps are too easy for the children to turn on, play with & lose all the water! They need to be very aware of this. Ideally we could have some sort of child proof lock on the taps, yet to determine how.
The community mentioned how grateful they are to have these cisterns, there have been very few deliveries of water by the municipality during the rainy season & they would have had no water, & had to beg or borrow it from the people with (contaminated) wells.
Neighbouring Community Projects
Cruz del Palmar
2 women from the neighbouring Cruz del Palmar,
Yolande Ramirez Juarez 415 155 9482 & Teresa Gonzalez Maya 415 113 9274
attended our previous assembly, asking how they could have a water project in their community, as they have a scarcity, & contaminated water. Los Torres people told them to go door to door & gather names, & inform them they would have to be prepared to form committees & work groups & do the construction themselves, then to return to the next LT assembly with a list of names.
They returned with a list of 32 families.
pg 3 of 3
Vivienda de Arriba
Another neighbouring community also arrived at the Los Torres Assembly, this was a group of 5 women representing the community of Vivienda de Arriba.
Anamaria Torres Ramirez (415 112 5094) told us they have a well in nearby Tierra Blanca Y Espejo, & supposedly have piped water, but during the dry season they receive no water. The well runs dry, in the dry season, & they are on the higher side & there is not enough water for them.
She was very well organised & already had collated a list of families wishing to be involved, 38 families in total.
We thanked them for being such excellent advocates for their communities, we explained the funding process & that we need time to investigate possibilities for financial assistance. We asked them to visit the next assembly to hear what we have discovered by then.
In summary
This is an extremely heartening result. For an outside community to visit their neighbours with a request for help shows great motivation, & an obvious desire to solve their own issues. This is exactly what we hoped would happen with this project, ie that others would seek to replicate this simple & effective model.
Chela (from Cedesa) is very interested to begin organisation with these communities, now all we need to do is find some more funding.
We have since visited with the Ecology department (& plan to visit with the department of social development) to encourage them to adopt our model & assist to provide safe drinking water in this municipality. This is an ambitious project, as they already have their chosen model (ie the San Miguel Viejo model, that we have evolved our project from). It will now be up to us to demonstrate the advantages of this model (that “teaches them how to fish”)´v´ their model (that provides a “fish Meal”).
Regardless of the direction the municipality decide to take, we will continue with our plan (with your continued support) to provide safe drinking water to as many communities as we are able, & we have a headstart on the needs analysis stage, (obviously still be thoroughly investigated).
At the end of the assembly Bill gave a heart warming speech about how with their hard work they have solved their problem, he thanked them for their courage & leadership, & said we are honoured to be their partners.
The meeting concluded at 4.15pm & we headed home with our tired but sated Tallahassee buddies.
Thank you so much to Montse for her excellent simultaneous translation!
Next meeting December 2nd at 11am – Chucha´s house
32nd Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres
Where: El Cortijo & Los Torres (school, upper community & Chucha´s house)
When: 28.10.09 10am – 4.15,
Who: Chela, (Cedesa), Bill & Montse Webb (Tallahassee Rotary) Laura (San Miguel Midday, + 51 adults including 7 men, + many children.
Purpose: Pre meeting planning in the car on the way. This visit was dual purpose, 1. to show Bill & Montse the results of the project to date, & introduce them to the people, & methods, 2. to plan next steps with the assembly. The plan included Visit to school to take photos, & meet with teachers & kids, then walking tour of close cisterns for Bill & Montse & visit to the kinder, again to meet with kids & teacher.
11am, we met with some of the community leaders, the teachers & children at the school. We took photos needed to complete the San Miguel Community Fund 2nd Project reporting (SMCF funded the cisterns at the school, which allowed Rotary funding to include more families).
We were met with much enthusiasm. Chela talked to the gathering of teachers & children about the great volunteer effort to build the cisterns, generally about water & conservation, & the water in the cisterns (2 of the 3 are full, the 3rd is waiting for roofing replacement). After a photo session we thanked them all for their involvement & moved on.
We visited another family cistern on the way. This cistern was less than 1/3rd full. The small roof was sited as the cause, I suspect it is lack of conservation, as the roof size should have been more than adequate to fill it by this point. The community also mentioned the municipality truck deliveries were very rare during the rainy season, so I suspect they have been using the water for general use (not just drinking & cleaning as it is designed). We will talk more on conservation at the assembly.
We visited the Kinder, & met with a happy welcome, at the first cistern built. It was completed in February, months before the rainy season, so they opted to have it filled with water from the town deliveries. This is not ideal as the town water was not emptied out before capturing rain water. Also the teacher has been using this water to wash the floors & for general cleaning. We explained there is not sufficient water for this, & other water should be used for this.
We explained this water is not ideal for drinking without treatment, (it should be mentioned the people in Los Torres have been drinking municipality truck delivered water for years, so actually this is not too drastic, considering it will have been diluted with pure rain water, so be a better quality than they have been used to). We will be doing another session on Solar disinfection, for the communities & children/teachers in the kinder & school.
We all squished in the van & drove down to the lower part of the community.
We were met by a big crowd, running a little behind schedule they were already waiting for us, but despite this, Chucha & Jose Miguel (the delegado & his wife) insisted on feeding us, we were treated to a delicious campo meal, of chicheron (pork skin) & nopal (cactus) & beans & rice with warm home made tortillas. We scoffed it down, knowing that the crowd was waiting outside & then joined the gathered assembly.
Assembly began at 1.30.
Chela mentioned they have tested Chucha´s well & it measured 5.8mg/l (this is very high, highest recommended safe level is 1.5mg/l), this testing took place while I was in NZ so I was previously unaware of this.
1. Chela introduced the team & gave a general talk on water & the aquifer. & how we must all work together to improve the situation.
2. A co-ordinator was nominated – Cecilia, & Alejandro was nominated to take records.
3. The roll was called, including the 2 visiting parties representing, Cruz del Palmar & Vivienda de Arriba.
4. Items for the agenda were called for :
The road.
Traspatios (backyard gardens)
Equipo de Acesoria (technical work team)
Conservation of water
Planning the 3rd phase of the project
New communities ie new projects in neighbouring communities
pg 2 of 3
cont.d agenda items.
New solicitudes (ie new projects for the Los Torres community)
These agenda items were prioritised & following is the order in which they were discussed.
Third phase planning
The meeting asked when funding will be available, I responded by end of November with luck, & explained the process to receive funding has many steps.
Veronica raised the point, some people still have not paid their contribution re the construction of the cisterns at the school, (this was an agreement made by the parents of the school kids, who ever could not attend to assist in the construction of the 3 cisterns, agreed to pay a fee) after much back & forth, it was decided to give the list to the teacher to chase. She is difficult to avoid…
A new person came forward to ask to be added to the list of recipients for phase III. Maria de Jesus Ramirez works in Montecillo de Nieto during the week & comes home at the weekend, she is a resident of Los Torres, & is prepared to pay her contribution towards the construction of the school cisterns.
Chela said there are strong volunteers & weaker ones, in this case the strong ones have managed to prove the concept for the others, & it should be decided whether others will be allowed to enjoy the fruits of their labours… & they need to take real need into consideration.
There were several others that asked to be included, Caritina Ramirez, Christina Maya & Juana Soria, with these additional 4, that brings us to 24 for phase III – including 3 tinacos for the elderly solo people.
The delegada also asked if we could provide materials for a cistern to be built for the padre of the church they go to in Cruz del Palmar. They are happy to build it for him, if we could provide the materials. I said I would have to check our budget, as we only have funding budgeted for 20 cisterns & are hoping to use the credit balance from phase II to pay for the difference.
The 3 groups for the 24 people were formed. (3 groups of 7, with no mention of the tinaco receivers, this will need to be addressed when the funds arrive.
Conservation of water
Elena & Laura discussed the need to be very sparing with water use. We demonstrated the cistern when full contains 12,000 ltrs, & at 3 ltrs per day per person, for 275 dry days of the year, this will be sufficient for a family of 14. The formula changes depending on how many litres the cistern currently has, & how many people there are in the family, but basically there is not enough to use for washing dishes or floors & it MUST only be used for drinking & cooking. They need to ration themselves.
Also, I mentioned I am worried the taps are too easy for the children to turn on, play with & lose all the water! They need to be very aware of this. Ideally we could have some sort of child proof lock on the taps, yet to determine how.
The community mentioned how grateful they are to have these cisterns, there have been very few deliveries of water by the municipality during the rainy season & they would have had no water, & had to beg or borrow it from the people with (contaminated) wells.
Neighbouring Community Projects
Cruz del Palmar
2 women from the neighbouring Cruz del Palmar,
Yolande Ramirez Juarez 415 155 9482 & Teresa Gonzalez Maya 415 113 9274
attended our previous assembly, asking how they could have a water project in their community, as they have a scarcity, & contaminated water. Los Torres people told them to go door to door & gather names, & inform them they would have to be prepared to form committees & work groups & do the construction themselves, then to return to the next LT assembly with a list of names.
They returned with a list of 32 families.
pg 3 of 3
Vivienda de Arriba
Another neighbouring community also arrived at the Los Torres Assembly, this was a group of 5 women representing the community of Vivienda de Arriba.
Anamaria Torres Ramirez (415 112 5094) told us they have a well in nearby Tierra Blanca Y Espejo, & supposedly have piped water, but during the dry season they receive no water. The well runs dry, in the dry season, & they are on the higher side & there is not enough water for them.
She was very well organised & already had collated a list of families wishing to be involved, 38 families in total.
We thanked them for being such excellent advocates for their communities, we explained the funding process & that we need time to investigate possibilities for financial assistance. We asked them to visit the next assembly to hear what we have discovered by then.
In summary
This is an extremely heartening result. For an outside community to visit their neighbours with a request for help shows great motivation, & an obvious desire to solve their own issues. This is exactly what we hoped would happen with this project, ie that others would seek to replicate this simple & effective model.
Chela (from Cedesa) is very interested to begin organisation with these communities, now all we need to do is find some more funding.
We have since visited with the Ecology department (& plan to visit with the department of social development) to encourage them to adopt our model & assist to provide safe drinking water in this municipality. This is an ambitious project, as they already have their chosen model (ie the San Miguel Viejo model, that we have evolved our project from). It will now be up to us to demonstrate the advantages of this model (that “teaches them how to fish”)´v´ their model (that provides a “fish Meal”).
Regardless of the direction the municipality decide to take, we will continue with our plan (with your continued support) to provide safe drinking water to as many communities as we are able, & we have a headstart on the needs analysis stage, (obviously still be thoroughly investigated).
At the end of the assembly Bill gave a heart warming speech about how with their hard work they have solved their problem, he thanked them for their courage & leadership, & said we are honoured to be their partners.
The meeting concluded at 4.15pm & we headed home with our tired but sated Tallahassee buddies.
Thank you so much to Montse for her excellent simultaneous translation!
Next meeting December 2nd at 11am – Chucha´s house
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