Los Magueyes Pilot day 1

“A lot of enthusiasm on the first day. The wire was unrolled and the foreman Miguel quickly had the volunteers stitching the layers together. I was impressed at how many men turned up. While the large group composed of men and women worked on the wire, 3 men dug out the space for the cement slab. The gravel was delivered for the base as well as the sand for the concrete. Next a truck arrived and transferred sufficient water for mixing the concrete. Three women busied themselves in Beatrizes house getting lunch ready and preparing cool drinks for the workers. I would say they are all very enthusiastic and committed. If the 3ply arrives...today as promised, it will have been a very successful first day on the pilot cistern.... Harvesting water is fun and very rewarding..“ Denis Beaudry, Rotary San Miguel Midday.18 February 2013

Photo 1 The Materials arriving on the Pilot Site, home of Dona Beatriz

 Photo2 The Devil is in the details … stitching together the chicken wire and structural wire

Photo3 Things go fast with so many helpers

Photo 4Preparing the pad – 12,000 liters weighs a lot

Photo 5 Step One: tie the chicken wire together

 Photo 6 Jesus Rico has delivered the sand and gravel

2nd Los Magueyes Community Mtg - We are Funded

We are funded! Thank you to Middletown Rotary Club and District 7980 who provided matching funds. Thank you to Chinook Rotary Club of Calgary, Canada.

On Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2013), the pre-construction organizational meeting was held at Las Magueyes. In attendance were 17 women, 7 men and 2 children of the Las Magueyes and La Palma communities. The hard work of community development continued. Saul and Holly of CEDESA were there and Saul began the meeting by greeting all and recognizing San Miguel Midday Rotary members who were in attendance. Steve and Jim, members of the Walla Walla, Washington Rotary Club came with Denis and me. They have already made a down payment to be contributing members of our next water harvesting project.

The first order of business in developing a community is to guide the community members in learning how to run a meeting. Saul teaches this brilliantly and with much patience. To begin, a meeting leader and secretary were elected. The community leader then began to develop the agenda for the day and reviewing the meeting notes from the last meeting.  Each member of the community participated by proposing a list of things to be discussed and decided before the next step, building the pilot cistern, begins. Early in the meeting it was determined that three families who had indicated a desire to have a cistern had not attended pre-construction meetings and they had not shown the necessary intent required to earn a cistern. After discussion amongst all of the community members, they decided that only the 16 families that had done the work to deserve a cistern would be included in the project. Alas, the project is now cut back to 16 cisterns. We are overfunded!

It is an appropriate decision to decide to only do 16 of the potential 19 cisterns in this case. Persons/Families truly must earn their cisterns through attending meetings and demonstrating responsibility and willingness to do the work. There is significant time required for construction and teams must believe that all participants will be there to do the work, not only for their own cistern but also for the cisterns for every other family represented on their work teams. I will now discuss what to do with our international partners. I hope they will agree to apply the excess funds to the next project. We already have a list of other communities with dire need for safe and potable drinking water.

Rotary as a mechanism to bring water to poorer marginalized communities has become recognized by the rural communities of the San Miguel Municipality. At this meeting, five persons representing the community of Ex-Hacienda de Pena Blanca came to request that we help them. This is one of the poorest communities in our region and they have no water whatsoever. For many months of the year, they have to take burros miles away to collect water and return it to their community. The representatives of Pena Blanca appealed to us to come visit them and see for ourselves the difficulties they are facing. We will do that and we will support their efforts to obtain a constant water source by encouraging them to become active participants in COCIRA and earning their position in our list of those who have the gravest needs. Their story was a heart wrenching one.

The Meeting Leader of the day (with the soft coaching from Saul) formed three work teams to work together to complete their cisterns. They decided to build a pilot cistern next week at the home of Dona Beatriz. Members from all of the work teams will be there Monday to Friday to build this cistern under the technical guidance of a CEDESA promoter. Rotary will be visiting each day to document the progress and observe the process. Once the pilot cistern is finished, the work groups will build the final fifteen cisterns to complete this project.

It was greatly gratifying to see the process take place and watch as life changing resources are being brought to these communities through Rotary.

Los Magueyes and La Palma Exploratory Meeting – 14 December 2012

Attendance: Saul Juarez and Holly Yasui from Cedesa

Denis Beaudry, Alejandro Guerra and Lee Carter from Rotary San Miguel Midday

Veronica Gonzales and Juan Cervantes, Lilia Luna and Juan Juárez[YUN1] , Anastasia Paolino, Arturo Juarez, Rafael Juarez y Lucina Gonzlaes, Filomeno Juarez, Gloria Martinez, and Beatri Ramirez from the community of Los Magueyes

Maria Juarez, Susana Morales, Ma. Socorro Juarez, Patricia Ramirez, Cristina Ramirez, Ma. Guadalupe Juarez, Norma Zapatero and Ma. Elena Ramirez from the community of La Palma

Not in attendance but represented: Concepción, Estela Munoz and Eulalia Granados

Attending from the communities: 14 women, 4 men and multiple children.

The meeting was called to order at 4:20 pm. The meeting began with an introduction of all persons in attendance. The order of the day was set:

1.       Presentation from CEDESA

2.       Introduction of the project and its importance to the two communities

3.       Introduction of Rotary International and Midday Rotary

4.       Requirements and Commitments required of the project.

Each participant offered their viewpoints of the problems with water for their communities. The important points discussed were lack of water, contaminated water, minerals in the water and taste of the water with chlorine added.

Saul (CEDESA) presented the history of the cistern project in San Miguel that includes 587 cisterns spread out through the area. Saul emphasized that each drop of water is sacred and that water harvested into the cisterns should only be used for drinking and cooking. Twenty-two communities have banded together through the water harvesting and other projects, and they have formed the regional organization, COCIRA (Consejo Ciudadano Rural de Agua – Rural Citizens Council on Water), which brings these communities together as a single voice in analyzing and prioritizing their needs, making plans to resolve problems and presenting their case as a single voice to municipal authorities and other organizations. The participation in COCIRA will lead to further advances for these communities (example: dry toilets, training in food production and processing, health workshops). It is the responsibility of COCIRA which has one representative and one alternate from each community, to manage the community needs and set priorities for the represented communities. (The community development part of this water project is as important as the cistern itself.)

The state of the aquifer underlying the municipality of San Miguel was discussed and it was recognized that this precious resource is rapidly being depleted. Many families and communities have no access to water whatsoever except for erratic deliveries by the municipal government to fill barrels and plastic tubs. For the communities that have a well to provide them water, it is increasingly contaminated by Fluoride and Arsenic. In high concentrations, these minerals cause numerous health problems, most notably dental fluorosis (staining and deterioration of the teeth, general indicators of bone deterioration) and cancer. The most recent test of the well water at La Palma showed that it exceeded limits set by the Mexican government and the World Health Organization. It was pointed out that every year the concentration of these minerals in the aquifer increases as its water continues to be depleted.

The community members at this assembly understood that it is a requirement of this type of project that the cisterns be built in mutual-aid groups, which will decide rules of participation; that the building process requires 4-8 weeks; and that to have a cistern, the family must live full-time in the community and have 25 square meters of roof to capture rain, and a ground space of 3 x 3 meters for the cistern itself.

The members of the community presented their prioritized list of families to receive cisterns: 14 confirmed and 5 on the waiting list. The list was made by considering necessity (no water in Los Magueyes) and participation in the project by attending meetings, helping with the organization and willingness to participate in the work teams. It was explained that funding would be sought for 14 to 19 cisterns.

This is the prioritized list of families to receive cisterns as decided by the group.

Los Magueyes
1- Lilia and Antonio Luna
2- Veronica y Juan Juárez
3- Anastasia Paolino
4- Arturo Juárez
5- Lucina y Rafael Juárez
6- Filemon Juárez
7- Gloria Martínez
8- Beatriz Martínez

La Palma
9- María Suárez
10- Susana Morales
11- Ma. Socorro Juárez
12- Concepción Mojica

13- Ma. Guadalupe Juárez
14- Patricia Ramírez
15- Ma. Elena Ramírez
16- Cristina Ramírez
17- Norma Zapatero
18- Estela Muñoz (not present)
19- Eulalia Granados (not present)

Lilia’s husband was there too, in and out, but I don’t know his name - 

Record of Event 46th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres

Where: Los Torres Primary School

When:  6.6.12 12midday to 4.40pm

Who:  Saul,Chela,Holly,Abel (Cedesa), Gary, Lee, David, Enrique, Lisette, Don, Laura (+ Steve & Visitor Carly from New Zealand) (Rotary), approx. 500 adults plus 100+ kids from 22 communities

Warning – long report – last inauguration is the excuse!

Purpose: I was led to believe the purpose of the day was inauguration of 14 cisterns of the final phase in Los Torres, full circle from the first visit in late 2008 & first project early 2009.

We Rotarians arrived in convoy to Los Torres approx. at midday.

Many people were already gathered, lots of pick ups parked trying to snatch any little shade from small mesquite trees. A huge tarpaulin was strung over a rows of small school chairs, most already occupied, tables were placed to receive the large enamel pots & buckets of tortilla’s wrapped in embroidered cloths to stay warm!

Balloons alternating pink & white were strung over the entrance, a large group of small girls rushed me & each one giving me a hug.

There were posters of photos of all the famiies in Los Torres proudly standing in front of their cisterns, & groups of small children gathered pointing out their families, or laughing at their photos.

We only began the tradition of each family photographing their cisterns in one of the later projects, but Los Torres had decided to go back & photograph each of their families – 84 – lots of posters!!

Concha & Chuy the 2 women who have been instrumental in organisation in this community from  before we even arrived with our projects, gave me welcoming hugs & then spun off to busy-ness readying things, Holly & huddles of other women dotted around from many other communities.

We mingled, chatted, & shook hands with more than 100 people, before miming shaking hands with the rest – realising we’d be there all day if we continued. This was shaping up to be a massive final inauguration.

Pages of info on each community were strung in plastic sleeves on a rope high up across the entrance. Men were lingering in any shady spots they could find replete in their best western shirts, embroidered belts & cowboy hats, I greeted those I recognised, with a general nod of acknowledgement to the others. Other men were carrying huge pots of barbacoa (lamb/sheep) cooked in an underground oven, with steaming large banana leaves – hmm looking forward to that!

The teachers had the children ready & primed with sound equipment in place to begin, a long table decorated with beautifully embroidered cloths & special florist bouquet arrangements of carnations & greenery – I fleetingly thought, how had they gotten those all the way out here in the desert (special trip?)…

More hello kisses & hugs from all the faces I recognised from the many events, assemblies, project days, & regional meetings that we had now amassed between us. Familiar eyes, aprons, special earrings for special events, everyone in their finest.

Gary laughed & asked me if I was running for president? I dismissed him with a nervous laugh & wondered what the heck he was talking about. He asked if I’d seen the electoral poster with my name on it, again I kind of laughed & moved onto other hellos…

I looked up & saw a photo of me from the Tierra Blanca project, Saul & I had tried to take a photo of a particularly old woman, in her fine apron & ready for work with a big hat on. She had refused to smile, so we made it our business to steal one from her. We had cajoled, explained & even pleaded, all the time being met with a staunch refusal… I snuck round beside her & wrapped my arm around her shoulder, then I tickled her ribs, & she couldn’t help it, a smile broke across here face & Saul just managed to catch the last of it…& one of me throwing my head back in a fit of laughter… Anyway, this apparently was my election poster, along with slogan “Laura si cumpli” (loosely translates to – she keeps her word).  There was a resounding clunk & I realised – oh my god, they are honouring me here today!!

A wave of panic came over me – how can I get out of this? rushed into my head… This should not be happening, we should be honouring the team & the communities, this is wrong… I’m sure I flushed an instant magenta! Finally (30 seconds later) I thought, oh well, hopefully it will be short & sweet & this has involved massive organisation & co-ordination, I have to respect their efforts…

Well, so it began, we were asked to take our place at the big table, & the presentations started.

Gifts were presented to me from many communities, a huge glass jug & glasses, a picture of a lush garden, a tin lizard & miniature wheelbarrow, a box of hand painted mugs! Hugs & tributes, I’d already begun crying, this was going to be long!

There were dances by adults, dances by kids, speeches of gratitude, retelling the stories, long crushing hugs, Concha led the proceedings announcing each of the next items, each of the communities were asked to do the chant…bim bom va – each community was called out in turn, stood up where they were & chanted the bim bom va chant ending with “laura, laura Ra Ra Ra”, this lasted an excrutiating lifetime, while every community yelled their loudest! There were even people from Palencia & 3 Esquinas in the municipality of La Paz 2 hours away!

Then more speeches, including one composed by Ivar & read in his absence in English by Gary, & in Spanish by Lee, with David standing beside us holding up a photocopied lifesized mask of Ivar’s face over his own (on a paddle stick) – thank god for that, everytime more tears came bubbling, I looked at Ivar’s smiling 2D face on David’s lanky frame & couldn’t help but laugh. I was presented with a certificate, a pen to continue writing & beautiful silver cuff from Ivar & Paty (exquisite scandanavian style!)

This continued for what must have been an eternity for the kids standing in full uniform & full sun, as more speeches, (tears fully streaming as Chela recounted our team exploits & gave thanks for our collaboration) songs & dances were performed, & eventually this all concluded, after some hilarious solo songs by a couple of older women, & the banquet began.

Plates of steaming pozole, rice, chicken mole, barbacoa, tortillas (still warm!), large jugs of juice water, until we couldn’t eat any more…

People ate, Chela called a meeting in a different part of the school (she can’t help herself, never miss a chance to organise!). We found a knife (the barbacoa one hastily cleaned & pressed into service to) cut the 2 huge cakes bought by Rotary, into a million pieces to make sure all that line up got some… David dished out serviettes & whispered, cut them smaller Laura, there’s a lot of people! The kids (&

some adults) lined for ½ hr waiting patiently for their little piece of cake, it took me a while to realise that the usual “can I have a bigger piece?” which would have been the norm in our culture didn’t happen, each recipient was happy with whatever they received, not one asking for a bigger piece, even if some were only crumbs – it struck me additional confirmation, these humble people have no expectations, & are just so grateful to receive anything.

Rotary colleagues peeled away, many people from the communities piled back onto the pickups, with empty containers & full tummies, huge hugs & calls of “don’t forget us, & remember you’re always welcome in our community” as they drove away in clouds of dust… Holly &  I walked to find the cistern whose ribbon we were to cut.  Eventually we all gathered (the families in Los Torres involved in this final phase, bringing the number of cisterns in Los Torres to approx. 96% of the number of families! We cut the ribbon, hugged, cried, laughed. I lingered a little longer to hear the extreme gratitude & pride of the woman who’s cistern this was. Her husband spoke very good English with a very strong accent – he had, it turned out – been in Florida for 22 years!

I asked the woman if she had children, she said only 2, she would have had more but her husband left , she spoke with sadness retelling how he had only returned 8 mths ago & had left when her daughters were 3 & 5, the oldest was standing there today a mother herself! The woman had tears in her eyes, & a stoic strength about her. We walked to her gate, through her proud garden, geranium cuttings & plants in cans,  she retold – for my ears only – how she had raised those children solo, here in this desert with no money & support for 22 yrs – she had not been part of the previous phases as she didn’t have the requisite time to commit to the participation, & she was sooo relieved & grateful to finally have a cistern, despite the absence of her husband… We hugged & I felt an overwhelming rush of her pain & strength with massive sadness, having been deserted & yet a sense of I survived – but did it have to be that hard…

What a day! What a project!! – this has been an amazing journey for all involved, the communities, the Rotarians here & away, the team!! We have all grown beyond description & know so much more than that first hot dusty day we came driving into Los Torres in 2008 – who would have guessed!!!

LOVE
LAURA

In summary at the conclusion of the Water Project

It’s been a long but seemingly fast, journey from the initial needs analysis carried out by Bob & I in Aug-Nov 2008 until now…

There are huge thanks to be doled out - I’ve done my best to recall all the info/stats/data for the last 3.5 yrs forgive me if there are any omissions.

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

Ann Arbor RC USA

Baton Rouge Capital City RC USA
Bellingham RC USA

Calgary RC Canada

New Braumfels RC USA

Paso Robles RC USA

Port Lavaca RC USA

Richmond RC TX USA

Sechelt BC RC Canada

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

& THE ROTARY FOUNDATION (Ashley & Lauren)

HUGE THANK YOU’s to:

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

Sapasma (Camilo, Waldo, Alva, Juan Jose & the other promoters)

Fondo Verde

Alberta Govt’s Community Initiative Program (BC Canada)

The many private donors/supporters

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

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

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

Our publicity: Atencion!,

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

Lee Carter: answering all the tricky finance questions

 &

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

Numbers:

587 Cisterns

19 Communities

Ie 4000+ family members (+ other school & kinder children)

Total Funding Summarised

Rotary US$229047    (including direct grant private donations)

SMCF US$10614

Sapasma mxn$870399 (ie approx. US$67000)

Fondo Verde mxn$150,000(ie approx. US$11,500) + US$21,850

Other donations US$1000

(total approx. US$341,011) 

To be Completed May-Jun 2012 11 Cisterns

Summary of Funding

San Miguel Community Fund $5911

Tierra Blanca 11 cisterns

Completed Jan-May 2012 169 cisterns in 8 Communities

Summary of Funding

Global Grant Rotary $65,300

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


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

La Tinaja 22 cisterns

Cruz del Palmar 41 Cisterns

Guerrero 20 Cisterns

Tres Esquinas 24 Cisterns

Tierra Blanca 23 Cisterns

Corralejos 15 Cisterns

Vivienda de Arriba 10 Cisterns

Los Torres 14 Cisterns

Completed Nov 2011-Jan2012 60 cisterns in 5 communities

Summary of Funding

Sapasma mxn$435399

Chris Hosford private donor US$500

Los Torres 18 cisterns (Phase IV in this community)

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

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

Lomas de Cocina 2 Cisterns

Cinco Senores 1 Cistern

Completed March – Jun 2011 134 cisterns in 6 communities

Summary of funding

Rotary $44,000

Fondo Verde mxn$150,000

Sapasma mxn$435,000

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

(completed June 2011)

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

(completed June 2011)

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

(Completed June 2011)

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

(completed June 2011)

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

(completed June 2011)

Completed Jan 2011 – March 2011 25 cisterns

Summary Funding

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

Vivienda Urbana (Cap II) 25 cisterns

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

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

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

Capaderillo 40 Cisterns FV US$21850

Cruz del Palmar 28 Cisterns combined $24700

Vivienda de Arriba 17 Cisterns

Montecillo de Nieto 30 Cisterns $16700

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

= 188 cisterns (& 4 rotoplas tanks)

Report of 6th visit to Guerrero

Indigenous dancer at Guerrero Inauguration

Where: Guerrero

When:  28^th April 2012 11-2

Who Saul & Chela (Cedesa) many community members + members from other communities

Lisette & Miguel (personally attended ) a visitor from Codemac (human rights organization) (& member of the Water coalition)

Purpose:   Inauguration/celebration of the completion of 20 cisterns in this community

I was unable to attend this inauguration as I was in Mexico City, Chela related the following to me

There were representatives from 8 communities including Guerrero.

People attended from Pena Blanca, Palmita II, Juan Gonzalez, Vivienda Urbana, Capaderillo, Presita de Santa Rosa & Cruz del Palmar. These people were there to support & strengthen Guerrero as they have had (& continue to have) issues with land rights.

The format for the day was essentially the same as La Tinaja, with introductions, reflection of the greater project, then specific retelling of this project by members of the community.

The dancers at this event were indigenous dancers with plumes on their heads & indigenous costumes etc, this community is the first to include indigenous culture (which is largely lost in this region).

Ribbons were cut on various cisterns during a walking tour.

Confetti!!

There were many balloons & streamers decorating the community & the cisterns, & of course the celebration concluded with a banquet of the usual delectable delights.

5th Meeting at La Tinaja re Water Cisterns & 1st meeting at Peña Blanca re water cisterns

Where: Peña Blanca community (beside Kinder)

When:  24.4.12 approx 10.30-12midday

Who: Holly, Laura, (visitors Mark & Margaret, Seth & Christina) & 17 community members (incl 1 man) + 4 kids & 3 dogs

Purpose of the meeting: To informally meet with the community to discuss possibility of running pipes from the kínder school roof to the 10,000 litre plastic tank which has been supplied by Desarrollo Social.

& 1^st meeting at Peña Blanca re water cisterns

Summary of the visit:

Holly & Chela had previously visited this community out behind La Tinaja, during the visit the lack of water was discussed & the community mentioned they had a large Tinaco that is not currently hooked up to collect water, it is to be filled by Pipa (water truck) deliveries.

The problem is the road is very bad (the worst road any of us have been on, including Chela), the pipa truck had not been yet & during the rainy season it is unlikely the truck would be able to make it.

The tentative suggestion was made re the possibility of connecting the tinaco to a roof collection system & we were visiting on this day to determine feasibility & talk more about possibility of a cistern project in this location.

Holly had invited with Cedesa “volunteers” Mark & Margaret (who live in Guanajuato part time) & they in turn had invited Seth & Christina (who live in Gto & wanted to know more of the work of Cedesa, they have started the “Tianguis Ecologico de Guajajuato”)

We met at the closest Pemex station, as the road is so bad we needed to use Seth’s jeep & leave our cars to be watched by the Pemex guys, we all piled in (literally) & headed off.

The road to Peña Blanca is off the road to La Tinaja, & travels out behind LT. It is indeed the worst road we have travelled on with large boulders, rocks, dust puddles etc.

We met with the gathered crowd at the Kinder & saw that he Tinaco is up hill from the kinder, & outside the perimeter. Following are some facts we gathered:

• Approx. 50 families in this community
• They are “tercieros” essentially share croppers, they get to live on the land of the owner, for the price of 30% of their crops per year
• The landowner has irrigation well but the people have no wells except hand dug wells & springs in the river which dry out during the year
• The teeth of the people seem to be fine, no evidence among those gathered of fluoride damaged teeth.
• There are 3 kinders & 1 primary in this community
• They applied for 2 tinacos from Desarollo Social, to be filled with Pipas wkly to provide drinking/cooking only water for the 50 families, DS gave just one.
• Today – coincidentally was the first day they had had water delivered, a pipa with 10,000 litre capacity arrived as we were meeting, & began filling the tinaco (the delegada accompanied the pipa, so her husband spoke with us)
• We did not know if the 10,000 ltre truck was full, they were still pumping when we left.
• They would like individual family cisterns & have begun the process to join COCIRA (the citizens council) & understand that participation & working together is mandatory.
• The roof of the kinder was peaked. It looked to be approx. 4mt x 4 mtr ie approx. 16m2
• The roof of the neighbouring church was much bigger, maybe 12 mtr x 4 mtr?

We did not run this meeting in the normal fashion, rather as a q&a session, asking for their suggestions & answers to our questions.

The possibility of moving the tinaco to the space by the church was discussed, as it would fill much more quickly & therefore provide much more water during the rainy season. Also it would not work where it is currently & would have to be downhill from the kinder – with no obvious spot.

They all agreed they would love to do a pilot training session to construct 1 or 2 cisterns beside the church to capture water, we explained we have no resources currently but will keep looking.

Ultimately they said, they were very keen to have individual family cisterns like they had seen in La Tinaja & Villa de Guadalupe, they had spoken with the people of these communities & knew a little of what was involved, & were motivated to do what it takes.

We gave them “homework” to ask the Priest if he would ok the construction of cisterns beside the church so that at the next meeting/assembly they can begin planning.

Mark then headed off with about 15 of the women & children to walk across the hills to La Tinaja to attend the Inauguration which was about to start.

The rest of us said our goodbyes, agreed to make an assembly time, & crammed back into the jeep for our bumpy ride to La Tinaja.

Where: La Tinaja community (beside Health Clinic)

When:  24.4.12 approx 12.30 – 3.50 pm

Who: Holly, Chela, Laura, (visitors Mark & Margaret, Seth & Christina) & 45+ community members (incl 4 men) + 16 kids & 2 dogs

Purpose of the meeting: Inauguration of the Water Cistern Project – Calgary Global grant 25437+direct grant – 1 pilot cistern + 21 Family cisterns

Welcome balloons & a welcome poster guided our way along the road to find Chela, who had driven directly & was there with the community waiting for us… we all kissed & shook hands hello & then waited for Mark to arrive with the women & kids from Pena Blanca arriving over the “hill” (read rocky mountain!).

There were tarps strung to the shelter structure to créate more shade (in the desert!) & a large sound system set up, chairs all arranged, people waiting, children chasing eachother around… Photos of the participants had been placed on a large sheet of ply (which had served its original purpose as reinforcement for the cistern construction process).

Mark arrived & the music started, with a line up of Young teenage girls doing a cultural dance…acting as woman & man…The dance had obviously been well rehearsed & despite the extreme heat & shy glances to eachother, we all enjoyed it.

The Delegado(?) introduced us all & today’s agenda, there were people attending from Palmita II, Corralejo, Pena Blanca, San Lucas (& obviously La Tinaja)

Audelia – the COCIRA rep. & co-ordinator of the Project, made her speech, thanking all who were accompanying them today, on this important day as they conclude their first community Project. She thanked Cedesa & Rotary for their contributions, & for heping make this a “work of develpment – we are lacking much but together we can work together for a better way of life for our community”…

She spoke eloquently & without hesitation.

Alicia (another prime organiser in the Project) said she wanted to describe the process, how it had come about & how it went. She said they had first heard of & seen wáter cisterns at Vivienda de Arriba, that they had gone as community reps to visit Cedesa & Rotary & had asked for our assistance. We had told them yes, if they bring a “solicitud” & Saul had helped them to créate one, for dry toilets initially, since their houses are so close together there is no “wilderness” to go to the toilet in, & they dont want to continue to pollute the river (when it is actually running) as that’s where most people go to the toilet.

They also later asked for help with Cisterns. The cisterns came sooner  & “it is a dream to have these cisterns at our houses, I didnt think this would eer be , it arrived in reality, we  got “organised” & worked & nothing came for about 2 yrs , then 21 of us were still working & now we have cisterns – we are still working to get dry toilets. We enjoyed working in groups, some were faster than others but we all got there.

Interestingly Mark, as an aside, asked me if Alicia liked to talk as she seemed to be going on & on (especially if spanish is not your 1st language), & I pointed out that, actually no, she is very shy, she would have been stressing about this moment for days, but that she was giving it her all to describe to everyone how positive the experience had been. This is something we keep seeing, young women gaining confidence in themselves after proving to themselves they can do it…a very big bonus of the Project/process.

Chela spoke then – as some of the communities had come to today’s event to learn more about inaugurations but also about the process of joining the Citizen’s council. She asked one of the older communities to explain to the new communities the process to join. Including holding community assemblies, collecting lists of names & signatures, delegado’s stamp – presentation of the soliitude to become part of COCIRA etc.

She asked them all to call out names of the communities they knew that already made up COCIRA.

All of the communities were listed (22 of them) + the new ones in process, hence reinforcing the connections of everyone present. Some of the new ones in process are La Joya, San Lucas, ex Hacienda Pena Blanca, & Ejido Pena Blanca.

Chela involved everyone in discussions about their prioirities in life.

What’s important to you? She asked

The families/people

Their land

Their customs/traditions & way of life (& devotion & dances)

Organisation/taking decisión by assembly

She explained that the Project was an important step to bring them altogether to work in groups & learn the benefits of organisation.

“we visit the región with eachother to see how we can work together to improve our way o life”

For example – the road to Pena Blanca is really bad & is the only access for this community, at this point someone joked that it was so bad that Mark had chosen to walk rather than ride in the jeep with us – everyone laughed at the irony.

The representatives from the community of San Lucas were given the op. to speak, they also wish to join the efforts to receive assistance with finding resources for cisterns & toilets through participation on the citizen’s council. Ex Hacienda Pena Blanca, Ejido Pena Blanca, Palmita II echoed this.

Corralejo was asked to explain the process they have been following to join the council, including attending assemblies, they organised meetings within their own community & appointed leaders who can speak about their needs, “take agreements” & requests to communicate at the regional meetings & exchange info back to their community. Part of it is to work on economic help together, but mostly to worktogether to learn how to organise. They needed to advise everyone of the upcoming meetings, write an Acta (essentially an application to join), have it authorised by their delegado (elected community representative), they are learning the process with Saul & Chela.

It was the new people learning from the older hands, the process of organisation/belonging to this citizen’s council.

At this point there was a mass exodus & the women & men of La Tinaja quickly returned carrying very large buckets of  tortillas (blue & normal) all wrapped in brightly embroidered cloths, huge pots of rice, beans, mole, nopal etc & garafons of agua fresca…

After the feast we made our way to several completed & brightly festooned cisterns for the ribbon cutting. When we commented how straight & fine these cisterns were, many women blushed & said they had made them themselves (without the men!)…

We needed to leave the procession early & headed back to the cars, only to be told of a special cistern with Guadalupe painted on the side, back we went & found Guadalupe emblazozned on the side of the cistern, beside the barbed wired washing line…

Crammed back into the car & headed back to the highway.

Submitted by Laura Stewart