8th Cruz del Palmar community meeting, 14 de julio del 2010

8th Cruz del Palmar community meeting, 14 de julio del 2010

Where: Cruz del Palmar, casa de Domitilia
When: Wed, July 14, 11 a.m.
Who: Chela and Holly and Saul Juarez (Cedesa), 36 people including a number of children. 20 people from the first phase, 5 from the 7 families added in June, 5 new people (see list at end of this report).

Mere Banca was designated as coordinator of the assembly, Ana Laura took roll and added new people to the roll. Saul was introduced as a new promoter in the region. Chela asked the new people why they came to the meeting. Josefina said they want to cisterns in order to have clean water to drink and for cooking; Angela said they don’t want to have to buy water in garrafones. Holly mentioned that there is also a social objective, to work in presta-fuerza groups, to encourage community development and values. Ismael said he thought the idea was to have a good environment to work in, to help each other and his wife Catalina said that she wanted to participate but she was pregnant with the small baby she held – she participated in the training at the school but couldn’t continue.

Chela asked if the people in the meeting knew each other, and people said that now they know each other by sight if not by name. All but a few are from the upper part of Cruz [where there are more problems with the supply of water]. Chela noted that in large communities (comunidades, often translated “villages”) like Cruz there is less convivencia, less personal relationships between neighbors, like in cities.

Ana Laura and her aunt said that the people in Cruz are more friendly than in cities (they are from Irapuato). Mere said her daughters-in-law are from other communities (villages) and they consider Cruz to be a city (it is the second largest town in the municipality of San Miguel).

Chela explained how Yolanda, Lucia and Tere visited assemblies at Los Torres for several months before we started visiting Cruz del Palmar, and she asked Holly to explain how the Rotary grant was made. Holly explained that 50 cisterns had been approved for a Rotary project in a suburb of the city of San Miguel at the beginning of this year, but the people there were unable to make the commitment to work in mutual-aid groups, so the funds for the 50 cisterns got divided between Cruz del Palmar and Vivienda de Arriba. Saul explained the process at Capaderillo; how he first visited assemblies at Los Torres, then Vivienda de Arriba and how CEDESA and Rotary applied for a grant from the Fondo Verde, which was approved in May but the money was not available until a week ago. They are planning to have the training next week and start construction on family cisterns the week after. Holly emphasized that the fund-raising process takes several months, that the Rotary deadline for Nov-Dec projects is already past, that people who want to participate in a possible Phase II will need to help us to put together applications to other sources, such as Desarrollo Social (municipal department of Social Development) or SAPASMA (San Miguel water utility).

The conversation then turned to other projects that can be implemented without the outside funds, such as traspatio design (backyard gardens). Chela asked how many people grow nopal in their yards, and nearly all said they have nopal but not all of them use it for food. Chela emphasized the importance of growing your own food, especially native plants like nopal which is very healthy. She asked how many people had vegetable gardens, and a few raised their hands; and one family has a farmacia viva (medicinal plants). Chela talked about rescuing the knowledge of our grandmothers, how to cure ourselves and not get sick, as opposed to depending on the clinic and doctors and expensive packaged medicine. She said people in the country are fortunate to have space in which to grow food all year round, and not eat food like Maruchan (instant noodles), which is full of artificial flavors and preservatives.

Wenceslada said that she used to grow vegetables, but her children wouldn’t eat them, they like junk food. Yolanda agreed, her children don’t like vegetables. Saul said it is important to get kids accustomed to eating vegetables from a young age, his 2-year old son likes fruit and vegetables and he doesn’t let him eat junk food. Chela said that if kids see their parents eating well and drinking fresh juice instead of refrescos (bottled sodas), we can escape the trap of eating and drinking what they sell to us instead of what we produce. Also now people are growing dependent upon government programs that provide cash to buy food, but what will happen when there is no more government money? People in rural communities have the possibility of growing their own food instead of buying it, so can be less dependent and more autonomous. That is what we call food sovereignty.

Chela said that CEDESA is teaching traspatio design (how to make plant beds, use less water) in Los Torres and Montecillo, and if Cruz is interested, can start a workshop here. Many people said they are interested in learning how to grow vegetables and medicinal plants in their yards, also nopal all year round.

Moving to the subject of the cisterns, we then reviewed the progress of the mutual-aid groups.

Group 1 – all the cisterns are finished and connected, and all but one of them is filling up with rainwater (there are problems with the connections)

Group 2 – three are done and collecting water, but one lacks the tubing.

Group 3 – ten are more-or-less working; one lacks the “cap” and several lack waterproofing paint and tubes.

Group 4 – five are done and collecting water, two need to be connected to the roof.

Group 5 – (split off from group 2) – two are done and working

In total, 22 are done and 5 are to be finished and/or connected. Mere said that the tubes are too small for the amount of rain that is falling on the laminas, the water doesn’t enter. Others agreed that the water is backing up and only a small part of it enters the cistern. Chela said that they need to contact their asesor (consultant – Rafael Cruz) to solve these problems.

The list of families that want cisterns in Phase II are:
1. Hermelinda Ramirez (rotoplas?)
2. Maria Dolores Ramirez Botello
3. Teresa Salazar
4. Adriana Patlan
5. Laura Ramirez Enfante
6. Catalina Melendez
7. Angeles Ramirez
8. Ismael Mendez
9. Josefina Ramirez
10. Emma Susana Orduña
11. Amada for Ana Olivia Torres
The first six people have attended a previous community meeting; the last five are attending for the first time. Chela emphasized that it is necessary that people participate in the meetings as a condition for receiving a cistern.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, August 11 at 11 a.m.