10th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Capaderillo Water Project

Record of Event

10th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Capaderillo Water Project

Where: Capaderillo “meeting tree” & inside the church.
When: Wed 9th Sept 2010 3.15 – 5.50
Who: Saul, Holly (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), 44 people incl 5 men inside the church (more waiting outside for other communities)

Purpose: To review the project, & to visit with other community representatives enquiring about water projects.

When we arrived there were many people gathered & they continued to arrive. We decided there were too many people to fit under the tree & there was a grader working so very noisy. We asked for access to the church, although not ideal as we normally like to sit in a circle to encourage participation.

Saul made a quick introduction & welcome

We discussed the agenda for today
1. who has finished – what are they missing?
2. the date of the inauguration/fiesta
3. the replacement roofs

1. revision of the project
We asked who had finished &/or what was missing…

Group 1 – all 6 cisterns finished, Dona Reynaldo is waiting on roof replacement, & Miguel just needs to connect the pipes (he will do that in the next 2 days)

Group 2 – all 6 cisterns finished.

Group 3 – 5 finished, 1 is missing a pvc t & codo (I said they cost approx 5 pesos each & asked them to arrange it themselves, as it would take hours of our time to do it)

Group 4 – Carolina needs to finish plastering & pipe connection, will finish on Saturday. All others then mentioned they need to finish their internal plastering too.

Group 5 – 6 finished, 1 (Salud) needs to connect the pipes after they have changed their roof.

Group 6 – all 6 finished.

2. Planning the inauguration
Capaderillo community has been chosen as the regional meeting place, ie for all the communities requesting projects to come & meet the municipality representatives & begin the process of seeking resources for their projects.

Cruz del Palmar was another possibility but decided against since Capaderillo is the first Municipally funded project.

Other Communities will be advised of the day to attend & will be asked to bring food & drink as contribution to the fiesta/inauguration.

It was decided that 22 Oct at 11am is a good time for all.

One of the woman from another community stood & stated they would of course bring what they can to contribute.

A question was asked “can we bring only 5 people to represent our community?” Saul responded they can bring as many as they can provide food for, & everyone laughed!

Saul asked for volunteers for a commission to organize the event. Eg balloons for the kids to pop, chairs & tables, shade etc…

Inauguration planning Commission volunteers are:
Lucia Aguilar, Reynalda Ramirez, Marina Nedi, Juana Valdez, Alicia Ariega

Holly gave an example/explained what other communities have done, eg:
• Los Torres had balloons & the kids popped them with “espina’s” ,
• each group could give a representative talk about the experience of the project, what it has meant for them personally & the impact it will have on their lives to have safe drinking water (not having to carry water, not having fluoride poisoning etc).
• kids could give a little performance/dance
• they will need to create an agenda for the day
• have an MC to announce the next item on the agenda

Action: Laura will ask Gary Reid for a copy of the cd with the photos on it to give to Saul, to organize prints of photos for the inauguration.

Saul then called for another commission to make the invitation

Invitation to Inauguration Commission:
These will be the same people that went as representatives to the Presidencia to ask why the delay of funding for the project, before the funding was released.

Ramedios, Margarita, Juana, Ermelinda, Elvia

Holly will ask Chela or Jesus to help with the process of invitation & advise (ie the protocol). The invitation should be made after 16th Sept (once the bicentennial celebrations are over).

Q&A session
One woman from Guerrero asked about the cistern for the primary school, Saul explained it will be the most likely site for the pilot training session for that community.

Is asbestos roofing ok to collect water from – Saul explained that it would need to be sealed, but that the best option is to have lamina roofing.

Holly & Saul handed out Maintenance sheets to the people who have finished their cisterns. These sheets detail what needs to be done annually to maintain the cisterns, eg cleaning the roof with the first rains after the dry season, repairing cracks with cement, resealing the outside, & roof if necessary. It also details the SODIS solar disinfection, www.sodis.ch method of water purification.

There was a general discussion about continuing assemblies after the project has been completed, as a good way to keep the community working together to resolve it’s issues. Working on projects to benefit the community for example dry toilets & back yard gardens.

Someone asked how we all feel about using the church for public meetings. No-one was prepared to comment, & agreed to keep meeting, then another woman volunteered to use her house again & everyone was animatedly in agreement to use her house (not the church).

The phase I Capaderillo people left at this point.

People from the visiting communities stayed behind, as did the 2 women who’s roofs will be replaced.

Saul explained that right now we don’t have the resources guaranteed for the projects, that we need to do a regional application for all of the communities combined, they will have the opportunity to present their requests at the Inauguration on the 22nd Oct. This will amount to more than 100 cisterns being requested.

He also explained – since resources are limited, people must live in the communities they are applying in full time…

At this announcement one woman who had been attending meetings but doesn’t live here full time was annoyed & said she wish she knew this in advance. We hadn’t thought to specify this as we had thought it was pretty obvious, but apparently not.

The communities represented at today’s meeting were:
Rincon de Canal (3 people attended) – they were given a copy of the community form & the family form, they agreed to collect the information & attend the inauguration on the 22nd Oct to present the info
Action: Saul to advise Rincon de Canal people of the date 22 Oct 11am)

Presita de Santa Rosa
(they will be visiting Cedesa on Friday 24th Sept, they have filled in the community & family forms & will attend the inauguration on the 22nd)

Capaderillo Phase II (Vivienda de urbano)
(they have filled in the community & family forms & will attend the inauguration on the 22nd)

Guerrero
We have an assembly with them. Aurora & Don Juan on the 29th Sept. Some have completed forms, & they will attend the inauguration on the 22nd Oct.

Don Juan (See Guerrero above)

A new person from Cabras (on the Salida Celaya) attended, her father is from Capaderillo, & she is interested to know more, she estimated they have approx 300 families, they have a Sapasma well, but the pump is not powerful enough & upper parts of the community often don’t have water.

To her knowledge they have not had their water tested.

The general meeting finished at this point & discussion continued with the 2 families to be recipients of replacement roofing. 5.20pm

Saul discussed the order/requirements for the roofing & Laura advanced the money.

Meeting finished at 5.50

The next assembly is 13th October at 3pm at the casa we first met at.