1st Meeting at La Lomas de Cocina/El Ocote Sapasma II Water Cistern Proj + Stove Proj.

Record of Event

Where: La Loma de Cocina

When: 15 Dec 2011

Who: Saul, Laura (& Fili – tech asst) + 18 community members from Lomas including Abel (from Cedesa – he lives in this community) & later 11 women from El Ocote (neighbouring community).

Purpose of the meeting: To visit the 4th day of the solo cisterns Project for Sapasma II Project & witness & participate in Stove Demo.

Background:

Sapasma requested that materials for 2 cisterns be made available from their Project II grant the community of Rancho Bonito. It was intended that Sapasma organise this community & we do a pilot there to get the 2 cisterns built for this community in need.

Unfortunately the people of Rancho Bonito were not able to organise to build these 2 cisterns which was only discovered after the delivery of the materials. A large component of the materials is the cement & cement has a limited shelf life of approx 2 wks so it was imperative another location be found for these 2 cisterns…. Luckily the community of La Lomas de Cocina had been organising with Abel (new Cedesa Promoter) for approx 8 mths & were very willing to take the materials & get the cisterns built so the materials were hastily re-delivered to Lomas & the construction took place 2 days later.

The day unfolds:

I followed Saul out to this community as I had not been there before.

We left SMA at 8.30 & arrived at 9.30, as the crow flies it is not that far, but it takes a long time to arrive there!

When we arrived the cistern group was busy working on the cistern.

A little later a group of women arrived walking from neighbouring El Ocote.

They pointed out in the far distance a wáter tower & described themselves as “close”, distances have a different meaning in the campo.

We had a very informal meeting, more of a Q& A session & Saul prefaced it by, they probably havent met too many foreigners before but not to be nervous, that I was the same as them, they said they’d never met a foreigner who could speak spanish before. I laughed & said they still hadnt…

They told me (or I think they told me – unfortunately we didnt have Holly there to help with translations!)

• La Lomas has approx 90 families
• El Ocote approx 32
• Test had been done on the wáter it was fluoride 1.7 mg/l, & arsenic 0.030, if there was wáter,
• they had not had wáter for 2 months. The Wells deplete as there is a major agribusiness right next door.
• The agribusiness is the major employer, but many have been layed off lately.
• None of the men are working in the USA right now, they have a history of being agri workers for the big agribusiness, they are not abaniles, hence can not find alternative work.
• They have a kínder in each community – La Joya (other neighbours) 12 kids, Cocina 21 kids.
• Primary school in each community – La joya approx 20 kids, Cocina approx 80 kids (kids from El Ocote attend Cocina school)
• They have only 1 computer in the school
• Some have dry toilets

I asked what they considered their major need, economy was high on the list as were water issues. We talked about possibilities, raising chickens, selling eggs at the organic market, raising turkeys, possibly rabbits?

Saul joined our meeting & asked them what the issue is with Arsenic & Fluoride. They were not certain, some knew a little, Saul explained that it affects the brains, bones & all major organs, if it is affecting your teeth it’s definitely affecting other parts of the body too.

He explained that the materials for these cisterns are courtesy of Sapasma, & were moved to their community as the people of Rancho Bonito did not want to work to build the cisterns, & that the wáter these cisterns will capture is important to the health of their family & community, but as important is the need for them to continue to take responsibility for improvements in their lives.

“Who brings your food?” They respond that they produce a little in summer but mostly buy their food. Saul explained it was better if they take control of their own food production, for many reasons including the quality of the food they will therefore be eating.

There was a little discussion about backyard production, I thought they had been working with Ezekiel from Apoyo on this they said, no they have been working with Abel from Cedesa.

Saul asked how they build cisterns & took the op. to describe integral community development, health, economy, agriculture, how they are all related. He reiterated that solidarity & working together to assist eachother is essential, as is respect for eachother & together they can achieve an increase in standard of living for all, ie improve their own conditions.

Even though they have a Sapasma well, this year they have already been without wáter for 2 months as the wáter table has dropped so low. They also said they have a shortage of Wood too & Saul explained they need to plant trees that will provide Wood & maintain their trees, & that the stove he will demonstrate later also uses a lot less Wood.

They meet monthly with Abel & are working on various things for example, working together to buy a molino (grinder for maize), they have also been learning how to make bread & galletas for sale in the big ovens that Cedesa demonstrates, as well as planning to grow excess veges for sale.

Saul suggested they could have (or they have been having, not sure) a “tanda”, each person contributes $100 pesos per month, & can build one pizza oven per month.

Saul explained about the Consejo (regional citizens’ council) 21 communities who meet 1x per month & work on common issues, he suggested each family could contribute 5 pesos per wk & have sufficient funds to send a couple of representatives to this meeting each month.

He said they would be surprised how rapidly the money accumulates if they choose to save it instead of purchasing coke everyday.

The women came & dragged me into their “kitchen” they cook on a fogón (open fire) inside a room with a space between the Wall & roof on one side. The walls were pretty black. They were making gorditas & insisted on showing me how & I gave it a go. It is certainly harder than it looks, but they have all been making them since they were little kids & found it pretty funny that I, at my age, had no idea!!

Lesson on making Gorditas...

The process to cook/soften the maize until it can be ground to flour (fine for tortillas, more course for gorditas) is to cook the maize over a fire with wáter & lime (as in cal, not the fruit), for an hour or more (depending on qty) until it softens slightly (to biteable) & then cool it, remove the wáter & grind it.

We stood around the fire, with a large comal & first slapped the mixture into shape rotating our palms in opposite direction, while keeping the edges uniform (& unsplit – them, or Split me!!) then we gently lowered onto the comal & kept an eye on all of the gorditas sitting there, when they looked cooked, or dry enough, gently peel them at the edges & flick them up & then lowered them back onto the comal to cook the other side… After they were cooked, they were Split with a knife & filled with various previously prepared mixtures of shredded chicken, egg, beans, red rice & guacamole.

At the same time the demonstration of the ecocina stove was started, Saul explained all the benefits & the process of lighting it, & cooked some quesadillas for everyone. This was about when I was dragged in to cook gorditas so I didnt see the end result, but I believe he reported this in his report.

So many tortillas/quesadillas can fit on this comal!

These photos show the overlap of two projects, the cistern project & the stove project

I then headed off, Saul asked one of the women from El Ocote to accompany to show me a “short cut” which was a real offroad experience, we followed a very rudimentary track between many cactus, & eventually came out on a sealed road, my guide left me at this point & pointed me in the right direction.

I picked up a woman walking beside the road & she turned out to be the Govt registrar for the área. She Works in a little office in this community & services approx 10 surrounding communities, registering births, deaths & marriages. The office she reported to was in Dolores Hidalgo, I asked if she knew of Cedesa, she said yes, of course, she knew Chela, small world. I ear bashed her about the projects, & then we stopped & picked up a Young woman & Young boy, they were heading to the highway & were surprised by how warm it was in the sun & happy for the lift… The woman registrar explained what I had just told her & so she too was “informed”…

We parted ways at the Dolores Highway & I headed home.

See photos on the blog http://ecocinastovemexico.blogspot.com/ also.

Stats update 14 Dec 2011

Below is a list of all the Projects completed, in progress & pending...

All up we expect to have completed total of 407 by Mid January 2012, with an additional approx 108 to be completed approx mid March. (grand total will be around 515 cisterns - & counting!!)

Average family size is in our communities is 7 members, x 515 = 3605 (this figure is conservative as many of the cisterns have been placed in schools with average number of beneficiaries being 80).

Projects in Process:

Sapasma Project II mxn$435399

18 cisterns in Los Torres (Phase III in this community) Pilot completed 14-18th Nov, individual cisterns to be completed by mid January 2012

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

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

2 Cisterns in Lomas de Cocina

1 Cistern in Cinco Senores

(all of these cisterns are expected to be completed by mid January.

Project Pending:
$65.3k global grant application stage with Chinook RC in Calgary Alberta Canada, with contribution of $20k by Alberta Government from their Community Initiative Project - Thankyou CIP!

This is to be approx 108 cisterns constructed in 3 communities -

Tallahassee RC has pledged a further $10k to help bridge the price increase in materials since the budget was presented

The projects below have all been completed...

347 to date with more plus the additional ones in construction & in planning.

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)

Tierra Blanca completed all 42 cisterns in record time of 5 weeks!!

Water Projects completed from 1st Jan 2009 - March 2011

Los torres 52 cisterns - done in several phases.

Phase II Project : $21,200
Direct Grant Rotary Club Partners amount committed:
RC SMA Midday Mexico 200
Tallahassee RC USA (Bill Webb) 4000
RC of Sechelt BC Canada (Tom Pinfold) 5000
Paso Robles RC USA (Robert Lata) 500
Tyron RC (Jerry Atkins) 5000
RC of Ann Arbor (Len Stringer) 6000
US$ Total of Rotary funds committed 20700
Plus! $500 donation from Skymed/Linda Scholey $500
(this funded 27 in this phase + excess $$ funded 4 extra cisterns & 3 rotoplas added to the phaseIII)

Phase III project: $12,200
SMA Midday 200
Tallahassee 1000 DDF 2000
Tyron RC 2500 DDF 2500
Ann Arbour 1500
Sechelt 1500
Trail BC 1000 N/A
Subtotals, Cash and DDF 7700 4500
San Miguel Community Fund (SMCF) funding grant 1 $2468 SMCF funding grant 2 2235,
(this funded 17 cisterns)


Montecillo de Nieto 30 cisterns $16700
SMA Midday 200
Tallahassee 5000 DDF 11500

Unitarian Universalists funded 4 months of organisation in this community. $400 per month.
Vivienda de Arriba 17 cisterns & Cruz del Palmar 28 cisterns for a combined $24700
SMA Midday $200
RC West U $4500
RC Richmond $3500 District 5890 8,000
RC Tallahassee 2000 DDF 6940 6,500
Subtotals, Cash and DDF 10200 14,500


Capaderillo 40 cisterns $21850
Fondo Verde (Municipal funding)

Palencia 21 cisterns $7k Tallahassee RC(+ balance of excess from other projects)

Vivienda Urbana (Cap II) 25 cisterns $3800 dsg Tallahassee, $6k Tallahassee, $7k Walla Walla

Grand Total of 213 cisterns:

report re completion of dry toilet in Vivienda de Arriba

The completion of the dry toilet was undertaken in Vivienda de Arriba with some remaining funds from a direct grant from Tallahassee & Walla Walla Rotary Clubs.

This dry toilet was begun by a colleague working with Cedesa but was not able to be completed as they ran out of funds...To the rescue came Tallahassee & Walla Walla, & thanks to them, Cedesa & the community, they now have a dry toilet for public use beside the chapel in Vivienda de Arriba. An excellent demonstration example for not only their community but also visiting communities.

Following is the report submitted by one of the young men working on the project.
Un Cordial saludo a Laura Stewart & Club Rotario Walla Wall y Club Rotario Tallahassee.

Estamos felices por haber concluido el proyecto de sanitario seco el cual gracias a club rotario con ayuda de CEDESA pudimos dar por terminados.

El trabajo fue concluido con ayuda en mano de obra por parte de la comunidad por el cual se termino en cuatro días lo que nos permitió tener una convivencia con las personas de la comunidad. Para el trabajo formamos grupos de 7 personas para cada uno las personas de los otros grupos también participaban los días que no trabajaban llevando comida para los compañeros que andaban trabajando. Gracias a este proyecto hubo una buena comunicación entre la comunidad.

Habiendo concluido con este proyecto, entregamos notas de todo el material comprado al igual que fotos donde se presenta la comunidad en el trabajo.

Hacemos la entrega de la cantidad de: $294.00 pesos dinero sobrante de los fondos del proyecto.

A nombre de la comunidad de: La Vivienda de Arriba damos las gracias por haber recibido el apoyo para terminar el sanitario seco para la Iglesia.

DE ANTEMANO GRACIAS Y HASTA LUEGO.

3rd Meeting at La Tinaja re Water Cisterns

Record of Event

Where: La Tinaja Community – Health Clinic

When: 7 Dec 2011

Who: Holly, Saul, Chela & Laura + 18 community members including 1 man + 7 kids

Purpose of the meeting: To plan wáter cisterns Project re the Calgary Global Grant.

People were absent today as another community meeting was being held at the primary school at the same time.

Chela opened the meeting & asked who would be co-ordinator & record taker for the day, since it was a small room & we were all sitting there freezing & couldnt easily see a board since we were in a circle, we ran the meeting informally, just recording actions in their minutes book.

She also asked why the community representatives from La Tinaja did not attend the regional meeting 26/11 at Juan Gonzalez or the training workshop 19/11 at Cedesa. They sheepishly admitted they forgot.

Chela reminded them that if they dont continue to meet or attend meetings they are failing their commitment, it doesnt matter if you happen to have an appointment that clashes with a meeting you have a responsibility to attend or send someone in your place. She asked what people think will happen if they stop attending meetings & working together, they were embarrassed to reply.

She reiterated that at Cedesa workshop it was only La Tinaja & Cinco Senores who were absent, there were representatives from all the other communities & a turnout of more than 70 participants when it was planned only approx 50 would attend At Juan Gonzalez regional meeting it was only La Tinaja absent, more than 100 people turned up for that meeting. You will forfeit your right & priority as attendance in meetings is a major part of the commitment.

We all agreed La Tinaja is very remote & it is difficult to travel to the other places as they are so far away, as well they have no telephone or cell phone service, so they need to stay in the loop of what is going on with their friends at Villa de Guadalupe (the nearest community).

They were asked to take initiative & fin out the dates of events etc, Alicia, Audelia & Dolores are the Consejo reps, they will advise the rest of the community “we need all of you to take responsibility to continue to work together to improve your living conditions, cisterns dry toilets & other things, if you dont want to that’s up to you, but you need to continue to participate to be part of ths, take account now, improvement in your life & living conditions is up to you, organise & participate together.”

We advised that funds for the cistern Project will be ready in January, Chela asked “what do we need to do next?” “decide which groups we work in” was the reply.

The roll had been called earlier & found that 3 were missing. Work groups were formed, including the appointment of a leader, & number 2 in each group, abaniles in each group & the co-ordinator for the whole Project (ie the person whom each group reports to, who in turn reports any issues to Saul – the regional co-ordinator).

One woman voiced her doubt about her husband being willing to help, & that she didnt feel she could volunteer him, Chela & Saul both explained this Project is for the benefit of all & therefore very important that everyone work together. The cistern needs not to be absolutely perfect (ie with expert masons) but just need proficiency.

There was a description of responsibilities, ie to attend each of the training days, to turn up on time, work in harmony, report issues to your group leader. The leader will work directly with the co-ordinator & the co-ordinator will report back to Saul for any issues regarding tech assistance, materials, deliveries etc.

Adela was voted Co-ordinator for the whole community.

There was discussion re the location for the training Pilot.

Debate was:

Primary School – 200kids, there for 6yrs, have wáter sometimes, other times are forced to drink from the river.

Kinder – 9 kids, there for 3 yrs, don’t have any wáter.

Decision was Primary School.

Meeting closed, & next planning assembly is 18 Jan 11am

Cienega Phase II Pilot

On Monday 28th the Pilot in Cienega Juana Ruiz began.

This is phase II in this community funded by Sapasma Project II.

The pilot was being conducted at a private house & 17 other individual cisterns will be constructed in this phase, adding to the 26 cisterns completed in the first phase.

Total number of cisterns in this community will then be 42.

Saul conducted the training with assistance by Fili & on the 29th Saul's 2nd baby - Emiliano was born.

The families of Cienega are currently constructing the remaining 17 cisterns & are due to complete around the middle of January.

Presita de Santa Rosa Pilot 21st-25th Nov

The Pilot at the Presita de Santa Rosa Primary School went ahead on the 21st to the 25th November.

This pilot was funded by a private Donor - Chris Hosford, as part of the Sapasma Project II, where by the time the funding was received the prices had risen & we were no longer able to completed what we had committed to 3 mths earlier... Thankfully we have people like Chris to come to our rescue...

20 individual cisterns are being constructed by the families participating in this first phase at Presita de Santa Rosa, as part of the Sapasma Project II (funding in total 59 cisterns).

Unusually there were a majority of men working at the Pilot, when I jokingly referred to the fact that it was usually the women working & the men only on weekends, sadly they said they were on "compulsory" vacation ie they were all out of work.

They are currently all working on their individual family cisterns now & due to be finished approx middle of January...

44th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres

Where: Los Torres Community Pilot Project private house

When: 14.11.11

Who: Saul, (Cedesa), Miguel Cruz (technician) Denis & Laura (Rotary), 27 adults plus 5 kids

Purpose:

1^st Day of Pilot training session (train the trainer type) for Phase III of Los Torres Water project, This project funded as part of the Sapasma Project II grant.

Denis & I arrived approx. 10.45am the session was well underway & had begun at 8.30.

The materials had been delivered as requested, by Hierro Comercial Dolores Hidalgo, on Friday afternoon.

The first phase was almost completed, the women & some men were weaving the chicken wire either side of the electrosoldered maya. They were using ganchos (hooks) created by grinding down cut pieces of the maya. This community has done 2 other phases + cisterns at the kinder & School so they were fairly well versed in the phases, & were working quickly to complete the weaving.

Next was to cut the length for the cylinder & for the cone top, & flat base. The cylinder was joined to the flat base. 2 of the guys worked on the inside of the cylinder & Denis & I joked about how the heck they were going to get out, since they had joined the bottom. Saul explained when finished they would tip the cylinder (with bottom attached) on it’s side & they guys would climb out.

Everyone was in good spirits & many people working.

Delivery of the maya & wire had been made for the families to begin work on their cisterns at night after the pilot, the delivery had been made to one place as it turned out the co-ordinator was not present when the truck arrived to guide them to each participant’s house. The groups therefore had to work out delivery of the maya & mesh on their own.

We congratulated everyone & left.

This was Denis’ first visit to Los Torres & we noted how particularly dry the terrain is, since rainy season (such as it was) had recently finished. The maize plants in 2 fields were on avg less than 1 mtr high.

We will return when the family construction is in progress & see how things are going.

Global Grant Approved!!! #25437

On 21st October 2010 Norman Myden from Chinook Rotary Club emailed me to see what we could get going re a water project - I told him he'd come to the right place, & we immediately set to work... In December we applied to the Alberta's Govt Community Initiatives Program (CIP) for funding which we hoped to match with Rotary Club & District & the Foundation to achieve a large grant of US$65,300.....

Well, I am very happy to announce that a year later on Oct 25th we received a very happy email from Ashley at The Rotary Foundation informing us our application had been successful & we are to receive the funding!!

District 5360 (located in Canada and includes all of the Rotary clubs in Alberta from Ponoka south and also clubs in the south-west region of Saskatchewan) is providing US$10,000, Chinook RC is providing $10,000 + Alberta Govt $20,000, SMA Midday is providing US$200 (& lots of blood, sweat & tears!) & this is all being matched by The Rotary Foundation with US$25,100.

For a grand total of US$65,300 & a planned cistern count of 108 cisterns in 4 communities decided by the Consejo (citizen's council) of 18 communities.

We are working through the small details now, opening bank accounts, transferring $$ & are expecting to be able to begin the project early December!!

The communities will be
Guerrero
La Tinaja
Cruz del Palmar
& 3 Esquinas (near Palencia)

Happy Update...Sapasma Project II

Work with the Consejo (citizen's council) continues, they meet around 6wkly & continue to provide priority for water projects, dry toilet projects & other issues. As a result of their continued hard work, we have now been successful in achieving funding for 2 more major projects. One with Sapasma (detailed in this post) & the 2nd with another Rotary Global Grant (see separate post)

Sapasma (our local water authority) have agreed to fund another project for 59 cisterns mxn$439,399 pesos. This project will be carried out in 3 communities with an additional 3 solo cisterns to be provided in 2 more communities.
Los Torres will carry out phase III & construct 18 cisterns.
Presita de Santa Rosa will carry out phase I & construct 20 cisterns - with an additional cistern being funded by a private donation - thank you Chris - & thank you Holly for arranging this.
Cienega will carry out phase II & construct 18 cisterns.
Cinco Senores will work with University de Leon & receive a single cistern.
Rancho Bonito will receive 2 single cisterns...

Paperwork is currently being completed & funding is expected to be received this week, with 1st Pilot in LT scheduled to kick off on 7th Nov.

It will be a punishingly tough rollout, with every effort to get things underway before Christmas!!

Record of Event 10th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Cruz del Palmar Water Project

Where: Cruz del Palmar Community - courtyard of chapel
When: Wed 19.10.11
Who: Chela, Saul & Holly (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), 54 adults incl 8 men, + 13kids, 2 dogs,

Purpose: General Community assembly & pre-planning meeting re forthcoming water & dry toilet projects being administered by Rotary, Cedesa & the Consejo (in different
combinations)

We arrived at 12.30 thinking the meeting was to begin at 12, running a little late, but were advised some thought the meeting was to start at 11am, so apologies were made to these people for waiting so long…

The attendance roll was called, 10 were present for Sanitarios Secos only, 22 were present for cisterns only & 12 were present for both, 5 were absent from cisterns list.
(39 on the list but 5 absent – a govt program was also scheduled for today, re the elderly, possibly some were at this event.

Chela asked if there were any in the crowd that didn’t know us (the water project team), a couple of people raised their hands so we gave introductions of ourselves & Holly explained if she & I were talking it was because she was translating for me.

Chela introduced herself & gave a brief history of the project including a little re the separate roles & also about the Consejo (citizen’s council).

In the first phase we were working in the close region, as the projects have continued we have extended to more communities in this region & formed a citizen’s council, Cata – a member of Cruz del Palmar community – is president of this Consejo & has been reporting back to all of you - correct? “si!!”

“Let’s go ahead & create the agenda for today’s meeting”
Saul explained each meeting we have in communities follows the same basic format, elect a co-ordinator & record taker, he explained the roles of each & the need to have a specific “minutes” book as an archive of each meeting & agreements made.

“It’s important for the people n the community to not be afraid & step up to take the roles, who do you propose?”

No-one immediately responded, Saul laughed & said this was the easy bit, ie to propose someone – this elicited a response with 3 people proposed. Juana will be co-ordinator & Letty records taker.

“what is the role of the co-ordinator?” To keep order, the way to do this - ask people to raise their hands & be appointed to speak, for the respect of all & to create a harmonious meeting, everyone is encouraged to speak in turn to increase the “rain of ideas”.

The record taker records all agreements made & details we might need to refer to in future.
We need to suggest points for discussion & work for today’s agenda

Agenda
Cisterns
Dry Toilets
Introduction re Cisterns & Dry toilets
Backyard production
Doubts & questions
The Consejo, purpose & function

1. Introduction – why do you want cisterns? Dry toilets?
“almost no water” “contaminated water” “upper part of community have no water” “we don’t have water & are looking for a form of obtaining water” “water is life” “the contaminated water is damaging to the health of our kids”
Discussion ensued, who has toilets, some people do, but mostly latrines (just holes). What are the contaminants of the water in this region “fluoride, arsenic & manganese”.
Bacterial contaminants are a different question & are very easy to remove (using www.Sodis.ch) but the chemical/minerals are not easy to remove – for this reason we are using rainwater as our alternative – storing in cisterns.

Who has a cistern & can explain the function?
“principally for drinking & cooking & use the other water sources – if there are any – for domestic use”. The objective of cisterns is to capture rain water in tanks from the roof for drinking & cooking.

Dry toilets – primary objective – to have a method of disposing of excreta without use of water because a) there is a shortage of water b) the drainage of sewage is majorly polluting, c) to provide excellent fertilizer for production of plants.

One woman explained the use of dry toilets as a relative has one, & Chela asked if everyone was now clear on the purpose of cisterns & dry toilets – to which the response was “SI…”

2. Cisterns :
Saul explained that the cisterns projects were the beginning of the organisation process, as a result of the many communities working on cistern projects, they joined together to form a Consejo (citizen’s council) to work on common issues. It has involved many meetings, working on common issues, writing solicituds to the govt. informing Rotary of our priorities.

Holly – who knows how the cisterns are made?
“all of us build them, we form groups & construct together”
“we first learn during the pilots & hands on training, then build the cisterns together”

Saul – It is much more than just building a cistern or a dry toilet, there is a lot of participation involved, the value of organisation & co-operation is learned. The value of learning you have the ability to resolve your own issues by working in solidarity to achieve & accomplish your goals, it’s not a gift, you are organising & working hard to achieve this , including learning what the purpose of the Consejo is & how it functions. For me it is important you understand the whole process & purpose of organisation, not just to obtain cisterns.

3. Dry Toilets
The Consejo & Cedesa (apart from Rotary) have been working to obtain funds to provide dry toilets to those who have continued participating to achieve them. Chela explained the process of obtaining the resources for the dry toilets so far… starting from the 1st meeting of the Consejo with the Presidencia at Cedecom approx. 1 year ago, to the point where they were awarded $4,250,000 pesos for the solicitud, which came with unfavourable conditions. It involves a bid process, ie has to be paid to outside contractors & can not be done by mutual aid groups, the price of one toilet has been quoted at mxn$32,000 which will mean far fewer than the 400+ toilets can be awarded. & toilets can only be awarded to those on the list who have NO form of toilet (functioning or not)…Work continues on this project.

4. Consejo –
A brief summary was given, this Consejo was originally formed in Oct 2010 with representatives elected from each of the communities who joined. For example Cata & Letty are reps. From Cruz del Palmar, as are Adelina (husband attending for her today) & Josefina (absent).

There is a board, made up of some reps the communities, President Cata, Secretary Roberto & 5 other “directors”
All are working/meeting on common issues like dry toilets & cisterns.
It is to give the communities a bigger voice.
For example, the Consejo insisted the design used for the dry toilets be one with 2 chambers…

On 26th Nov 11am – in Juan Gonzalez there will be an Encuentro & anniversary Fiesta of the Consejo – everyone is invited.

5. Workshop at Cedesa – 19th Nov 9am-5pm
A workshop at Cedesa will be held on the 19th, 3 people are invited to attend from each community, there will be 3 separate “work tables” 1 on Nopal tunnel construction, 1 on backyard production & 1 on medicinal plants.

The crops this year are particularly bad, since there has been insufficient rain, this year we need to come up with alternatives to just beans & maize, we need to start producing in our backyard, for example tomatoes & onions, 1 of the work tables will teach this.

Each of the representatives is expected to then teach the assembly in their own communities – to spread the information – train the trainer style.
Some people mentioned they were interested but lack water to grow a garden – this is obviously a major issue!

The meeting finished at 3.15 pm, & we were treated to a banquet of tortillas, rice, beans & chicheron casserole.

Mini Regional Consejo Meeting 13.10.11

Who: Saul, Holly (Cedesa), Waldo, Alva (Sapasma)
Absent (Laura, Chela)
Communities represented:......

A mini Regional meeting was held at Cienegita on Thurs 13th Oct. to determine the priority for the receipt of resources for water cisterns.

It was decided Cienega would receive the 19 cisterns available from the Sapasma Funding Grant II...

****The next priorities are Juan Gonzales, La Palmita II and Correlejos.****

Communities of Cinco Señores, Villa de Guadalupe didn't show up at today's meeting, (nor La Tinaja, but Saul didn't advise them - they are difficult to reach since there is no cel phone signal there).

2nd Mtg of the Presita de Santa Rosa Potential Water Project

Where: Presita de Santa Rosa, off the GTO hwy, on the right just past Cienegita Bridge (approx. 40 mins from SMA)
When: Wed Oct 12th 2011
Who: Saul, Holly, Chela (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), delegado Jose Luz Ramirez Vazquez, 20 adults incl 6 men, + 4 kids
Purpose: 1st Planning meeting for Sapasma funded water project. (from Sapasma Grant II)

Saul opened the meeting, describing why we’re here, & the history of our collaboration with Presita, including previous meetings & visitors to other assemblies from Presita. Presita also sent a mini commission to visit Cedesa approx. 1 yr ago.

Roberto, one of the members of the PSR community is also the secretary of the Consejo formed as a result of the water projects in the region.

The Roll was called, there were 20 on the list & 3 absent from that list.

Saul called for a co-ordinator & records taker & explained the reason & process (as we do at each meeting), Mayra was proposed & Mayra proposed Erica. A vote was taken & Mayra was appointed. Roberto was appointed records taker.

Mayra called for points for today’s agenda:
1. Cisternas
2. Contamination of Pozos
3. The process of construction of cisterns
4. Dry toilets
5. Roberto would like a mini commission to attend the Consejo, not just him
6. Organisation of groups
7. Taller at Cedesa changed to November

Chela re-iterated the involvement of their community in the process to date & reinforced that this is the reason they are now about to receive resources to construct cisterns.

She asked who knew the process of the construction of the cisterns, one young guy said he understood it was done in working groups, families banded together to build all cisterns for all families in the group. Another said they had heard they were going to be at the same time as Cruz del Palmar, & were now starting earlier?

Item 1 – contamination of water
There was general discussion about contamination, causes, symptoms etc. PSR have had water from the Banda Sapasma well for 5 yrs. Before that they had only small family wells & water from an irrigation well. They observed they have what seems like high concentration of sodium in the water as there is a lot of white build up on taps…

Saul explained that we had done a study & taken water samples of many wells including Banda, as a way to establish a baseline re our continuing study with Tierra Blanca to determine the cause of the high cancer rates they have there. The testing had been done by Unam & the Consejo on the Banda well & it was discovered to have very high level of fluoride, 3.47 (highest max safe level is 1.5mg/l).

This is a serious problem in this community but also in this region in general, causing damage to your health & that of your children, which is one of the main reasons we began this project in 2008.

There are more than 300 families currently using this well in Banda, & many are unaware of the situation with the contamination, you need to tell the communities (your neighbours) this information – one of the women joked “we don’t drink much coke, sometimes wks go by, but now we cant drink the water either – what can we drink?”. We all laughed & said, exactly, that’s why we are catching the rain water to drink.

At this point Chela took the floor to discuss junk food & it’s damage to health, & the benefits of eating healthily v the strain we put on our bodies having to process the chemicals & food colouring in junk food. Saul pointed out that initially there will be resistance by their families to eating healthy food, but once everyone is used to eating healthy food it becomes very difficult to tolerate junk food anymore… & just need to break the habit.

Item 2 Cisterns/project planning.
Apparently there are approx. 44 families in Presita & so only approx. ½ have stepped forward to participate (we have found this to be common in the communities, there is always an initial group of motivated early adopters & later the others “get” the idea & we have to do a phase II)…

It was decided the pilot training session will be carried out at the primary school.
There are approx. 30 children at the school.

The list of participants was transcribed for all to see.
There were 18 firm participants at that point. There was one other woman, not here today (since her kids are sick) who has been participating & it was voted to add her – Isabel.

Another woman was visiting for the first time & asked to be included, there was a lot of discussion about people’s ongoing work for over a year, & she had been invited but not participated previously & was just showing up today to get on the list.
“if you’re not part of the meetings you shouldn’t expect to get rewarded with a cistern”. “We’re not just working on cisterns, she should be involved in the other meetings too like the regional meeting in La Tinaja – there’s lots of work going on”
Eventually it was agreed she could join the group, there was a talk about possibility of her having to pay a fine, but nothing was agreed.

Groups were formed as follows: A= Abanile, C= Co-ordinator
Group 1 7 families Group 2 7 families Group 3 6 families

20 Families + 1 pilot = 21

It was confirmed that water would have to be carried to the school for the pilot.
(approx. 3000 litres per day)

Community Co-ordinator was appointed – Hortencia + backup Roberto

PVC & Gravel will be delivered to one central location & collected from there to the house of Rosalia

No date has been set for the pilot, until we know when the $$ will be received, which is reliant on deciding the 3rd community (Currently Los Torres 19, PSR 21, 3 solo cisterns + 19 ??? – this is being decided at the Consejo meeting tomorrow)

Chela reminded everyone they need to work hard to make this project as success as future project funding is riding on this.

She explained that the process of building the cisterns is carried out to ensure that all cisterns advance at the same rate, ie all wire weaving done first, then the next step, applying cement etc, so they all finish at the same time.

They need to meet as groups to decide their hours of work & rules, ie fines if no work, Saul suggested the person breaking the rule might have to provide carnitas for everyone!

Tools – Saul listed the tools needed on the first day of the pilot, including grinder to make the small hooks needed to weave the wire & mesh together… scissors for cutting the wire, cutters for the maya etc, & also suggested they bring something to rest their knees on while they are kneeling to do the weaving of the wires.

Item 3 – Sanitarios Secos (dry toilets)
This community along with most of the consejo communities, was part of the solicitud to govt to construct 400+ cisterns in 18 communities. Chela gave an update of the situation with the resources Lucy had given them, that the $4million + pesos comes with a requisite to have outside contractors (& a bid process), which excludes them from being able to build them themselves, which was what they were hoping for to be able to stretch the $$ to provide more toilets for more families.
The Promoters from Desarollo Social have been visiting the communities to create a list of recipients (once they check they have no form of toilet – functioning or not – to be able to be eligible)… They have not visited Presita yet.

Item 4 Representation at Regional Meetings
Roberto is feeling like it is a lot of work to be secretary of the Consejo as well as to have to advise his community of “goings on”. He has also not received any contribution to his costs from his community, whereas other communities have supported their representatives. There are at least 4 people who are on the list of reps. of the Consejo, but have not been attending as they have not been informed, lack of communication is a common issue in the communities, as no-one has phones & they live a long way from eachother. It was agreed that advice of meetings will be given to Roberto & he will in turn inform the other reps. to ensure all know when the meetings are on, & they will begin to share costs of transport.

Item 5 Taller – Workshop at Cedesa
Saul explained that training & ongoing improvement is a way to increase people’s standard of living. Cedesa & the Consejo are committed to the process of integral development & ongoing work (not just completing the projects & that’s it!)… Part of this process is to continue to share information & learn new & better ways of doing things. As part of this process Cedesa holds regular workshops for campesinos on various techniques & information. There is an upcoming Workshop planned for 19th November 9am-5pm at Cedesa

The topic of this workshop is Food, & Alternative Medicines, Saul asked if anyone could define what Alternative medicines meant, one young man responded “ there are plants with curative properties, it’s about learning these”.

Saul explained - included in the Food topic will be how to construct a nopal tunnel – why Nopal? Because it’s one of the most noble plants in our region, it provides so much & is such a healthy option so if we take care of these we can ensure better production.
A commission of 3 can come from Presita (& all other communities) & report back & organise groups to learn at people’s houses, ie to interchange the information.

Chela reiterated the objective is to learn to produce food, since grains & beans will be a big issue this year, with failing crops & lack of rain. Change in climate has been a big issue & we need to adapt & ensure we work hard on alternative food production.

At this point the meeting was declared closed, one of the older women had left the meeting early to prepare food for us (visitors), she came back in struggling to carry hot pots of lentils & pasta soup with calabasa… & THE most delicious tortillas I’ve eaten!

There was no date set for the next meeting/pilot (this will be done by phone once we know the date of the receipt of funds).

9th Regional Event of the Communities requesting assistance with water

Record of Event

Where: La Tinaja Community – Health Clinic

When: 28^th Sept. 2011

Who: Holly, Saul, Chela & Jacqueline -Visitor from Honduras (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), 104+ adults incl. 11 men,

Purpose of the meeting: usual 4-6wkly meeting of the representatives forming the Consejo for the 18 communities in this región. (there have been more tan 9 events, but this is the 9th I have atended).

The Consejo was formed in Oct. 2010 to work together on common issues affecting the communities in this Consejo, primarily wáter but also other issues, such as dry toilets, roading, backyard production & health issues.

La Tinaja is on the outermost extremity of San Miguel, on the road to GTO.

Pickup truckloads of people arrived from all communities, 3 women had walked for more than 2 hrs from Cinco Senores to be here.

Tarpaulins had been strung to extend the shade structure, & people from La Tinaja arrived carrying as many chairs as they had.

Saul welcomed everyone, thanked them for making the journey here today & handed over to Adela from La Tinaja… She also thanked everyone for coming & welcomed everyone.

Saul said, lets get going & plan today’s agenda, Cata – president of the Consejo is here, but unfortunately Roberto – Secretary could not make it.

Each of the communities was invited to stand, introduce themselves & give a count of attendees:

1. Juan Gonzalez 10 2. Guerrero 4 3. Montecillo de Nieto 3 4. Vivienda de Arriba 6 5. Vivienda Urbana 1 6. Villa de Guadalupe 2 7. Cruz del Palmar 11 8. Cienega 2 9. Capaderillo 6 10. Tierra Blanca 8

11. Corralejo de Abajo 6 12. Los Magueyes 6 13. Cinco Senores 3 14. Presita de Santa Rosa 3 15. Los Torres 8 16. La Tinaja 18 + 2 + 6 17. La Palmita II 1 18. San Lorenzo 3 Total 109

Chela introduced Jacqueline from Honduras she is a co-ordinator of Misereor a global organisation. She is here to know more of work being done here, she was grateful to be able to see what is being achieved on various levels, congratulated the gathering on a grand meeting & encouraged them to continue to keep up the good work & commitment.

Chela introduced the board of the Consejo, some members couldnt make it but had sent representatives in their place.

Chela gave a brief introduction of the history of the consejo & the work Cedesa has been doing in the región. Holly & Laura explained that when they are talking it is for Holly to translate finer points that Laura may have missed in spanish. Chela explained that it is Rotary’s “fault” that Cedesa began working in SMA, they have previously worked in Dolores Hidalgo & surrounds.

3 yrs ago Laura from Rotary approached Cedesa to begin a Project in the first community of Los Torres, “we have been a good team, working on solutions piece by piece & we have come a long way” Saul has been working in same “symphony” with Cedesa & Rotary for almost 1 yr.

Proposal for co-ordinator – Adela (31), Ana (34)

Proposal for record taker – Adela

Call for points for the Agenda:

Cata proposed the following points.

1. Sanitarios Secos update
2. Cisternas update
3. Workshop
4. Information re coalition in defence of the Cuenca de la Independencia
5. Propose an “encuentro” (conference) of Consejo in November
6. General points

Moment of inspiration:

Saul explained he had been tasked to come up with the moment of inspiration & the more he looked the more confused he became, he quoted a phrase about organisation that loosely translates to “now is the time to raise our voice to the govt. Because if we don’t we deserve what we get”

Everyone was asked to add to this –

“if the govt leaves it to us, it’s up to us to make ourselves Heard”

“we need to work together to organise ourselves”

“it’s a question of what we do to deserve things, if we don’t work & are lazy we don’t deserve anything, & we should also know our rights”

Chela asked why we need to raise our voices – “so people can hear us”

“so people are aware of the situation in the campo”

Do we have enough wáter & toilets for example? “no” , then we deserve to not have these things if we don’t raise our voice & work for them.

Saul: Organisation in families, communities & between communities is essential, to organise to achieve solutions to our common problems. One person does not have the voice of 18 communities, for this reason it’s good to work together.

There is planning for 8000 houses near Atotonilco, they are going to need sanitation & wáter, which is not easy for 8000 houses. We need to be more informed of the plans & in this decisión, one comment from the crowd was “this development will not have dry toilets, they are likely to want drainage which will affect our river”

Item 1: Sanitarios Secos (dry toilets)

Cata: We have been working for a long time on this Project, we’re at the point of having resources for some Sanitarios Secos.

We feel we have 1st priority for SS since we have been working so hard for them, even if there are others with more need, it’s not fair if those not working receive them for nothing.

We are receiving $4milliones pesos out of $8milliones originally slated for another community Tambula. The Govt wants to administer the funds, not through Cedesa or Rotary, we would have preferred to receive the $$ for the materials & provide the labour ourselves to extend the funds further, but since this is more than $2milliones the restriction is that a contractor (& bid process) must be followed.

Unfortunately that means the $$ will not stretch so far, as the labour & co-ordinators will have to be paid for out of the $4m… The new design, 2 chambers, has been accepted.

Next week Desarrollo Social will be sending out social workers to verfiy that families on the list do not have any form of toilet currently. Unfortunately this will exclude many on the list that have been working hard for this, for example DIF houses must have flush toilets installed as part of the requirements, even if there is no wáter to flush the toilets. So, these toilets sit there, not functioning but because they exist they exclude the participant from this phase of the dry toilet Project.

We are currently awaiting the result of the “bid” process to see how much 1 dry toilet will cost, to know exactly how many can be built.

We attempted to argue the situation re the bid process, but it is a requirement. “I have a septic tank, but no wáter to uses it, so I don’t qualify – even though it’s a decoration because of the lack of wáter”

“many people on the list no longer qualify, even though they have been working on this for ages, & there will be others that do qualify that havent worked at all, it’s not really fair”

“it is unlikely we will just be able to ‘replace’ people on the list, we will probably just lose our allowance”

Chela- We are working in Phases, this will be the 1st Phase. Our objective will be for all campesino families to obtain a dry toilet, so we will continue to work & do it in phases.

If we do it in less than $2millones phases, we don’t need a “bid” process, but since this one if $4milones bids are needed.

Concha (from Los Torres) “we have been working continuously for 3 years & multiple phases, & often the ones inthe last phase are the ones that work the least or the Young ones who just got a house. It’s a struggle to ensure the ones working are the ones receiving the benefit, in some cases the ones working are not eligible as they have a “toilet” even if it does not function, so we need to make sure it doesnt just go to just anyone that “qualifies” by not having a toilet”.

A list of names was created of the people who will accompany the social workers in each community.

There was a vote as to whether or not to accept the conditions of receiving the $$ (ie the bid process), all voted yes, despite it ultimately no being favourable for all.

Item 2 – Cisterns

Saul gave an update, there is a 108 cistern grant with 95% likelihood, coming from Rotary grant, funded by Chinook RC & District & Alberta Govt & The Rotary Foundation. It will be for

Presita Santa Rosa : 24

La Tinaja 23

3 Esquinas (near Palencia) 23

Cruz del Palmar phase II 38

Laura asked for confirmation that CdP phase II was priority, Tierra Blanca person said “CdP have been working a long time so maybe they should receive the available 38”, the rest of the communities all voted in favour of CdP receiving the phase II cisterns.

Saul also explained that Sapasma have agreed to fund a 2nd Project with us.

This will be for approx 62 cisterns.

So far Guerrero is included for 24 cisterns

& Los Torres phase III for 19 cisterns

Sapasma have 4 solo cisterns they would like to build, therefore 15 available…

Currently looking at Los Magueyes & San Jose de los Allende…

One genteman in the crowd commented “I have been to San Jose de Los Allende, I was working there one time, & they have a really bad wáter situation, they are basically drinking out of puddles”

Item 3 – Workshop

Saul talked about the forthcoming “workshop” – ie working in groups on the backyard production Project. Production of food is going to be crucial this year, since no rains have come & many crops are failing. People will be forced to buy food & the prices will be pushed up since many are having to buy it.

During the workshop we will learn how to grow a vege garden including:

A micro tunnel for Nopal cactus

Natural medicines

& the next workshop will cover:

Conservation of soils & plants to grow for health.

What is your biggest urgency? “wáter” & “food”

It’s a priority to achieve wáter & food, do you guys have maize? “no, because no rain, no beans, no maise no calabassas” “the maize are all drying & dying, we desperately need wáter, so it’s going to be urgent to find food from other sources” “we’ll have to eat nopal”,

Who know’s how to grow nopal in a tunnel? (only a couple) so let’s have a training sesión…

3 people per community can come to Cedesa for the training, these people will be the Train the trainer people, they will be expected to pass on the valuable info they learn. You will need to co-ordinate & contribute for transport costs. Holly is going to try to find money to subsidise the cost of food for the day, & maybe help with a bus.

Who wants training? – they all eagerly raised their hands.

Laura mentioned that it is difficult for Holly to raise money & that participants could contribute at least what they can, eg 10 pesos. After brief discussion this was agreed, they will contribute what they can.

Taller/Workshop will be Saturday 29th October at 10am in Cedesa /leaving Cienegita at 8am

Item 4 Form part of the coalition in defence of the Cuenca de Independencia

Saul asked Audelia to report on what happened in the recent meeting re the Cuenca, held in Juriquilla, this was a follow up sessión of the diploma of wáter studies carried out by Dr Ortega from Unam. It included extras in the latest session, ie those that had joined the Consejo since then.

The subject covered the Aquifer that serves this región including 7 municipalities. Topics included contamination (natural & man-made), agriculture over-use. All attendees reviews info & dicussed issues, including prevention of over-use, pollution etc. The Consejo was described to these 7 municipalities as a good example of how to achieve positive change, it was decided a coalition should be formed to bring together the 7 municipalities, to work together to defend the aquifer.

Saul said the Consejo needed to appoint representatives if they considered this a worthwhile action, hence he is informing them today of the purpose of the coalition & the Consejo can choose to be part of it or not.

Chela asked who remembers what a coalition is – Saul re-explained, it is unión & organisation of people in defence of a common cause – what cause? Wáter, tres, natrual resources, rivers. There were about 10 organisations meeting at Cedesa in Sept. & do you think it is worthwhile to be part of this?all answered “yes”… the only responsibility is to have responsibility.

It is a process we are building Little by Little, we dont need to know how as you are all learning how to be part of this coalition, is everyone in agreement? “yes”

Saturday 22.10.11 10am @ Cedesa – Coalition in defence of the Cuenca

Previous attendees Cata, Roberto & Abraham – Consejo board members.

Item 5 – Consejo reflection, summary

Formed in approx Oct 2010, Saul invited people to evaluate the work & process to date & see if there are people who want to become reps or resign – how is it working, what needs to change?

Cata said it has been a lot of work, hopefully she has done a good job, but she doesnt actually have much time, for example she is here today, but supposed to be working. There have been lots of papers involved, lots of planning, lots of meeting, but they have achieved a lot…

Item 6 General Points

One of the delegados at the meeting said he was interested in forming a committee to ensure delegados do what they are appointed to do. He has begun working on this & asked if the Consejo was in agreement, the general consensus was that it was a good idea.

Chela asked Jacqueline – our visitor from Honduras to sum up, & describe how she found the meeting,

Jacqueline said she was impressed with the respect & harmony with which people participated in the meeting, that organisation is the prime key, & that Chela is doing a great job of demonstrating the benefits of organisation, that organisation costs (time, effort & commitment) but that it’s value for the pain… She invited everyone to keep active.

The meeting closed at 2.50 - & everyone enjoyed a lunch hosted by our host Community La Tinaja…

Beans, rice, tortillas, juice-water,

Then all piled back on the back of pick-ups & crammed into vehicles & made our way back along the dusty road home

Next meeting of Regional Consejo at Juan Gonzalez 26.11.11 at 11am, this will be an aniversary party & a meeting.