Report of 4th visit to Guerrero 24.1.12

Where: Guerrero Chapel – (past Capaderillo, before La Aurora & Don Juan

When: 24.1.12 12.40pm

Who Chela (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), 22 adults (including 2 men), 14kids, 4 dogs

Purpose: To prepare for the water cistern project being funded by Rotary GG 25437.

We arrived late as Chela was stuck behind a “pilgrimage” with 1000’s of people blocking the road, & only 1 lane occasionally opened to traffic…

We arrived seating in the shade & began the assembly.

We remembered the last planning meeting was held in September, & the roll was called. 20 people were present on the list with 3 people absent.

The format differed from usual, ie we did not appoint a co-ordinator or record taker or set agenda as it was very windy & dusty, so was to be a brief meeting.

We had a brief review of the previous meeting, with the roots of this community being discussed, the length of time & number of generations who have lived here, defending their rights to live on the land & remain productive.

The Guerrero Community participants had since attended a workshop on curative plants & nopal tunnels, & soil regeneration. They have wild nopal but many are old & have not been tended so produce less.

Chela asked “are the groups you formed complete? Or do we need to adjust the quantity?”

It was mentioned that one person had left & another participant has taken her place.

Chela suggested we revise the work groups – she asked provokingly “do you need cisterns or not?”

The answer was almost shouted, yes, we have a very high need!

Group 1 participants were Irene, Graciela, Benancia, Leticia, Salud, Berta, Elvia, Mercedes (With new member Gabriela).5 were missing & Chela asked why not – no-one was certain but they thought they were working & could not attend. Chela reiterated how much work is expected of the participants & attendance & participation is mandatory.

Group 2 & 3 participants were reviewed & the groups were shuffled around to end up with total of 19 participants & 1 pilot = 20 cisterns (down from 24 previously).

We spent some time reiterating how important this project is ie that they are unofficial community (despite 6 generations) & hence not eligible for govt. funding, that this is likely their only chance to receive assistance & participate in a cistern project.

Salud – a woman who was involved in the Capaderillo Project as she was such an excellent participant, explained how she learned during the training all that she needed to know to construct & maintain the cistern & not to be afraid of learning new skills.

Pilot date was set 6/2-10/2

Feb 3^rd materials & mallas to be delivered – Pilot at the Primary School – people will need to be home to receive delivery of the mallas.

Hours of pilot were discussed, debated & decided – to start at 8am.

Tools needed were discussed & people agreed/volunteered to bring what was needed.

Conditions of work were discussed – respect & harmony, to work in solidarity & with the responsibility of future projects resting on their shoulders.

We were treated to a quick taco – rice, beans, tostadas & tortillas with agua fresca & we graciously received & ran, as we had next assembly in Corralejos to attend at 3pm.

Meeting ended at 2.40pm

Report of 2nd recorded visit to Corralejo 24.1.12

Report of 2nd recorded visit to Corralejo

Where: Corralejo, under big tree in the centre of the community

When: 24^th Jan 2012

Who: Chela(Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), 12 women (no men) 3 kids, + 2 dogs

Purpose: To plan the water cistern project in this community.

History – approx. 50 families in Corralejo, majority of the men are in the USA working, the age of the community is uncertain, approx. 2 generations.

Pre-meeting discussion: I had mentioned the case of a 12yr old boy in the community of Don Francisco, who is unable to walk & has never been to school – to Chela on the way to Corralejo. She in turn mentioned it to the women gathered & 2 of the women had heard of this case where the child is left to his own devices sitting in his own pee etc during the day. They agreed it was sad that he was not a priority for his family & contrasted it with another story of another young man unable to walk, but whose mother has carried him on her back every day to & from school, this young man is now in Secondaria.

Chela opened discussion by asking about finances & security v too many children, ie family size. She explained that in most of the “developed” countries people choose to have 2 or 3 children, but in Mexico people keep having kids. She asked why they thought this was –

Answers were

• Lack of care to prevent pregnancy
• This generation mostly have 2 kids (replied one young woman)
• Grandmothers in the group agreed they have 5 or 6

We moved into general discussion comments were:

• Some husbands are here & some in the USA,
• Although there is a well, there is still a scarcity of water as often no electricity for the pump for example they have had no electricity for 8 days now & hence no water for 8 days.
• There has been 3 visits to this community (one which I did not attend & report)
• Corralejo was at the 1^st big regional council meeting in Capaderillo in Oct 2010.
• They joined the consejo in Nov (?)
• They have been working with the consejo to obtain dry toilets

Chela asked them to explain why they were here today –

“to learn about water cisterns & back yard production”

There are a total of 12 people wanting to participate in the water cistern project.

The groups were defined – 2 groups of 6.

There was discussion about the pilot & where it would be held. They decided they would like 2 pilots, one in the kinder & one in the Primary school.

I explained there was only money in the budget for training on one pilot, they discussed this & said they would contribute to payment of another tech assistant for the 2^nd pilot.

They could pay $250 per day x 4 days = $1000 /12 families or the 24 families at the primary for example would be $52 pesos per family.

I raised the point that 6 people is really insufficient for a pilot, eg in Vivienda de Arriba they struggled because they had only 16 people, & we had said from that point, that 20 would be minimum size.

The women argued they are young & fit & determined & can do it.

I did not continue to argue (but parked it) this as it was unproductive & my Spanish is not elegant enough!

Note: Holly was not at the meeting but agrees, 6 is too few for a pilot, we are moving to suggest they do one pilot, & then as a community build the 2^nd cistern at either the kinder or primary.

Date for the pilot(s) will be after 1^st March – once we receive delivery of the special order of materials.

We advised at least 1 abanile is required for each group, ideally more, the women said it was difficult to confirm this far out as they don’t know if their husbands will be working/have jobs at this time.

Contact point will be Marlene (Community Co-ordinator) 415 107 0341 (with backup from Hilda & Reina)

Next meeting will be determined after delivery of materials, to firm up responsibilities & determine tools etc.

Dry toilets – Leonida spoke about the dry toilet situation as she has been attending the meetings, the next meeting on this subject will be Friday 3^rd Feb at 10am (Consejo meeting).

Health & Back yard production workshops: There are 13 currently on the list to attend these workshops.

The women had bought makings of tacos & meal for us, Chela explained we had just eaten, so a takeaway plate was prepared, beans, rice, casserole & tortillas! & We headed off up the stony mountainous track to beat the dark!