Today Tony DeCrosta and I traveled to the Juan Gonzalez to check on
the progress of the pilot cistern and to arrange the delivery of the rest of
the materials for that project which consists of 16 cisterns and 4 Rotoplast
installations.
We had been informed by the community that they wanted us to try
to deliver the balance of materials, especially the chicken wire so they could
begin the weaving of the wires to form the cylinders.
After a bit of confusion in getting to Juan Gonzalez we finally
arrived. Juan Gonzalez is definitely “over the hill and through the woods”. It
is about four miles off of the main highway down an unmarked road and across a
seasonal river that had been unpassable only a few weeks ago.
We arrived to
find the pilot proceeding exceptionally well. The final plastering was being
done on the inside of the cistern under the guidance of our teaching
construction worker, Filiberto. They planned to put on the top cap later in the
day.
There were about 8 women and 2 men working and offering much advice to me
as well. It is a lovely group of people with good humor and great pride in what
they are accomplishing. Consistently it is the women who do the bulk of the
work in these projects.
Upon arriving I determined that I had gotten confused over the total
number of cisterns being built and had arranged the deliver for 14 more
cisterns when, in fact, there are 15 more to be built. Fortunately I was able
to reach Hierro Comercial to have them load the additional materials on the
delivery truck. Hierro Comercial sent out the delivery truck late today.
Upon leaving as we were going down the four wheel access only road
we "ran into" three woman carrying a very heavy cooler loaded with freshly made
tamales. I stopped and offered them a ride and they said they were happy to be
walking and they were taking the tamales down to the school to feed the kids.
They eagerly offered us a few tamales which we more eagerly accepted. A
beautiful and delicious finish to a beautiful day in the community of Juan
Gonzalez.
This project includes the installation of four Rotoplast
(prefabricated cisterns of 1,100 liters each) in Juan Gonzalez. This happens at
times for older persons, generally living alone who cannot physically
participate in the cistern construction but who have participated fully in the
community’s organization for the project.
Most times, they are also living in a
house that has a roof too small to collect enough order over the rainy season
to fill our standard 12,000 liter cistern. In Juan Gonzalez, three
prefabricated cisterns have been included in the project for this reason.
At
Juan Gonzalez there is a fourth Rotoplast for a member of the community that
will participate fully in the construction process but who plans to move houses
in about one year. Thus, portability of the cistern is necessary and after much
discussion by the project participants we decided this was the best alternative
available to handle that situation. The Rotoplast and PVC materials cost $1,900
pesos vs $5,700 for a typical cistern.
Reported by Lee Carter, Rotary San Miguel Midday.
