Closing Celebration Alonso Yanez and Lindero July 23, 2015

Today Beatriz Sauceda and I traveled to Alonso Yanez and Lindero to attend the final celebration for this 38 cistern project. We also took a young woman named Karen with us who is photo journalist. She also makes short

documentaries and is interested in documenting some of our work here in San Miguel.

We arrived to a very large crowd of over 70 adults and many many children. We had visiting delegations from Boca de la Canada, Presa Allende, Cienega de Juana Ruiz, and Coralejos. When we arrived the food was already spread out in several locations and people were having their "almuerzo" - late breakfast.

Mayra and Carolina were attending the event in the role of CEDESA promoters. Chela unfortunately could not come because she is having problems with her knee. We had a brief program where the community groups introduced themselves and I said a few words about the cistern program and what a pleasure it was to work in a sucha a beautiful community and with people who were willing to work so hard to bring "agua de calidad" (quality water) to their families. 

You may remember that these communities have 4.95 mg/litre of fluoride in their water - a gravely serious situation (WHO maximum recommended level is 1.5mg/l) It was nice to see that they really "get it" about the dangers of the fluoride and there is already an even larger group forming for a future rainwater harvesting project. 

We also discussed the importance of staying involved with COCIRA and CEDESA to take advantage of other programs such as back yard gardening, health clinics and bee keeping. Beatriz spoke elegantly about the power of women in changing their lives, and their family's lives, through their organizing and working in teams. It is the women who take on the cistern building work and they are approx 95% of the participants in our projects.

After an introduction of the visitors from other communities, project participants from both Alonso Yanez and Lindero spoke about the process and work that went into the cistern project. The municipal delegate spoke briefly about the importance of this project and the issue of high fluoride levels in their community. He encouraged everyone to become more conscious of the dangers of the well water, especially for children, and the importance of gestating a next phase of cisterns in their community.

After our meeting, a huge meal was spread out including moles, green and red pozole, huaraches, quesadillas and more. Delicious! Normally we do not know how many children attend our events but today was different. An ice cream truck was passing by and Beatriz flagged it down announcing that she intended to buy an ice cream cone for each child there. There were eighty ice cream cones served!

It is days like these that remind us all of why we love working in rainwater harvesting so much!

Submitted by Lee Carter
Rotary San Miguel Midday

Planning Next Grant and a visit to Ojo de Zarco

July 1, 2015

Today I met with Chela Martinez, Director of CEDESA and Cece, coordinator of CEDESA promotors. We discussed in depth future plans for water harvesting within the Independence Aquifer.

Particularly we were able to lay out plans for who will be the promotor for various micro-regions of COCIRA and UNCANG. We will be submitting a new Rotary Foundation Global Grant request in August that includes a robust education program, “water days” in the communities, and the construction of the next 250 to 300 cisterns. I am pleased how the additional education program can be integrated into our community development and organization process.

COCIRA, the regional water council of communities in the San Miguel area, and UNCANG, the regional water council in the northern part of the aquifer, will be taking on the responsibility of evaluating and inspecting all cisterns between the end of the construction period and the final celebration. They will administer a survey that will give us specific information to be used to improve future projects and to achieve that critical last 5% in assuring that we finish each mini-project with 100% of the water harvesting systems fully functional. 

We also discussed leaving a small inventory of cistern parts and repair materials in communities that stay involved with COCIRA and UNCANG so that small problems can be immediately attended to before they develop into bigger problems.

The COCIRA/UNCANG groups will also returning to visit each of the 725 cisterns we have constructed since 2009. This is an intermediate term program that will take 12 to 18 months to complete. We want to assure continual monitoring and maintenance as to have the maximum number of functional water harvesting systems possible.

I look forward to receiving the surveys so that we can guide beneficiaries to do the best maintenance possible and maximize the quality of their drinking and cooking water. This work will lead to even better success in our new projects.

After lunch, Chela and I went to our third community organizational meeting in Ojo de Zarco and Purisima de Ojo de Zarco. Eighty-five percent (85%) of the community turned out for this meeting.

There were 54 families stating their interest in joining together for a project. We explained the process of what they must do to become eligible for the Rotary/CEDESA resources. They learned of the water harvesting program from some families in Los Torres where there have been four phases of cistern projects resulting in almost 100 cisterns in that community. It was agreed that the next step would be all potential families willing to do the work to earn cistern resources would meet in Los Torres on July 22 to see the cisterns at work and talk with past participants about the work necessary to have a successful project. It is a great pleasure to travel to these communities with Chela who now has 43 years of experience in community development work.

Submitted by Lee Carter, Rotary San Miguel Miday

Inspections and Monitoring GG1422619

We have gotten off to a good start in our new monitoring and evaluation program. The COCIRA council is taking this work on as their responsibility. They will be inspecting every cistern constructed during this grant and will be administering a survey as well as noting the GPS coordinates of each cistern. 

We are finding that there is a common set of problems that we can discover soon after construction: leaks in the galvanized plumbing, confusion in connecting the gutter system to the cistern, leaks in the cold joint at the base, leaks where the galvanized nipples penetrate the cistern, no first flush mechanism installed. None of these problems, individually, seem persistent, but when they are all taken together as a group, it is clear that early intervention on our part will improve the success of the project ie ultimately, our work monitoring will lead to minor tweaks to the construction process that will lead  overall to an improved process.

From our inspections thus far, we have been generating a list of “recurring problems” with appropriate solutions to those problems.. This is being developed into a “Use and Maintenance Manual” that we intend to publish and distribute to all project beneficiaries later in the summer or early in the fall. We are seeking simple solutions using materials commonly available in each community when possible. For problems of a more serious nature that would render a system completely dysfunctional, we are meeting with experts to look for the appropriate repair techniques and materials for those relatively rare cases. 

One possibility being discussed is placing about US$100 worth of commonly needed materials and repair parts with the COCIRA council member in each community to have an inventory of immediately available repair parts. The thought is that the council member would collect the cost of the materials as they are dispensed and then use that to replenish the inventory to maintain a perpetual supply.  

We are also considering returning to each community from this project to have a “Water Day” where we can individually consult on any problems and their solutions, where we can talk more about water safety and the benefits of using bio-contamination disinfection methods to improve water quality. We believe the opportunity for additional training and education will enhance the sustainability of these projects.

In addition to the evaluation of the cisterns built during this grant, the COCIRA council has indicated they are willing to go back to visit and inspect all cisterns constructed since 2009 – ie approx 725 cisterns in total. Collecting this data and using it to improve future projects will lead to better utilization of our future grant funds. Knowledge is power.

Submitted by Lee Carter, Rotary San Miguel Midday