Rotary Club of Ann Arbor Visited Los Torres & Fred tells the story..

LOS TORRES BLOG CONTRIBUTION
Shortly after the completion of the first Project in Los Torres, we—my wife Sue and I—visited the Project, this was back on 13th November 2009.

What would motivate the two of us, who had no previous contact with the Project,  to go to Los Torres?

We belong to the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor, one of whose members, Tom Conlin, spent several months in San Miguel de Allende.

While there he attended meetings of the Rotary Club, and became interested in the Water Project. When he returned, he persuaded our Club to join in support with other Rotary Clubs.

We came to San Miguel for a National Geographic Photo Workshop, & contacted Laura Stewart, whom we knew had worked hard to accomplish the goals of the Water Project.

She kindly consented to show us how the Project had worked in Los Torres. On our part, we were eager to see the results of the Project, and were delighted that Laura would take her valuable time to take us.

Laura drove us out for an hour over roads that barely existed; they were as bad as those we’ve seen anywhere (including Belize, Kenya, etc.).

When we arrived, we saw a substantial community,  (in two parts), and (o our great pleasure), many of the cisterns designed to harvest the rain water.

We were especially pleased to see the cisterns at the kindergarten &and elementary schools. That told us that harvesting rain water had become a community project. The community had evidently organized itself
around the project, and  the idea of working together as a community was in itself new to them.

We also visited a family who had installed their own cistern.

Old water collection method, wait for the water truck
to come & deliver water, then collect it by wheel barrow
& cart it home.






 

The new method to collect water - family's own cistern.    







Despite the language barrier, we could sense the love the family had for one another. I tried to depict this in my photography, and in the image Sisters I think I succeeded.

After this inspiring visit, Laura drove us back to
San Miguel over the  same roads as before.
Again I worried that the suspension would break,
and that getting back to San Miguel would be long postponed.
But that didn’t happen, and we returned knowing that our Club
had invested its dollars well in helping others to enhance their own lives
 in a significant and permanent way                                                            


Sisters...


.

Record of Event 46th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres

Where: Los Torres Primary School

When:  6.6.12 12midday to 4.40pm

Who:  Saul,Chela,Holly,Abel (Cedesa), Gary, Lee, David, Enrique, Lisette, Don, Laura (+ Steve & Visitor Carly from New Zealand) (Rotary), approx. 500 adults plus 100+ kids from 22 communities

Warning – long report – last inauguration is the excuse!

Purpose: I was led to believe the purpose of the day was inauguration of 14 cisterns of the final phase in Los Torres, full circle from the first visit in late 2008 & first project early 2009.

We Rotarians arrived in convoy to Los Torres approx. at midday.

Many people were already gathered, lots of pick ups parked trying to snatch any little shade from small mesquite trees. A huge tarpaulin was strung over a rows of small school chairs, most already occupied, tables were placed to receive the large enamel pots & buckets of tortilla’s wrapped in embroidered cloths to stay warm!

Balloons alternating pink & white were strung over the entrance, a large group of small girls rushed me & each one giving me a hug.

There were posters of photos of all the famiies in Los Torres proudly standing in front of their cisterns, & groups of small children gathered pointing out their families, or laughing at their photos.

We only began the tradition of each family photographing their cisterns in one of the later projects, but Los Torres had decided to go back & photograph each of their families – 84 – lots of posters!!

Concha & Chuy the 2 women who have been instrumental in organisation in this community from  before we even arrived with our projects, gave me welcoming hugs & then spun off to busy-ness readying things, Holly & huddles of other women dotted around from many other communities.

We mingled, chatted, & shook hands with more than 100 people, before miming shaking hands with the rest – realising we’d be there all day if we continued. This was shaping up to be a massive final inauguration.

Pages of info on each community were strung in plastic sleeves on a rope high up across the entrance. Men were lingering in any shady spots they could find replete in their best western shirts, embroidered belts & cowboy hats, I greeted those I recognised, with a general nod of acknowledgement to the others. Other men were carrying huge pots of barbacoa (lamb/sheep) cooked in an underground oven, with steaming large banana leaves – hmm looking forward to that!

The teachers had the children ready & primed with sound equipment in place to begin, a long table decorated with beautifully embroidered cloths & special florist bouquet arrangements of carnations & greenery – I fleetingly thought, how had they gotten those all the way out here in the desert (special trip?)…

More hello kisses & hugs from all the faces I recognised from the many events, assemblies, project days, & regional meetings that we had now amassed between us. Familiar eyes, aprons, special earrings for special events, everyone in their finest.

Gary laughed & asked me if I was running for president? I dismissed him with a nervous laugh & wondered what the heck he was talking about. He asked if I’d seen the electoral poster with my name on it, again I kind of laughed & moved onto other hellos…

I looked up & saw a photo of me from the Tierra Blanca project, Saul & I had tried to take a photo of a particularly old woman, in her fine apron & ready for work with a big hat on. She had refused to smile, so we made it our business to steal one from her. We had cajoled, explained & even pleaded, all the time being met with a staunch refusal… I snuck round beside her & wrapped my arm around her shoulder, then I tickled her ribs, & she couldn’t help it, a smile broke across here face & Saul just managed to catch the last of it…& one of me throwing my head back in a fit of laughter… Anyway, this apparently was my election poster, along with slogan “Laura si cumpli” (loosely translates to – she keeps her word).  There was a resounding clunk & I realised – oh my god, they are honouring me here today!!

A wave of panic came over me – how can I get out of this? rushed into my head… This should not be happening, we should be honouring the team & the communities, this is wrong… I’m sure I flushed an instant magenta! Finally (30 seconds later) I thought, oh well, hopefully it will be short & sweet & this has involved massive organisation & co-ordination, I have to respect their efforts…

Well, so it began, we were asked to take our place at the big table, & the presentations started.

Gifts were presented to me from many communities, a huge glass jug & glasses, a picture of a lush garden, a tin lizard & miniature wheelbarrow, a box of hand painted mugs! Hugs & tributes, I’d already begun crying, this was going to be long!

There were dances by adults, dances by kids, speeches of gratitude, retelling the stories, long crushing hugs, Concha led the proceedings announcing each of the next items, each of the communities were asked to do the chant…bim bom va – each community was called out in turn, stood up where they were & chanted the bim bom va chant ending with “laura, laura Ra Ra Ra”, this lasted an excrutiating lifetime, while every community yelled their loudest! There were even people from Palencia & 3 Esquinas in the municipality of La Paz 2 hours away!

Then more speeches, including one composed by Ivar & read in his absence in English by Gary, & in Spanish by Lee, with David standing beside us holding up a photocopied lifesized mask of Ivar’s face over his own (on a paddle stick) – thank god for that, everytime more tears came bubbling, I looked at Ivar’s smiling 2D face on David’s lanky frame & couldn’t help but laugh. I was presented with a certificate, a pen to continue writing & beautiful silver cuff from Ivar & Paty (exquisite scandanavian style!)

This continued for what must have been an eternity for the kids standing in full uniform & full sun, as more speeches, (tears fully streaming as Chela recounted our team exploits & gave thanks for our collaboration) songs & dances were performed, & eventually this all concluded, after some hilarious solo songs by a couple of older women, & the banquet began.

Plates of steaming pozole, rice, chicken mole, barbacoa, tortillas (still warm!), large jugs of juice water, until we couldn’t eat any more…

People ate, Chela called a meeting in a different part of the school (she can’t help herself, never miss a chance to organise!). We found a knife (the barbacoa one hastily cleaned & pressed into service to) cut the 2 huge cakes bought by Rotary, into a million pieces to make sure all that line up got some… David dished out serviettes & whispered, cut them smaller Laura, there’s a lot of people! The kids (&

some adults) lined for ½ hr waiting patiently for their little piece of cake, it took me a while to realise that the usual “can I have a bigger piece?” which would have been the norm in our culture didn’t happen, each recipient was happy with whatever they received, not one asking for a bigger piece, even if some were only crumbs – it struck me additional confirmation, these humble people have no expectations, & are just so grateful to receive anything.

Rotary colleagues peeled away, many people from the communities piled back onto the pickups, with empty containers & full tummies, huge hugs & calls of “don’t forget us, & remember you’re always welcome in our community” as they drove away in clouds of dust… Holly &  I walked to find the cistern whose ribbon we were to cut.  Eventually we all gathered (the families in Los Torres involved in this final phase, bringing the number of cisterns in Los Torres to approx. 96% of the number of families! We cut the ribbon, hugged, cried, laughed. I lingered a little longer to hear the extreme gratitude & pride of the woman who’s cistern this was. Her husband spoke very good English with a very strong accent – he had, it turned out – been in Florida for 22 years!

I asked the woman if she had children, she said only 2, she would have had more but her husband left , she spoke with sadness retelling how he had only returned 8 mths ago & had left when her daughters were 3 & 5, the oldest was standing there today a mother herself! The woman had tears in her eyes, & a stoic strength about her. We walked to her gate, through her proud garden, geranium cuttings & plants in cans,  she retold – for my ears only – how she had raised those children solo, here in this desert with no money & support for 22 yrs – she had not been part of the previous phases as she didn’t have the requisite time to commit to the participation, & she was sooo relieved & grateful to finally have a cistern, despite the absence of her husband… We hugged & I felt an overwhelming rush of her pain & strength with massive sadness, having been deserted & yet a sense of I survived – but did it have to be that hard…

What a day! What a project!! – this has been an amazing journey for all involved, the communities, the Rotarians here & away, the team!! We have all grown beyond description & know so much more than that first hot dusty day we came driving into Los Torres in 2008 – who would have guessed!!!

LOVE
LAURA

Los Torres Sapasma Project II inauguration

The Los Torres community held their inauguration of the 3rd family cistern phase of water projects held in their community. This phase was funded by the Sapasma II project.

The inauguration was held on Wednesday 25th January, to celebrate the completion of 18 more cisterns in Los Torres, bringing the total to 60 cisterns in this community.

I was unable to attend on the day as I had other Project urgent matters to attend to, Ivar & Enrique from San Miguel Midday Rotary attended & Ivar had this to say

"Very nice event - and very short! An inauguration meeting was held in a large room, the Community Salon. Speeches by Sapasma, Cedesa and Rotary plus a thank you speech by a lady from the community. App. 60 participants. It all took about 1/2 an hour. Then a delightful lunch and that was it."

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.

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!!

Water Project Stats to date Jan 2009 - Jan 2011

Here's an update of where we're at, we essentially began the first water project in Nov 2008, the first funding came through in March 2009, so am counting it from 1st Jan 2009 to now...

We now have 330 Families asking for help with drinking water in this region.
They are in 18 different communities that we are now engaged with, from the initial project in Los Torres. All of these communities have come to us, they have seen the results proven & want to be part of the solution.

Following are the statistics:

Water Projects completed from 1st Jan 2009 - Jan 2011
Los torres 52 $21,700 + 12,200 + smcf 1 $2468 smcf 2 2235,
Montecillo de Nieto 30 $16700
Vivienda de Arriba 17
Cruz del Palmar 28 combined $24700
Capaderillo 40 $21850
Palencia 21 $7k (+ balance of excess from other projects)
Total 188 cisterns

More than 1500 people have safe drinking water now & for generations to come!!!

funding
Rotary$81,800
SMCF$4,703
Eco Verde$21,850
Skymed $500
total funding = USD $108,853

A BIG THANK YOU to all the hardworking men & women belonging to the Rotary Clubs & Districts who have been part of this solution:
Tallahassee RC
Trail BC RC
Sechelt BC RC
Tyron RC
Ann Arbor RC
Paso Robles RC
West U RC TX
Richmond RC TX
San Miguel Midday RC Mexico
Districts 4160, 6940, 7670

Current upcoming water projects
Capaderillo II approx $14k (Rotary funding secured)
to commence end of January.

Pipeline projects
Global Grant for $33,500 (Baton Rouge Capitol City RC & District(s)
Pending approval from TRF.

Quantified Need:
Current applications in hand from Families in need 309 from 18 different communities.(excluding the upcoming project of 21 cisterns)

Interested in helping fund the simple solution to this need, please email me... Lauramex@gmail.com

District 6940 newsletter Article

Tallahassee Rotary Club Supports Rotary Clubs and
International Partners to Change Lives...

Go to page 7 of this link & you'll find Tallahassee's story...
Click here

Atencion article 24.4.2009

We received a wonderful writeup from Suzanne Ludekins in our premium local newspaper - Atencion, on 24.4.2009 the 3 separate pages can be seen
here
here
& here

Remember to click the back arrow, to get back to this blog.

42nd Meeting at Los Torres 21.07.10

Laura was absent for the assembly on the 21st July.

The community of Los Torres has essentially completed their water project, & it culminated with a Fiesta/inauguration on the 11th June at the Los Torres Primary school.

Holly provided a brief summary to Laura, since Cedesa are continuing to work with Los Torres,(on other than the Cistern Project).

The Phase II/III cistern project is essentialy done (a few small loose ends, a few cisterns not waterproofed, but all are catching rain; a problem with lamina for one roof and one faucet on a tinaco) ... we talked mostly about the road project for a couple hours and traspatio design about a half hour. We are hesitant about an additional Phase in Los Torres (there were 7 new people interested) because Phase II/III has been a little problematic with people not working together as well as previous phases.

It seems the first phase of a community is generally the most enthusiastic & motivated, with the "slower adopters" being less motivated & less participatory. For this reason it is ideal to have a thorough saturation at phase I stage, & reach as many as possible for the first "push".

Next assembly for Cedesa/Los Torres (not Rotary water project)
August 18th 3pm

41st Meeting Los Torres 23 de junio del 2010

Los Torres Meeting 23 de junio del 2010

Where: Chucha’s house
When: Wed, June 23, 12 noon
Who: Chela, Holly and Saul Juarez (Cedesa), 26-28 people of Los Torres including 6 men, the rest women, and many children

When we arrived, on time (12 noon), only three people were present. Evidently, there was confusion about the day since June has five Wednesdays, most people thought the assembly was next week, the last Wednesday of the month. We waited a half hour then sent the three people present out to inform the others that the meeting was that day.
By 1 p.m. there were about 20 people, when Saul did the roll call (Concha was absent), and others came by later. Out of over fifty people who are on the roll, there are less than half now attending the assemblies.

Why? Because the cistern project is nearly finished. Chela said that the
assembly is not just about building cisterns, it’s about building community … a topic we would take up after choosing a coordinator, note-taker, and establishing the agenda for the day:
-
Cistern building
Rotoplases
Visit by the Presidencia
Petitions: road, bridge and dry toilets
Invitation to CEDESA

Chela started off the discussion about building community by asking when was the first assembly in Los Torres with CEDESA? Various answers, last year, the year before; after some discussion, the general agreement was that it was October 2008. So we have been meeting for about a year and a half. What has happened in the past 18 months?

Many people chimed in: Now we have water, we harvest rain from our roofs, we know how to make cisterns. We have learned to work together and get along better, talk among ourselves, share ideas and work. With the assemblies we have learned how to talk better, before we were embarrassed to say anything, now we are more confident.

Chela explained that she learned how to speak in public by visiting communities and
participating in assemblies, and now she’s not afraid to talk to the bishop or the president.

What else have you learned?
Chucha, who is participating in the traspatio workshop said she has learned about covering the ground with leaves from the trees to retain humidity, separating organic from inorganic waste.

We are learning to grow our own food.
We’ve learned the difference between clean and contaminated water, using the cistern water for drinking and cooking.

Elena gave a very moving testimony: at first she was very interested in the assemblies and the cistern project, but when her husband left her, she got depressed because she was shut up in her house, not going out and not seeing anyone. Then someone told her that there was going to be a second phase, and she started going to the assemblies again and joined a mutual-aid group. She now feels happy to be participating, and that she has a cistern that she built with the help of
others, whom she too has helped.

Chela asked Elena to write up her testimony, that it is important that people learn and gain a lot when they are involved in community development, not just technical knowledge and getting things, but also feelings, solidarity and the benefits of working together.

Aurelia agreed that with the community assembly, you learn a new way of thinking. If you are closed up in your house, your problems make you sick, you need to let things out, to share your problems. If you work together with other people you can solve your problems.

Ofelia said that when families get together, in groups, you are united and stronger. It is important to share, to convivir (personally interact), work together, not only on the cisterns but for other projects, learning to develop your mind, your spirit and your feelings.

If you’re closed up in your house by yourself, you don’t learn anything.
Chela asked if we should stop having assemblies after the cisterns are finished. No …
Ofelia said that they still have a lot to learn.

Elena asked if there is a possibility of another phase, because now her relatives are interested.

Chela said they should start a new list.
Others mentioned the road, dry toilets, gardens, health issues.

Holly said that Los Torres is the pioneer in the region, that the experiences here are valuable to others in other communities. We hope to have a regional meeting when the other communities that are finishing up their cisterns are done, probably in August.

Chela took up the theme, drawing a map of the communities that are making cisterns now, and that have sent representatives to assemblies to inquire about community development, not only cisterns but also dry toilets, traspatio, health issues.

First, the cistern project started in Los Torres: then Montecillo, Cruz del Palmar and Vivienda de Arriba (currently finishing their cisterns); Capaderillo and Tierra Blanca, where we are meeting at community asemblies to plan cistern projects; San Isidro Capaderillo, La Tinaja, La Aurora, Vivienda de Abajo, Guerrero, Don Juan, Ojo Zarco.

People were proud of this, saying: All this started in Los Torres! We were the first!
Sabina said: They say, “Sell me some water from your cistern” and I say, “No, I won’t sell it you … I’ll give it to you!” We want to help other people learn how to make their own cisterns and have good water.

After thanking Chucha for loaning her house for the assemblies for all this time, Chela mentioned again that Los Torres, given its importance in the region, needs a public meeting place where they hold the assemblies, bring visitors, teach people from other communities.

Saul mentioned that there is still a lot to learn, and gave as an example questions of health – he passed around the book “Tu Cuerpo” that is being used in the Organizer’s Workshop (Taller de Promotores).

To move on to the items on the agenda:
I.
Cisterns (built in mutual-aid groups from steel and cement):

Group I – four are completed and storing rainwater, two are nearly done – Doña Piedad
and Dimas/Filomena. One member of the group is not working because his wife died, the
others are helping to finish the two remaining.

Group II – all are finished and storing rainwater

Group III – All are finished except one (Gilberto). Nicolasa says that they started
working together two weeks ago, and that’s why they are now nearly done.

II.
Rotoplas (black plastic cisterns purchased from Talego):
José Alvarado – with group #1
Alejandro Gonzales – with group #2
Consuelo Huerta – with group #3
José Alvarado’s roof needs to be covered because it is made of tejas (rounded clay tiles)which get very dirty because animals make nests in it and it is difficult to clean. Holly was asked to inquire with Rotary if there are funds for approximately 5 square meters of lamina (corrugated sheet metal).

Of the three rotoplases, each one is missing a tube/faucet. Holly will investigate with Talego.

III.
Visit by the Mayor
Luci did not come – she says that another appointment came up and sent a representative.

Chucha said that they gave her a letter apologizing, but everyone is unhappy that
the Mayor was not present at the event the the whole community prepared for her.
The three petitions were presented to the representative.

IV.
Petitions
Road: Alejandro delivered it to the Presidencia and got it signed and sealed by the
secretary of the office of the mayor. He showed the copy he got.

Bridge: Aurelia did not make a copy, delivered the original to the Mayor’s rep

Dry toilets: Elena did not make a copy, delivered the original to the Mayor’s rep

Priorities were established and committees assigned: the road (Alejandro, Miguel and
Matilde, with support-group Maria Soria, Carmela, Chucha and Andrea) and the dry
toilets (Elena, Ofelia, Aurelia, Magdalena and Hilaria).

Alejandro said that when he was collecting signatures, some people complained that
he is not ejiditario nor small property owner in Los Torres (he lives in San Miguel); he says that he would happily hand over the petition for the road to someone else if that’s necessary. No one spoke up to take over the good job he has been doing.

Saul said that it is now necessary for any petition from any community to be signed
by the Delegado and Community Council in order to be considered by the municipal
government.

A long discussion ensued regarding the change of delegado in Los Torres. Chucha
explained that there was a community-wide meeting called to chose the new delegado
but only 12 people came. A person named Samuel Garcia was chosen, with Rafael Cruz,
Alberto Morales and Rafael Barranca as council.

The question of legitimacy was raised, in terms of how many people are making these
decisions, and Saul said that the delegado and council has to be registered at the Mayor’s office. There is still time to change if there is disagreement.

Elena said that everyone had a chance to go to the meeting and that the people who didn’t go should respect the decision of those who did.

Chela suggested that people decide at the next assembly if the decision about the new
Delegado still stands or if they want to call for a more representative vote. She said that is the problem when there is no community assembly.

Miguel said that these assemblies don’t represent a majority.

Ofelia said that the only time that the whole community participates is during
Opportunidades meetings (government-sponsored “give-away” program).

Chela said that if people want democracy, they should make sure that there is a majority of families represented at the next assembly in order to decide about the delegado and community council.

V.
Invitation to CEDESA
On July 10, 11 a.m. there will be a celebration at CEDESA of “rescuing traditional
food of the region” (nopal, quelites, verdolagas, etc.) There will be people from many different communities where CEDESA has been working, and a reflection upon regional environmental issues and community development.

Several people expressed interest in renting a bus to go from Los Torres to CEDESA.
Holly and Saul will help to coordinate this.

The next assembly will be on July 28, at 11 a.m. (one hour earlier than usual, since there is another meeting scheduled in the afternoon).

The meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
This report was kindly recorded by Holly Yasui - Thanks Holly!!

40th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres

Record of Event pg 1 of 1
40th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres

Where: Los Torres Chucha’s house
When: Fri 4th June 10-12.20
Who: Holly, (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), Chucha, Alejandro, concha, Aurelia, Carolina, & Elena from Los Torres.

Purpose:
Plan for the Mayor Luci’s visit on 10th June

The meeting:
Holly & I arrived .5 hr late, we came via Cruz del Palmar & had traffic issues in centro. Also we stopped to enquire about roofing at a tienda on the way.

Luci is to visit on 10th June at 5.30 – re invitation from Chucha.

The discussion points to raise during the visit will be
Bridge to Cruz del Palmar
Road to Los Torres
Bus to Los Torres

Chucha will talk to the Teachers at school about using the kitchen space for the food section.
& also using the tables & chairs out of that small kitchen.

Alejandro will wait at the curve after MdN, in his grey ram truck.

Then they will be taken
1. To Chucha’s house to see the 3 cisterns in close proximity.
2. To visit a cistern currently in construction at Dona Piedad’s house,(they will especially not finish this cistern so she can see the work in progress).
3. To the school to cut the ribbon on the cisterns, & to hear
4. Welcome by Rafa (current delegado)
5. Speech by Concha on the history of the cistern project (including first in the region, expert team created, how it has now progressed.
6. Present petition (to be signed by all members of the community) re the road into LT

Other topics were discussed as possible to present to Luci, CFE electricity issue & Sapasma piping issue, but it was decided these should be discussed directly with the organisations responsible (ie not Luci, but CFE & Sapasma)\

Holly discussed the format for the petitions, ie text, plus signatures on each page;
Elena (from the community) wrote up 2 of the petitions by the time we left, in time for Holly to take with her & format & return to the community to collect signatures…

Meeting finished at 12.20
Next “meeting” will be Mayor’s visit on 10th June at 5.30

Report 39 on Los Torres assembly Wed., May 26,

Report on Los Torres assembly
Wednesday, May 26, 3:00 p.m.

The meeting was postponed from the usual meeting time at 12 noon because of a meeting for “Opportunities” (a government give-away program) in the morning. At 3:30 there were about 20 people present, and though that was not a quorum, we started the assembly. Another 5-6 people arrived during the course of the meeting. Since Laura likes to count children and animals, for the record there were three kids, two dogs, a skinny black cat and several chickens in the vicinity.
The agenda was established:
1. Review the progress of the cisterns
2. Visit by the Mayor Luci Nuñez
3. Traspatio workshop

I. CISTERNS
Group 1 –group coordinator Alejandro reported that the three families that have received all their materials have finished their cisterns (Alejandro, Manuel and Gonzalo). Of those who have not received their materials, Jesus has been working with Alejando and Manuel, and Piedad and Lucia have been working with Gonzalo. The seventh person in this group, Dimas, has not worked with anyone, nor has he attended assemblies (his mother, Filomena, was present).
Group 2 – group coordinator Cruz reported that three cisterns are finished (Cristina, Dulce, Francisco/Ma Jesus), and four still do not have materials (Cruz, Juana, Elena and Arturo). Cruz, Juana and Elena have been helping the others, but Arturo is working alone with his wife, Maribel, who was present at the assembly.
Group 3 – group coordinator José Matilde reported that his cistern in done, working with Aurelia, Josefina, Guadalupe and Rosa/Cruz but there has been a problem with the triplay … since the groups have divided into sub-groups, there isn´t enough, so the other cisterns are still not finished. Nicolasa has not worked with the others, and Caratine is working alone with her husband Gil; according to them, both of whom were present at the assembly, they were not informed of where and when the work was taking place.
Chela insisted that if people wanted to work on their own and not in presta-fuerza groups, they should just buy their own materials and work alone. She asked each representative of the non-cooperating families (Dimas /Philomena, Arturo/Maribel, Nicolasa and Caritina/Gil) if they were willing to work with others, and they said yes, and agreed to form a fourth group. Holly suggested that these families should not receive the rest of their materials (cement and lime) until they have all helped each other to finish weaving their mallas, and the assembly agreed it was important to insure that these families work together. Ironically, the cement was being delivered at the very time that this decision was being made!
Several people complained about having to go to the asesor’s house (Guillermo) to get their PVC, saying it was inconvenient and that Guillermo arbitrarily changed the lengths that the families requested so that they came out short and had to buy extra. Alejandro agreed and said it wasn’t fair that Guillermo decided how much tubing each family received. Concha defended Guillermo (her dad) saying that Rotary, not Guillermo, decided to have all the PVC delivered to his house, and he spent a lot of time making calculations in order to not waste tubing. Chela supported her, saying that in this phase we are being more economical and purchasing more precise amounts of materials instead of giving away extra, so that more families can participate in the cistern projects.
Alejandro asked about the rotoplas tinacos that will be installed in the homes of three elderly persons and Holly said they would be delivered at the end of the process. Alejandro noted that they will need materials to make a base for the tinaco (Chela agreed it was necessary to protect it from humidity), and also PVC tubing. Holly suggested that Guillermo measure the roofs and make the order for PVC and cement needed for the base, but there was notable resistance to this, so she decided not to insist. This problem needs to be resolved as soon as possible since the regular deliveries to Los Torres are now finished. Perhaps one of the other asesores can be recruited to do this job.

II: VISIT BY MAYOR LUCI NUNEZ
Chucha reported that Mayor Luci Nuñez will visit Los Torres on Thursday, June 10 at 5:30 p.m. Chucha made the invitation under the pretext / upon the occasion of the inauguration of the school cisterns.
The hour being late, and having attended a long meeting in the morning, people were not as enthusiastic as one might expect. Chela asked the assembly if they wanted Luci to visit, and they said yes; and why? The assembly came up with three reasons:
1. To tell her about the problems in the community
2. To show her the cisterns
3. To find out what is happening with the well
Problems in the community:
#1 the road … since she will be experiencing it first-hand, it will be very apt to present a petition to get it fixed – graded and pave at least the ford.
#2 – problems with electricity
#3 – need for a bridge to Cruz del Palmar
Show (off) the cisterns – short inauguration ceremony
1. Benvenida – Concha Alvarado and Rafael Cruz (new delegado)
2. History of the cisterns – Chucha and Carol, Los Torres project; Juan – diffusion in the region
3. Presentation of petitions – Alejandro, Elena, Jesus, Aurelia
4. Convivencia (food and drink, pot-luck)
4. Tour – Nicolasa ARRIBA, Caritina ABAJO
Question of whether the tour should be first or last. Those from Abajo say if it is last, Luci may never make it to Abajo. Those from Arriba say they if Luci goes to Abajo first, it will take too much time away from the inauguration. At this time (6 p.m.) Holly suggested that a committee, made up of the people responsible for the various activities, make the decisions about the logistics of the visit. A woman asked how long the visit would be, and Chucha said she forgot to ask: Holly was asked to inquire at the Presidencia, and also to help them with the presentations on Monday, May 31 at noon.

Next Mini Meeting May 31 12 noon.
Next assembly ??

38th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres

Record of Event pg 1 of 2
38th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres

Where: Los Torres Chucha’s house
When: Wed 28th April 12pm – 2.20
Who: Holly, (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), & 27 adults (including 6 men)

Chela could not make the assembly today, so Holly & I went alone.

Purpose:
Planning for the Phase III cisterns construction project & general community assembly.

The meeting:
We arrived at 12pm & it took 15mins for set up & prelim discussion.
The discussion centred around the delivery of the first lot of materials for the 1st half of the project.
Talego (our new supplier) had against our instructions, delivered the materials to one location.

This was very inconvenient for the participants since the delivery was to a house in the lower community & the women had to borrow donkeys & wheel barrows to move the cement from the lower community to their houses.

We apologised for this & explained we had instructed the deliveries to be house by house & this was an error.

We also had instructed the wire & chicken wire to be delivered first, as they were needed first.

Meeting call to order: Holly asked who would be co-ordinator & who would take records for this meeting?
Alejandro was voted co-ordinator & Mariana to take records

The roll/list of names was passed while Alejandro called for items for the agenda.

There was a discussion as one person was supposedly representing 2 people who were absent, the members all agreed, one person can only represent one person, not multiples. She was asked to decide who…

There was alco a comment about no excuse for not knowing the date of the assemblies as they are always on the 4th Wednesday of the month for the community of Los Torres. They only need to be advised if there is a change to this…It’s up to everyone to remember.

Agenda
1. Attendance at assemblies
2. Cisterns – 3rd phase
3. Materials – groups.

Attendance – This item had basically been dispensed with during the passing of the list (roll call).

Cisterns – 3rd phase review
Group 1 – Alejandro is the leader.
There are 7 people in this group & 2 people are not able to participate.
Lucia’s daughter in law & Lucia, are sick & only her son can work for them. He is working fulltme & so can only participate on weekends.

Gonzalo Alvarado, can also only work on weekends.

After much discussion, it was decided that a sub group of group 1, Gonzalo, Piedad & Marcelino would all work together, & on weekends.

The other 4 would start Monday.

Record of Event pg 2 of 2

Group 2
Also 7 people in this group.
A work strategy was discussed for a long time, some can work during the week, others only at nights & weekends, husbands mostly at nights only – to do the plastering.

The first 3 in this group will work every day, & the others will join in when the materials arrive.

Group 3
There are also 7 in this group. After much discussion, they essentially split into 2 sub groups. Two of the women come from very large families & want to do their cisterns separately. We explained all are responsible for people in their group…



The 3 tinacos (plastic water tanks) included in this phase are for the elderly, each group was given responsibility to ensure the installation of the tinaco for these folk.

Jose Alvarado Group 1
Consuelo Huerta Group 2
Alejandro Gonzalez Group 3

Laura needs to have a list of the variable materials required for the 3 plastic tanks. (Guillermo to co-ordinate this – someone will need to inform him since he is not at the meeting).


It was agreed the people in charge of each group MUST ensure all of the cisterns are completed or assist & get it done, with help from others.

The materials for the remainder of the people from each group, will be delivered once all of the first cisterns are completed.

Ie, 3 cisterns from each group for the first round, then the balance of the 12 remaining cisterns will be constructed.


Extra point raised
The Road
The community have stated in many previous meetings they wish to resolve the issue of the very bad access road to their community.

It was previously thought Luci Nunez (the mayor of San Miguel) wanted to visit Los Torres to view the project, since then, she has instead set up meetings with the parties involved (Rotary, Cedesa, Sapasma, Ecology & Social Development) & has declined the continued invitations to visit the communities first hand.

This has been a little embarrassing as we were led to believe she was coming & the communities had geared up for that.

The question was put to community members “do you still want Luci to visit your community?” & the answer was a resounding yes!

Homework was assigned to the community

1. The mini commission is to write an invitation to Luci
2. Write a report on the cisterns (ie benefits, the project, process, description)
3. Write up a “solicitud” application for repairs to the road.


Next assembly will be 26th May 2010 at 12 pm

37th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres

Record of Event pg 1 of 3
37th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres

Where: Los Torres Chucha’s house
When: Wed 24th March 3-5.40pm
Who: Chela, Holly, (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), & 26 adults & 10kids, (Incl 3 men)

Purpose:
Planning for the Phase III cisterns construction project & general community assembly.

This assembly was changed to a later start time of 3pm, as there was a govt program visiting in Cruz del Palmar which the Los Torres community was required to attend.

The govt. Program – Oportunidades, a work program, started at 8am & didn’t finish until 2pm with no break for food, & CdP is a 20 minute walk away, the Los Torres people made it to the meeting around 3.20 looking very tired & hungry, & we agreed to try to keep the assembly brief, so people could get home.

We didn’t want to take up their time, but discovered the Oportunidades program offers work for a minimal assistance subsidy of $700 pesos bi-monthly, & also offers a beca (scholarship) for children of $500 pesos in high school, bi-monthly.

General discussion.
We asked about the Sapasma well, apparently it has not been opened yet, despite being completed for around 1 year. They have visited the new administration to ask & were told the new administration needs to settle in first before any action will be taken to get the water to the houses.

Julio from the Ecology department visited during the water info day, & said the tests of the water from the well had come back showing the water is contaminated & not fit for drinking.

Chela invited the LT community to a workshop they are holding at Cedesa to produce solar distillers, the only way to effectively remove fluoride from water.

The workshop is on April 9&10 for only 15 people, during which they will hands-on construct 2 working distillers, that can distill up to 9 litres per day.

The assembly began at 3.40
Chela introduced, & said we would keep it short today as everyone was already looking exhausted.
She said she would co-ordinate & Concha was voted to take note/records.

Discussion points were called for
• How to advance the 3rd phase
• What needs doing?
• What’s missing? someone responded, “we’re willing to work, as long as they give us some limonada!”
• Co-operation payment – still to be paid.
• Distiller workshop – who wants to participate
• The road mini-commission, - who’s working on it?
• Review of traspatio workshops

Item 1. How to advance the 3rd Phase.
At the last assembly people were tasked with taking measurements of the piping they require & getting the info to the group leaders, who in turn will give it to Guillermo (who will be co-ordinating the technical aspect of the 3rd phase in Los Torres).

Group 1 – Alejandro has the info & will give it to Guillermo
Group 2 – Jose Cruz also has the info & will give it to Guillermo
Group 3 – Gilberto? – Laura mentioned Jose Matilde had the info at the Water info day & wanted to give it to someone then, so he will need to be directed to give it to Guillermo





Record of Event pg 2 of 3

Primo, Fabiana & Guillermo all offered to assist with Phase III.
Group 1 – one member – Veronica still owes her $450 co-operation payment re not attending training in the School demonstration cistern construction. She can not afford this payment so has passed on her cistern to her sister – Maria, who happens to be getting married to Gonzalo on Saturday. Everyone voted for this action.

Gonzalo is Rafael & Jose Miguel’s younger brother.

Item 2 – Materials – when will they be available?
Laura described the process…
1. Guillermo to receive the measurements of the variable materials required by each family (by group).
2. Guillermo to make a day possibly 5th April to visit each house to check the measurements.
3. Guillermo to spend a day collating the grand order, ie 21 x standard materials, & a compilation of the variable materials into one large order.
4. Guillermo is to place the order at the supplier. He should place it in several parts, 1 bulk order of the variable materials to be delivered in bulk to one location.
5. & then order the standard materials to be delivered 3 cisterns per group at a time, with another 3 more per group, once each cistern is completed (Guillermo will give delivery location instructions when he places order for the next partial delivery).
6. The variable materials will have to be collected from the designated delivery location in Los Torres, by each family as they come to construct their cistern. They should come to collect their items, eg 3 elbows, 2 lengths of pvc piping, etc.
7. This way the standard materials order can be placed by phone to the Supplier when the community is ready for the next lot.
(I confirmed this with Juan & Guillermo in Vivienda de Arriba during the pilot build meeting – this will work for them).

Alejandro offered to help Guillermo if it’s too much work for him.
We mentioned that the measuring & ordering & tech assistance is paid work for Guillermo, as technical advisor on this project.


Item 3 – the co-operation – who’s paid & who hasn’t?
The community came up with the solution that anyone from phase III who was unable to attend the demonstration pilot at the primary school, needs to pay a “co-operation” as their contribution.

At the last assembly there were 4 people still to pay.
• Cristina – has since paid.
• Veronica – Mariana (her sister) paid instead & now is on the list to receive the cistern.
• Patricia Nolesco has since paid.
• Maria de Jesus (not the delegada) has paid.
All are now paid up!

The families at the school who were not part of the project, but who’s children benefit from the cisterns built by the community were to pay $50 pesos contribution, some have, there are others still to be chased…

Item 4 – Workshop on distillers at Cedesa
Chela explained more about this workshop
Purpose
• Train people about the issues of contamination
• Practically demonstrate & actually construct 2 solar distillers (to purify the water)
• Only 15 people can attend, anyone who attends will then be expected to be the community expert & show the rest of the community.
• It is actual hands on construction (the best way to learn)
• It costs $4000pesos for one distiller
• These distillers remove all contaminants, bacterial & mineral,
• In case there is no cistern, or no rain, or an empty cistern!



Record of Event pg 3 of 3

Chela asked who would like to come, to learn & then to teach.
Someone volunteered Rafael – because he wasn’t there – for a joke!!
Someone else volunteered Gonzalo, the young guy getting married on Saturday “the one getting married this weekend, since he’ll be having kids soon!”
The community will confirm with Chela or Holly


Item 5 Traspatios (back yards) workshops
Benigno has been to Los Torres for 2 backyard workshops so far.
The first one was to teach design (ie placement of animals, fruit trees, plants, rubbish & other components)
Then 2nd how to prepare the ground for planting, including soil & making paths.

In a couple of months they will be able to plant seeds & or plants for eating. They will then have access to good quality food & if they have excess they can trade it or sell it.

Chela asked how many people participated, a show of hands showed around 12-14 people.
Chela explained it costs Cedesa money for petrol & car maint. & also Benigno’s time, so you must prove you’re interested by participating, or he will go somewhere else.

Someone asked if it was just for people in the cistern project, & Chela replied it’s for the whole community, not just project people.

She went on to talk again about the dangers of eating junk food & how it is ruining the health of Mexicans, with high rates of diabetes etc resulting. She decried Coke, & one of the oldest women, said “she can’t live without it!”.

Chela pointed out that Junk food is sold to poor people, “the owners of the companies don’t eat this junk – they just make money off you guys – it’s only for poor people.

Item 6 – the Road
During the rains the road into Los Torres gets even worse (hard to imagine!) how can we get this fixed? It takes more than ½ hr to transverse!
“We need to begin the solicitude to the municipality”
Chela asked if anyone had ever made a solicitude to govt. before?
Chucha answered yes, they asked to be part of the Piso Firme (concrete floors) program.

Rafael Cruz has been previously to ask for assistance, but that was with the previous administration, so need to go again with the new one.

It was pointed out that Luci (the Mayor) & Helio from the ecology department have both asked to visit the community of Los Torres to see the project. We are currently attempting to schedule that visit with the various secretaries organizing…

It would be ideal to have the solicitude ready to present when the VIP’s visit.

Concha, Chucha & Alejandro all volunteered to get a solicitude together

write up reasons why road needs to be repaired including safety (takes too long in medical emergency), time it takes for people to get to work or to town etc.
what you would like done
write up who signed

Taxes are received by you & should be paid in works & services to the communities not just for the center of town!

The meeting concluded approx 5.40pm
Next Assembly Wed 28th April at 12 pm at Chucha’s house

35th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres

Record of Event pg 1 of 5
35th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres

Where: Los Torres (Chucha´s house) & pre-meeting in El Cortijo & in the car on the way.
When: 24.2.10 10.30am – 3.35pm
Who: Chela & Holly + Jesus for planning of the water info day(Cedesa), Laura (San Miguel Midday), + Los Torres people 28 women, 5 men + about 10 small kids, + Annamaria & her husband from Vivienda de Arriba.

Pre Planning session
Purpose:
Planning session for phase III, discuss proposed workshops & water info day, reschedule bee project planning session.

Jesus has been working with Cedesa on the Camposino University plan, & Chela had asked him to put a plan together for the Water Info day planned for 5th March at Los Torres Primary School.

1st Item Water info day planning
The objective of the day is to teach the kids at the primary school, the importance of conserving water.

The planned agenda for Water info day is
1. for the people of Los Torres to talk to the children about the history of water in their area. Members of the assemblies have been tasked with interviewing their elders & reporting back regarding the change in the water/rivers since the oldies were kids…
2. Jesus has a very fun interactive learning experience planned for the whole school. It is to take the form of a ¨rally¨with 7 stations, at each station will be a Quiz, the station will be manned by a co-ordinator, a devil & an angel/or dwarf… the devil & angel will act as bad & good consciences trying to entice the kids to do the right or wrong thing at each station.

Topics for the stations will be for example Hydro weather cycle, global water situation, ie how much fresh & how much salt water covers the earth, identify water sources in their own community, how is water used in their community, define concrete actions to conserve H2o in their own community, etc.

They kids will be divided into teams, of mixed age & gender & each team will pass through the rally. Each successful answer will gain them a “marble” signifying a drop of water, in their bucket, at the end of the rally the team with the most marbles will be deemed the “guardians” of water in their school. This position will carry with it a responsibility to protect & conserve water in their school, they will be the ones to fill the garaphons with water, & make sure the taps are turned off & water is not wasted…

There will be prizes for all the kids, & then some sort of bracelet or identifier for the “guardians”…
We need to work on the details, ideally we would like to reward the kids with a drink bottle each, which they can fill from the garaphons each morning, instead of slurping water directly from the tap as they currently do.

There are approx 80 kids in the school, so we don´t really have the budget to buy a drink bottle for each, but are working on a creative solution to this problem.

We agreed there will need to be continued followup for these “guardians”, & we have yet to decide what form that follow up will take, probably a mini commission from the adults to keep checking with the kids & reporting back to assemblies.

We thanked Jesus for his excellent plan & wished him well with the balance of the execution of it!
The community will need to volunteer at least 21 people to help, & they will need to meet an hr before the event to co-ordinate the event.

Item 2 – Elena arrived to discuss when the next assembly would be held in Montecillo de Nieto (other project site), we agreed 17/3 should give us enough time to receive the $$$ (& 3rd wed of the Month has been set aside for assemblies for this community. She asked if she could visit to touch base with them & we said of course! Great idea…



Record of Event pg 2 of 5

At this point we ran out of time for planning & left for Los Torres. (& Elena went to Montecillo de Nieto).
Arrival in Los Torres, we were around 20 mins late & met with a very small crowd, only around 15 women, more arrived in the next 15mins until we had the usual complement of around 37 people.
Eventually we commenced the meeting at 12.40 (supposed to start at 12)

Item 1. Concha took the roll, (ie of attendance)
Chela described the importance of attending assemblies, “we all have to participate, we shouldn’t have to force you to talk, there is no knot in your tongue is there?” lots of laughing…
One woman said she is afraid people will laugh at what she has to say.
Another woman said you shouldn´t be afraid to briefly state your opinion.
There is no reason for others to be speaking while someone has the “word” (except Holly who sometimes has to translate for Laura … more laughing)…
If you want to speak, raise your hand.
If you put your foot in your mouth, you can always take it out tomorrow…more giggles.
No-one should make fun of anyone, alright to laugh with but not at…
3 things needed presence, respect & participation.
You are the focus of attention in the region, the impact of the cisterns is obvious, & all due to your hard work & persistence.

Item 2 appointment of co-ordinator & records taker for the meeting
Maribel (a young woman) was appointed co-ordinator
Concha was appointed record taker

Item 3 creation of an agenda
Maribel asked the assembly what points they would like to discuss today
The road/beekeeping/3rd phase planning/traspatio/water info day/health workshop/co-operation payments

Item 4 prioritise the points for discussion
After some discussion the points were prioritised.

Agenda item 1 The Road
Chela “what is the point – what does anyone have to say?
Following were various points raised
We were going to talk to someone in the govt.
My husband talked to the govt. pre election, & now we have to talk to the new govt.
Do we need a road or not – resounding “yes”
Who wants to work for it? – general mumble of agreement
Why is it necessary?
- of a person´s sick they cant get to hospital in a hurry
- so we can arrive more quickly (ie us, laura, chela & Holly) – lots of laughter
- so we can get to work on time
- so we can spend more time with our families & not getting to work
- often we don’t have time or $$ to make the trip
- we only stay out here in the country, & go into the campo to collect work, that´s what we have to resort to for fun! (roars of laughter!)
- sometimes need to deliver papers & go shopping, & it takes forever.
- No taxis will come here
- We have to carry shopping & babies…
What is the first step
- to organise a “solicitud”/make an application, to govt.
- there is not a majority here today so we can not make a decision on behalf of the community we will need to call another meeting & hope for a majority,
- 50 people would be a majority
- Need a space to meet – discussion about using the Ejido “salon”, they will need to speak to the Leaders of the Ejido to book a good time.
- There was discussion about making the decision at the next Ejido meeting, but Chela pointed out there is a lot of the community not part of the Ejido, so it needs to be a community initiative not limited to Ejido.
- They will need to invite the entire community & ask them to sign the petition/solicitud for the road…
Record of Event pg 3 of 5

Who can do this?
Plan to meet on the 5/3 (water info day) & write a petition, plan the steps etc.
Chela said they need 5 people for the commission
Action: Road commission Ofelia, Cruz, Chuy, Arturo, Gonzalo & Carmela volunteered.
Chela”it´s important you guys learn how to arrive at the presidencia, who to put your application to”.
Carmela, Cruz & Arturo will ask the Ejido leaders to use the “salon”
How will you inform the community? Someone yelled out “by phone” a big joke because no-one has them!, agreed to inform them at the water info day.
Chela mentioned Palencia (a community she has been working in for 22 yrs), they have a public meeting space & she suggested they need one here in Los Torres.
I suggested they use the school after hours, they said better in the Ejido salon because it is empty so there´s nothing to take! Apparently they have 29 chairs there so people will need to bring their own.

Agenda item 2 3rd Stage Planning
At the last meeting people in phase III were tasked with measuring the length of pipes they need & giving the list to the leader of their group.
No-one had done this, no good reason… Maybe they didn´t know how to measure it, but Chuy pointed out the experts live in their community & are happy to be asked for help.
Chela talked about responsibility, & commitment & sticking together in groups,
“will you advance without taking responsibility?” – no
It was pointed out the technicians can not place the order for the full project until all the lists are in.
They were urged to take charge, go to the group leaders if they do not come to you, & if you don´t know what to do, go & ask someone who does, you know who they are!”

Another person asked if there was a chance of adding another cistern to the list.
Chela said no, phase III was closed & $$$ had been budgeted for just 24, but there could be a phase IV if there was demand, & they could make representation to the govt. for assistance, & not always rely on funding from Rotary.

Agenda item 3 Water Info Day 5 March 2010
Chela asked the objective of the day.
Ofelia answered “for the kids to learn how to conserve water”
The commission at the last meeting was tasked with asking the Teacher if it was ok to hold the day at the school.
They forgot!
Action for the Ofelia & rest of the group, they said they will ask tomorrow.
Chela said they haven´t gotten off their butts, & used the responsibility again.
She asked “is it an education event” – yes
Then it should be fine to have it at school, but you just need to confirm.
More discussion & a description of the event as described by Jesus.
There are 21 volunteers needed.
Apparently 5/3 is the day Casa Diferente (a govt program) is delivering the materials for the houses, & they need to be present to receive the materials. 6 families were involved & therefore wont be able to attend.

There was a call for volunteers
Action: Chuy, Concha, Elena, Hilaria, Gonzalo, Dulce, Fabiana, Sofia, Saul, Juana, Carmela, Maribel, Cecilia, Maria Soria, Maria de Jesus, Orelia, Elvira, Don Cruz, Catalina, Jose Matilde.

They will ask the teacher to ask other parents to bring food to contribute & make it a shared meal event.

The commission to interview the elders, was supposed to meet & research & record the history of water in the region, Chuy had asked her parents but had not recorded it, no-one else had. Another reminder was made.

At this point we were getting a little despondent about the lack of commitment to what people had committed to at the previous meeting. I asked Holly why they don´t write it down, & she pointed out many of people at Los Torres cant read & write, they simply rely on their memory…


Record of Event pg 4 of 5

I asked permission to make the Water Info day an open event, & invite the Mayor & Ecology director as well as Rotarians, pointing out it could be favourable for their representation re the Road if these guys knew the road first hand…They all agreed.

Chela discussed alternatives to foam plates, they talked about having tacos in serviettes.
Time for Water Info Day – start at 11am – finish 2pm, meet at 9.30 for planning session, & they will have to get up really early to prepare food to bring to the event. (Road planning meeting will have to be after the event.

Agenda item 4 Co-operations pending
3 people still owe money for their contribution to the building of the cisterns at the school. The community agreed those from phase III who couldn’t attend this demonstration build would have to pay for their share. The agreed price was $450 pesos.
There was much discussion about this, & I missed what was finally agreed.

There are also people who were supposed to contribute to the school project if they had kids there but were not part of the LT water projects. That contribution was $50, the teacher was supposed to be asked to help recover this money.

Action: It was agreed Maria Soria would go door to door asking for the contribution.

Agenda item 5 Traspatio (back yard) workshops (run by Cedesa, without Rotary funding)
Benigno ran the first workshop last week, they did not keep a count of attendance, but said lots of people were there. They were asked to make a design for their backyard, including moving things to better positions.

Chela had some seeds from prospective Rotarian, Kerry, that visited to the last assembly. She will give them to Benigno to work with.

Agenda item 6 Heath workshop (proposed, to be run by Cedesa, again without funding from Rotary)
Chela explained the woman that gives the workshops on natural health & nutrition, can not drive so it is difficult for her to reach Los Torres. There was talk of transport options, ie catch the bus to Cruz del Palmar & walk 15 mins.
They are not having their regular health topic meetings on Fridays anymore, they were having these when we first visited LT back in Oct. 2008.

Agenda item 7 Bee Keeping project (this is a potential small business project maybe funded by Ann Arbour club…)
Chela opened with “we can provide workshops but we need to know how interested you are, if no interest we wont come.” “lots of people are afraid of bees right?”
Yes – especially the africanised ones.
The bees can provide many valuable products but it requires a lot of voluntary work by you guys.
Response “you´re going to teach us how not to be afraid – right?” Yes, with protective clothing.
Chela explained they are pretty low maintenance, a well working hive only needs visiting mthly, but people will have to keep checking they haven´t been vandalized. There was discussion about this, since they need to be in the countryside, & not easy to monitor.

Chela said we will re-look at the bee project once we see how motivated people are with the existing workshops, ie back yard gardens, & possibly health…
Hence the 10/3/10 beekeeping project planning session is postponed, date to be advised later.

Misc. discussion
There was a written question submitted re resealing of the kindergarten roof. Apparently there are leaks that the nopal/lime sealant has not repaired.
Action: Chela will discuss with Benigno & get back to them with a suggestion for sealant that will not be toxic for the water collection.




Record of Event pg 5 of 5

Anamaria & her husband from Vivienda de Arriba asked to talk with us.
Anamaria mentioned she was concerned there was such a large attendance from a neighbouring community (Tierra Blanca) at the assembly just held at Vivienda de Arriba, 9 from TB & 27 from VdA. She asked if it would ok to tell TB that just 2 representatives should attend the VdA assembly, so the focus can stay on the VdA community.

We agreed, good idea. TB send representatives to each assembly to learn the process & report back to their community, then when they/we are ready to initiate a project there they will have the same knowledge VdA has by attending Los Torres assemblies.

Story of determination!!
We then said our goodbyes & headed back up the dusty, pockholed track loosely described as a road, home, on our way we say Maria de Jesus (a young mother part of phase III) struggling up the hill with a bike, her 18mth old & her four year old boys.

We asked if she would like a ride & she looked very relieved.

The story goes, she lives at Los Torres, but works in Montecillo de Nieto, she had forgotten about the assembly in Los Torres today, but saw Elena (Rotarian) visiting MdN & Elena reminded her it was on. She then loaded up her 18mth old on the handle bars, & her four year old son (with his school bag on his back) standing up on the pegs of the back wheel, & rode her bike with her shakey precious cargo all the way from Montecillo de Nieto to Los Torres. Anyone who has even driven that road knows how hard it is even in a car, up hill, down dale, & that´s just in the space of 20 feet!

It is a journey of more than ½ hr by car! & she managed it!

Needless to say she was extremely grateful to ride back in the pickup, & her children, promptly fell asleep in her arms… only to be off-loaded in their sleepy state at the destination! I am a pretty strong determined person, but I doubt I could have made that journey, she truly deserves her cistern!

Side note – I am glad the $$$ are almost here, I think the possible lapse in motivation may be due to lack of “concrete” (excuse the pun) action lately, they really are ready to roll up their sleeves & get the cisterns built, & am sure will be spurred on for the next issue they choose to resolve.

Water info Day 5th March 2010 9.30planning session, 11am commencement 2pm close (school)
Road Application Planning meeting 2.30pm 5th March (school)
Next assembly 24th March 2010 12midday

34th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres

Record of Event pg 1 of 5
34th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres

Where: Los Torres (Chucha´s house) & pre-meeting in the car on the way!
When: 20.1.10 11am – 3.00pm
Who: Chela & Holly, (Cedesa), Laura & Elena (San Miguel Midday) + visitor Kerry from near Dolores Hidalgo, + Los Torres people 31 women, 5 men + about 10 small kids, + Annamaria & Erica from Vivienda de Arriba, & Saul Juarez from Capadrilla.

Grab a cup of coffee, this is another long report…

Purpose:
Planning session for phase III, discuss proposed workshops, reschedule bee project planning session, Water education day at the school or not?,

We arrived at 12.05 – & with greetings & introductions etc, kicked off the meeting at 12.30.

1st Item
Holly & Chela wrote up the agenda we had discussed on the way in the car.
Introductions were made, & people were welcomed.
Chela gave thanks to everyone for their continuing involvement in the development of their community, & re-iterated we have been working together for a year now, & have achieved a lot. She thanked people for their energy & for making a difference.

Chela invited Elena to give the “moment of inspiration”, Elena mentioned not everything is easy, not everyone is perfect but we are all growing.

Chela called for proposals for Co-ordinator & records taker for today’s meeting, after discussion & voting Anamaria (from Vivienda de Arriba) was voted co-ordinator, & Maria de Jesus (not the delegada, the woman who works in Montecillo de Nieto), records taker.

Kerry (a proposed new Rotarian) introduced herself & explained she has the same problems with water in her community & thanked them for having her there today.

2nd Item
Ana called for additional items to add to the agenda, the issue of the road was added.
The roll was called.

3rd Item
Holly apologised for cancelling the planned traspatio workshop & bee project planning session on the 13th Jan. We were unable to go because of the rain, & we tried to contact the delegada Chucha but were unable to get through on her phone.

Holly asked for other contact phone numbers in Los Torres, Rafael Cruz 415 100 9482, Holly also got Ofelia’s number.

4th Item
Water education day or not. The San Miguel Community Fund grant for the 3 cisterns at the school, included an amount to fund staffing of a water education event at the primary school. This has been re-scheduled many times mainly due to a lack of time!

Chela said the purpose of the info day was to explain to the kids the importance of water conservation, contamination etc. & asked for input, do they still want to go ahead or not?

Guillermo thinks it’s a good idea because there are cisterns at the school as well as in the homes & especially important for the kids who’s families have chosen not to participate in the project.

Alejandro thinks it’s the responsibility of the parents, especially the mum, to impart this info daily.

Concha asked what they – as a community would have to do?
We said talk to the Teachers & arrange a time/day when we could do the mini workshop, info day.



Pg 2 of 5
Holly suggested the community, as part of the info day, could research the history of water issues in their region. She suggested interviewing the older people in the community for descriptions of what they did for water in their day.

The subject “History of Water in this Region” will be presented during the info. day. The parents will interview their parents etc, One of the older women said her family used to get water from the river that is now dry. The Rio Damien or Rio San Marcus is a tributary that feeds into the Rio Laja (or it did when there was water in it!).

The event should be in the morning, Format - the history & general information on the topic of water.

Action: A commission was created, Guillermo, Dania Torres (VdA), Lucia Gonzalez, Saul Juarez (Capadrillo), Ana (VdA), Concha, Chucha. The older ones will interview, the younger ones will write up the notes.

Action: Ofelia & Elena Ramirez & Leova Barranca will ask the Maestra for a suitable time on 5th March. & report back at next LT assembly

Item 5: Traspatio Workshop, reschedule
Chela re-iterated the purpose of traspatios, ie to grow your own food, for nutrition & financial benefits. Veges, fruits, chickens etc.

After much discussion it was decided:
the 1st Wednesday of each month @ 12 midday (Starting Feb 3rd) will be for ongoing traspatio workshops.

The 3rd Wednesday of each month @ 12 midday (Starting Feb) will be for Health workshop.

The 4th Wednesday of each month @ 12 midday will be for Community Assembly.

I gave the community the packets of seeds Patricia Schacke had kindly donated. They discussed what they were, & Chucha now has them for the Traspatio workshop.

Kerry also spoke at length about seeds she has & what she has been doing at her house, she began to talk about bio-diversity etc.

I cut short Kerry’s speech & explained in our role in the Assemblies, as facilitator it is important to stick to the agenda. The community is working with Chela & Cedesa, & on a pre-arranged program.

This is a tricky point, all previous visitors have been very respectful & observant of the process, & spoken only when invited to do so & so this has not been an issue before.

While Kerry is very well meaning, & potentially knowledgeable in many areas, we are not the trainers. Too many words from too many sources dilute the information, & cloud the points. It is not about the quantity of information, but the quality. The community is sitting for many hours in the hot sun, & have other things they could be doing. We need to keep it on topic & on plan.

We have been working hard as a tight group to keep the integrity of the project, & must be very cautious about who is allowed to visit, it should be stressed these are working meetings & not simply an opportunity for voyeurism. We need to ride the fine line between promoting the projects & their successes, & allowing the projects to continue productively without interference.

I will ask our Board for guidance on this.

Item 6 Bee workshop
Members of the Ann Arbor Rotary Club have offered to look at a proposal for a micro-business opportunity if we can design one for the Los Torres Community. Chela has suggested bee keeping as an ideal small business. A project planning session was postponed due to rain on the 13th Jan.

There was more discussion about bees & their products, & benefits.



Pg 3 of 5
Honey is much healthier than sugar, it is important in the development of health & immunity, only need a wild area away from people for keeping bees. The bees in Mexico used to be less aggressive but have been “Africanised” & so need to be further away from housing.

There are now more people interested, who would like to be added to the previous list.
Fabiana, Elena, Caretina, Maria Soria, Mariana, Aurelia, Chucha, Maya, Carolina, Juana, Patricia, Carmela + the women on the first list.

Chela suggested they work in small groups from 5-10 per group.
The first workshop will be on the 10th March, with Bee project continuing on the 2nd Wednesday of each month from then on.

Item 7 Construction groups for Phase III

The 3 groups were re-iterated, leaders were voted, in “bold”
Group 1
Marta Maya, Veronica Alvarado, Patricia Nolesco, Alejandro Alvarado, Piedad Soria, Filomena Ferrer, Lucia Gonzalez (Consuelo Huerta, Alejandro Gonzalez)

Group 2
Dulce Martinez, Maribel Ferrer, Jose Cruz, Cristina, Elena Ramirez, Juana Soria, Ma de Jesus Rodriguez

Group 3
Aurelia Fajardo, Josefina Barranca, Sabina Ramirez, Maria Fajardo, Rosa Barranca, Nicolasa Agredo, Caritina Ramirez. (Jose Alvarado)

Someone raised the 3 people to receive plastic tinaco’s (see italics added above)
Chela raised the question of Solidarity, who from the previous phases would be prepared to volunteer to help this group.

Alejandro asked for help, he said they had learnt for free, & asked who could return the favour.

Concha, pointed out the cistern construction at the school was supposedly the train the trainer for those in the 3rd phase, & that many of them were too lazy to attend, or even bring those working a drink of water, & why should anyone help them? (good point!)

Fabiana volunteered with her husband, as did Ofelia (for her husband Primo), & Guillermo.

It was reiterated that the people who need help should come to them, & not vice versa. If in doubt ask.

Benigno will be there to help also. (through a miscommunication, it was thought during this meeting there was no funding for technical assistance in the budget, but later, after the meeting confirmed there is more than sufficient to ensure Benigno, & or the Expert Crew in LT, are able to be paid to assist with the technical spec.s, purchase of materials, distribution issues etc.

In retrospect though, it was an interesting exercise to gauge the willingness to help others from the other phases.

Chela mentioned the groups need to meet & discuss
Where are you going to plan & when?
Where to put the materials, - need to co-ordinate within the group
2 materials lists, one for upper & one for lower community.

Action: need to measure the qty of piping each family needs.

When will the money for the materials be available?
I said in approx. 1 month. (yikes!)



Pg 4 of 5
Item 8 Donations of Clothes
I had about 4 bags of clothes to donate, last time I donated to one family to share & was not sure how much was shared. I asked for Chela’s advice as to how to distribute. Not to be seen as charity, & handouts is important to me.

Chela suggested we donate the clothes to the whole community & that a mini tienda of clothes is created. With the items to be sold at an agreed upon price & the funds to go to the community for anything that arises.

The meeting was very happy about this, Concha & Leova volunteered, the price of 5 pesos was agreed, & the shop essentially opened immediately, with a frenzy of shopping.

Item 9 the Road
Since everyone was busy “shopping” & the meeting was already long, it was decided to make this the first item on the agenda for the next assembly.

Item 10 Saul Juarez – Capadrilla
After the meeting had ended, Saul approached us, he was the young man (22 yrs old) who had attended the previous assembly. Amazingly he also rang Elena to check whether the 13th Jan Traspatio workshop was to be cancelled because of the rain…

He is a very bright, interested young man, (currently unemployed) he comes from a community about ½ hr drive from Los Torres, he rode his bike to the meeting. During the meetings he was very respectful, but also participated fully, answered questions when others couldn’t, remembered facts from the previous meeting we’d forgotten, & had also done a survey of his community to find out who was interested in being involved in a project such as Los Torres.

• Capadrilla - his community has approx. 64 families,
• 22 families were interested (with what he told them)
• They have family wells, shared between about 5 – 8 families,
• The wells are approx. 12-15 mtrs deep
• The water is contaminated, not tested, but lots of damaged teeth evident in the kids, & others
• They are very close to Vivienda de Abajo, another community.

We explained the lengthy process involved in seeking & receiving funding through Rotary, but that we are also looking at different options.

This kid is a shining star, he has turned up at the assemblies of his own accord, under his own steam, & was taking photos on his camera (probably to help explain to his community), he is very interested in all topics, & extremely polite, shaking hands with everyone, & waiting his turn (until the end of the 3 hr meeting) to talk.

He spent time talking to Anamaria from Vivienda de Arriba, another shining star, from Vivienda de Arriba. These guys have excellent & very obvious leadership skills.

Saul asked to come with us to Montecillo de Nieto, where we were headed after the meeting, to see the cistern being built at the Kinder there.

He rode with his bike in the back of Chela’s pickup, he opened & closed the doors for us!! When we arrived at MdN, he promptly started taking photos with his phone, & shaking hands & introducing himself to this bunch of people, he was asking questions & again shook hands & said goodbye.

He is going to attend the traspatio & Health workshops & said he may even come to Lomas on Saturday for our Assembly there, (but he didn’t know where this community is)…

Item 11 Anamaria Ramirez – Vivienda de Arriba
Anamaria is also very enthusiastic, bright & participates fully. She did a beautiful job of co-ordinating a long & complex meeting today.

She bought with her another young woman Erica, & they described the water situation in VdA again for us.


Pg 5 of 5
They share a municipal well with 2 other communities, Tierra Blanca & Espejo.
This water is piped to each household, but is often not available, & when it is, it is often black & greasy! Definitely not drinkable.

Another woman from Tierra Blanca (more than 100 families in Tierra Blanca)– Julia was also visiting & echoed the comments above.

We will be visiting VdA on the 10th Feb so will find out more then.

A challenge for us all – how can we find development funding to be able to pay these young stars to stay in their communities & assist with their community’s development? They are too good to lose to some menial paying job, lifting buckets of concrete or cleaning people’s floors.

They have shown huge initiative turning up to 3 meetings over 3 months, & not just sitting listening, but actively participating & greatly assisting the process.

Cedesa is in the early stages of planning a “camposino university” with the aim to teach people in the communities how to promote development in those communities. These guys would be A+ students, if only the university was already in place, & there was some form of compensation to allow them to stay in their communities…food for thought!


Dates to remember:

• Traspatio Workshop 3rd Feb 12 midday
• Health Workshop 17th Feb 12 midday
• Next Assembly 24th Feb 12 midday
• Visit to Cruz del Palmar, & Vivienda de Arriba 10th Feb. 11am & 3pm
• Proposed Water Info Day 5th March.(time to be advised re mtg with Teacher)
• Bee project 1st workshop 10th March 12 midday


These records were made by Laura Stewart (San Miguel Midday RC – Community Service Committee)