Year End Update – December 28, 2015

The last part of 2015 has been busy with many activities. 

Since we last posted we have completed the 19 cisterns in Ex-Hacienda de Pena Blanca and 2 in San Lorenzo. Alejandro and I traveled there many times during the construction phase taking with us the new CEDESA technician; Abel. 

Abel is doing a great job & by going with him we were able to demonstrate many of the details in cistern construction. In the course of this project, we made some good modifications to how we install the hatch. 

Alejandro & I went to the final celebration which was a wonderful event with folkloric dances &, as always, a lot of good food.

As well, we have spent a lot of time in Vivienda in the last 2 months working on 5 cisterns needing repair. This has been a good experience & was needed to get us started on the new Repair & Maintenance booklet that we will produce & hand out to new families in 2016. 

Robert Ash of MAPEI went with us one day & his expertise in cement construction & waterproofing was invaluable. We took Abel with us to learn more about this part of the cistern projects.

We have been doing a lot of cistern inspections to build a database of the cisterns constructed … 751 now! … & to learn more about how cisterns hold up over time. The answer to that question is; very well. 

Did you know that a leaking faucet dripping one drop every second will result in the loss of 50,000 liters of water a year? That is equivalent to more than four full cisterns of precious rainwater! 

Overall, our observation is that families take very good care of their cisterns. They should because they worked very hard to build them.

Since August I have been to 2 COCIRA meetings incl. a “grand encuentro” where we had representatives come down from UCCANG to join us. I have been to 2 UCCANG meetings in Dolores Hidalgo. 

UCCANG are an impressive group of campesinos. This organization was started 35 years ago & our local COCIRA organization was founded using them as there model.

We have had a wonderful year in water harvesting. We have built 108 cisterns in 7 communities. We are nearing the end of our current grant & we have now made an application with the Rotary Foundation for another 314 cisterns! 

There are 10 Rotary Clubs, 8 Rotary Districts & 3 foundations participating in our next grant. Lotus foundation continues to be a major supporter of our work & they have generously donated US$10,000 to the next project. San Miguel Community Foundation has once again stepped up & donated another US$7000 to our next water harvesting project. It is especially rewarding when Rotary Clubs & Rotary Friends continue to come back & involve themselves in multiple projects with us.

Thank you everyone for your support & encouragement. 

Particular thanks to Alejandro & Beatriz, my compadres in the water harvesting team, & thank you Laura Stewart for always being there to help me, advise me, & calm me. It’s not an easy job.

Best wishes for a new year with lots of rain! J

Lee Carter

Rotary San Miguel Midday

Planning Meeting: Vivienda

February 25, 2014

Attending: Saul (CEDESA), Lee (Rotary) and 11 families from Vivienda

We met today to finalize our Phase II project in Vivienda. Two work teams have been established who will build a pilot cistern at the Secondary School followed by 10 individual family cisterns. Lee will finalize orders with Hierro Comercial for materials and he will deliver the plywood to the project on Saturday morning. Saul will coordinate with Jesus Rico for sand and gravel delivery. 

Veronica R agreed to take overall responsibility for local coordination of the project and Laura Yolanda R will be team leader for Group 1. Maria R  will lead Group 2. An eleventh family was asking for materials to self-build their own cistern but they were not willing to be part of the group work teams. The members voted that to be eligible to receive materials and assistance from Rotary, that working in the teams was an obligation. This is essential to having a successful project and to promote the concept of community development that we hold dear to our hearts.

We reviewed the reason that cisterns are essential (fluoride contamination) and also discussed the important of additional sanitation procedures that should be followed to have the “purest” possible water for their families. We planned out the schedule for this project and made an exhaustive list of tools that would need to be provided during the construction phase. The pilot cistern will be constructed from March 2 to March 6, 2015. 

See photo from the planning meeting: Organizing and Procedure for Construction of Cisterns. What is needed? #1 on the list is food. Then training, group organization, a construction assistant for each group, materials, the will to work!, tools, and predefined rules and responsibilities within each group.

Next week five persons from the Lotus Foundation will be visiting San Miguel to see the water harvesting projects in action. The work groups at Vivienda agreed to work on Tuesday in the afternoon to be able to give our visitors a chance to see a pilot cistern being constructed first hand.

Submitted by: Lee Carter

5th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Vivienda Urbana Water Project (part of Micro Region 2)

Where: House near football field.
When: Saturday 9.4.11 11am-2pm
Who: Saul (Cedesa), Gary & Marilyn, Lee D, Walter, Laura (Rotary), members of the community of Vivienda Urbana.

Purpose: Inauguration of this water project 25 cisterns + 1 tinaco, now completed.

This project is now completed, the people participating have constructed 25 cisterns & implemented 1 tinaco (plastic tank for a small family).

The project went very well, with the participants reporting that the process went smoothly.

My son & I had come on Tuesday evening to photograph each of the cisterns, with the families standing in front of them, we printed these photos & they were now proudly displayed on a board above the food tables.

A tarpaulin had been strung across an area, now decorated with balloons & festive table cloths, the sound system was playing banda music & chairs were placed waiting for the people to arrive. We arrived right on time & others slowly made their way there…

The speeches began, with an mc introducing each person & their topic, the speeches were in thanks & giving testimony to the process & how they found the experience. Many re-iterated that this was just the beginning, & they were now moving on to other things, like dry toilets & back yard gardens. They emphasized how much they enjoyed working in groups & how much easier it was to achieve.

I gave the speech on behalf of Bill & the Tallahassee club & Pedrito & the Walla Walla Club, we were then taken to cut the ribbon on 3 cisterns nearby, all of which were decorated with balloons & streamers, & one of which was even sporting a drawing of Jesus on the cross…

After our ribbon cutting & speeches we were seated & feasted upon rice, beans, tortillas, chicheron, garbanzo beans, washed down with delicious watermelon juice.

A great day was had by all, & now all we have to do is wait for the rain!!

Thank you Tallahassee Club & District & Walla Walla Rotary club !!!

4th Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Vivienda Urbana Water Project (part of Micro Region 2)

Record of Event
Where: Casa across from, in Vivienda Urbana, & Cedesa in Dolores Hidalgo
When: Monday 21.2.11 9am – 5pm
Who: Holly, Saul (Cedesa), Jim Johnson & Daughter Hadley, Steve Stevens & wife, Pedrito Maynard-Reid, Nancy & Larry, (all visiting from Walla Walla Rotary Club), Laura – San Miguel Midday RC, + approx. 7 group 4 people from Vivienda Urbana,

Purpose: Multiple:
1. For the Walla Walla visitors to know more about the project & participate in the construction of another cistern
2. For the Walla Walla to get to know more about our co-operating partners & their location.

Vivienda Urbana
Larry, Nancy & Pedrito were collected from Hotel Sautto in Centro (where they were staying) & taken to Vivienda Urbana to work with another group of people.

We arrived at approx. 9.30 as planned, we had thought there was the possibility of working with the same group on the next phase (ie mixing cement) but deliveries of cement were delayed so they worked with people from Group 4, weaving wires again.

Larry was straight into things, from his experience on Saturday, Pedrito had another lesson with Laura & “got it” right away…Nancy was quality control!

Laura left them to it & promised to return at about 12 midday to take them to Cedesa with the rest of the group…

Jim & Steve were waiting at Sautto (our meeting point) with wives & daughter, & Susan gracefully bowed out since there was going to be a crush in the van…The others piled in & off we went.

We collected hot & dusty, Larry, Pedrito & Nancy, bade farewell to the people with whom they had been working & drove approx. 45 mins to Dolores Hidalgo, collecting Saul on the way. We were supposed to also collect Humberto but apparently he didn’t realize this, (just as well, as would definitely have been suffocation in the back of the van with an extra!).

Cedesa Visit
We arrived at Cedesa (in Dolores Hidalgo) & were greeted by Tere & Holly, the visitors watched the video which tells the history of Cedesa, it’s people & mission.

We had a delicious lunch, schnitzel, rice, tortillas, nopal (cactus) salad, choko, beans, washed down with lemonade & followed by desert of guava paste (Pedrito calls it Guava cheese in Jamaica)…

Holly gave us a great tour of the eco-technologies that Cedesa teaches, lorena stove, dry/composting toilets, cisterns, grey water recycling, dehydrator, solar distiller & solar hot water, & viewed the scale diorama of the water shed of this area. We also saw nopal orchard & herb & vege gardens, big piles of healthy compost & skipped the worm farm (Holly doesn’t like worms… ).

After a spot of shopping at the onsite produce store, (Pedrito bought Jamaica tea, coffee, guava cheese, honey, orange marmalade & other assorted goodies), happy with full bellies & bulging knowledge banks, we climbed (crammed!) back into the trusty steed (known as a chevy astro!) & made tracks back to San Miguel…

3rd Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Vivienda Urbana Water Project (part of Micro Region 2)

Record of Event

Where: Casa beside Kinder, in Vivienda Urbana, Salud’s house in Guerrero, 1st Visit to Corralejo
When: Saturday 19.2.11 9am – 2pm
Who: Saul (Cedesa), David Gillis (Videographer, recording the process/project), Jim Johnson, Steve Stevens, Pedrito Maynard-Reid, Nancy & Larry, (all visiting from Walla Walla Rotary Club), Laura – San Miguel Midday RC, + approx. 7 group 1 people from Vivienda Urbana, & approx. 15 people at the Corralejo Assembly.


Purpose: Multiple:
1. For the Walla Walla visitors to know more about the project & participate in the construction of a cistern
2. To take water samples from the family well of Salud in Guerrero
3. To have a community meeting in Coralejo
4. To video the events of the day, to potentially include in a video about the project.

Vivienda de Urbana
We arrived at approx. 9.30 as planned, & Saul was waiting for us, he took us to the house where the 1st cistern was being worked on for group 1. The wire hooking tools (ganchos) were being made with a grinder & off-cuts of wire mesh.

Saul demonstrated to the Walla Walla crew the process of weaving the 3 layers of wire together. Everyone had a go, & found it to be more difficult than it looked, especially in the hot sun & on your knees!

It was pretty funny hearing Saul speaking in Spanish & the Walla Wallans responding in English, saying how difficult it was, & Saul disagreeing saying it was simple…& try again… & again…

Guerrero for water sample:
Larry was very determined to get it & stayed to work while the rest of us piled in the van & headed to the community down the road – Guerrero, to a location where one of the families had constructed a cistern as part of the phase I project in Capaderillo. We were there to take a sample of their well water (we know this area has high concentrations of fluoride – around 4.3mg/l) & wanted to take film footage of retrieving the sample, & will later show it being tested at the Laboratory at Cedesa (in Dolores Hidalgo).

The well is approx. 15 mtrs deep (pretty shallow as it is close to the “lake” (Presa, or Muddy Puddle as I refer to it!)…Pedrito insisted on pulling another bucket of water from the well to show how it was done, & we almost collapsed from laughing too hard, when his bucket first came up empty! He lowered it again & this time pulled it up full! David got some video footage of the hilarity & an interview with Salud & we thanked them & were on our way again.

We got back to find Larry diligently working beside his new Mexican friends. We explained we had to take Saul to Coralejeo to a community meeting, & people could stay & work, or come on the excursion.
Larry chose to stay & work, the rest of us headed off.

Corralejo de Abajo – community meeting
We drove to Coralejo, approx. 15 mins up Gto highway, & then supposedly close to the highway, but seems different people have different definitions of “close” & we are glad we didn’t accept David’s offer to walk the rest of the way, when we crammed the waiting community members in to show us the way… he may never have gotten there – it was a good 10 mins driving on a pretty “hairy” road.

We arrived to find a few people waiting for us, & more gathered.
It is a little community actually just round the river bend from Cinco Senores, but accessed by a different “road”.

The community looked comparatively pretty prosperous – finished houses, established gardens, & we lost Pedrito for a few minutes, but turns out he had discovered a very rare beast – a flush toilet! There were also a few more recent model pickups! After a short while we discovered that there were no men here in Coralejo, they are all working in the states. Some have been gone for 2-3 yrs, one woman mentioned her husband had been gone for 5 yrs… This is the catch 22, either you have your husband here & family unit complete, but less money, or husband absent & (hopefully) slightly more money!

We introduced ourselves & then Saul spent some time explaining what a community assembly is & why we were there, ie to invite them to become part of the Consejo (citizens water group – that has currently 18 communities)…he explained the benefits of becoming organized, & that they would then be able to meet, discuss, analyse & ultimately resolve their own issues.

He also talked about their water situation, they have a Sapasma supplied well, & piping to each house. This was put in about 9 yrs ago, they had to pay 7000 pesos per family. The well is guessed to be approx. 200mtrs deep, & they have never had it tested for Fluoride… Some people had damaged teeth but not many,

There were jokes made about the lack of men in the community, & the pro’s & con’s of this situation, including the very first private flush toilet we have encountered!

We were invited to “share a taco” & were taken to the house near the center, they fed us well with beans, rice, tortillas, & chicheron, washed down with Guayava water. I encouraged the Walla Wallan’s to partake in the food, explaining that I had never been sick the next day from eating at a community.
Everyone had a little rice & tortilla, & we thanked our gracious hosts & left to find our way back to Larry…

Back in Vivienda Urbana
We arrived back to find Larry had been working very hard, he’d also been fed (thankfully or he would have blown away!), we spoke to 2 of the older women who were separating beans from chaff, & rubbing maize off the cob (for grinding into flour to make tortillas)…

More photos were taken, & farewells made…
A hot dusty, exhausted but satisfied bunch of Walla Wallans were deposited back into town (for more interviews by David!) & a good day was had by all…

Next Event in Vivienda Urbana planned for 9.30am Mon 21st Feb 2011

2nd Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Vivienda Urbana Water Project (part of Micro Region 2)

Record of Event
Where: Kinder in Vivienda Urbana
When: Mon 7.2.11 9am – 11.am
Who: Saul (Cedesa), Rafael Cruz (technician from Los Torres) , Laura SMA Midday RC, Steve Stevens & Jim Johnson Walla Walla RC (joint funders), Martha Donnelly (interested guest), Gary Reid (Rotary volunteer & photographer), community of Vivienda Urbana participants in water cistern project 26 adults, at least 50% men, also Humberto & Audelia from San Lorenzo Community – to participate in the training & at least 7 dogs!,

Purpose: This was day one of the pilot training session, during which all the participants of the project meet daily for 4 days to construct a cistern from start to finish, including installation of pvc piping, & preparation of roof surface… Rafael Cruz is doing the technical demonstration, with Saul assisting & explaining further.

We arrived at 9.15 & work was already fully underway, with everyone participating & learning the new skills. There were men working with a grinder to cut wire off the big mesh roll to make into hooks (ganchos) to weave the chicken wire & mesh “sandwich”…

Jim & Steve asked many questions & got the feel for the process.
Gary took many photos.

We discovered the kinder had flush toilets, but currently not functioning since there is almost never water to use to flush them. They have an underground cistern to receive the water for flushing but it was empty.

There are 38 children at the kindergarten, but since today was a national holiday the kids were at home.

Rafael made the measurements of the pvc required & gave Laura the list to order (& pay for) for delivery asap.

He will visit the community on Saturday to go house by house of the participants & assist with the measurement of pvc, & collate a list of PVC required for the bulk order (ie 24 cisterns).

We watched & learned for approx. 1.5 hrs more & then left.
We did a brief driveby tour of the other cisterns already built with the previous project in Capaderillo, then drove back to town.

This pilot will be completed on Thursday.

Order for the standard materials at Talego (hardware supplies store), was placed & 50% deposit paid on Tuesday 8th Feb.

Please see photos on the blog, under label Vivienda Urbana.


Next meeting in Vivienda Urbana planned for 10.30am Wed 23rd Feb 2011

1st Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Vivienda de Urbana Water Project (part of Micro Region 2)

Where: private house Vivienda de Urbana
When: Wed 26.1.11 10.30 am – 1pm
Who: Saul & Holly (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), community of Vivienda de Urbana participants in water cistern project 26 adults incl 2 men, + 9 kids & 4 dogs!,

Purpose: The first planning meeting re the implementation of the Project for 25 cisterns (1 pilot + 24 family cisterns) funded by Tallahasee RC & District simplified grant, + Walla Walla + San Miguel Midday)

Item 1. Introductions all round, each person introduced themselves – including Holly, Saul & Laura & their respective organisations.

Saul led the meeting initially to explain that people who had attended previous meetings were probably aware of the standard format of a community assembly, ie to first select a co-ordinator & secretary (to take notes/record decisions), & then to create an agenda of talking/discussion points for the meeting.

He reiterated that everyone’s voice deserved to be heard so if you wish to speak, please raise your hand & the co-ordinator will “give you the word”.

Irene was proposed & voted on as Co-ordinator, & Dona Luisa was proposed & voted secretary.

The points for the agenda were suggested as follows:
• Total number of cisterns v list of people interested in participating
• List of the names of the people to receive them.
• Where the pilot will be (ie training session, & first cistern built)
• When the pilot will begin, & when the family cisterns will begin
• Work groups, names/qty, rules for participation/leaders
• Time to complete
• Visiting Rotarians from Walla Walla arrive in SMA 18th Feb
• Technician is Rafael Cruz from Los Torres (Saul has been in contact with him already)
• Issues with Materials & deliveries & how to resolve
• Co-ordinator of the project for this community

We have sufficient funding ($17k) for 24 family cisterns & 1 pilot cistern.

There are 26 people attending & 26 people on the list so we need to rationalize & we asked if there were some families that were close & small & therefore able to combine/share.

One woman asked why small families were no longer eligible, citing families of only 3 people in Capaderillo phase I who received cisterns… Saul responded that we have a large waiting list (360) & lack of resources & the fact that we need to be able to share & assist as many people as possible.

One of the women attending was representing her daughter & grand-daughter, they already have 14 in their family & were part of the first phase at Capaderillo so have one cistern, but it is stretching capacity with size of family, she was asking for another cistern.

After much discussion & debate as to who would receive cisterns & who would not, a list of names was put on the whiteboard, along with the size of the family. It was decided that the daughter (mentioned above) & one other young family would receive tinacos (plastic tanks) & that left 24 on the list.

Laura raised the point that we are not able to renovate people’s roofs, & asked if everyone’s roof was suitable for collecting water, they all said yes.

Pilot location
There are 2 potential pilot locations, 1 the kinder with 35 kids, & 2. The secondaria with 100+ kids
There was much debate, it made sense to be able to help more children, but also the younger children are at the greatest risk re fluoride & formation of teeth.

In the end a vote was held & it was decided to construct the pilot cistern at the Kinder.

When to begin the pilot – several options were discussed, & then eliminated for the most popular on the 7th Feb. The hours were decided as 9-4pm or “as long as the body lasts” as one woman put it!

Saul mentioned the kinder maestra needed to be advised the pilot was taking place.

He also mentioned that only natural drink & food was wanted, ie no cokes & made a “serious” joke of this… This was to reiterate the message that the communities are drinking & eating too much junk & need to be taking better care of the health of themselves & their kids.

A list of tools needed was created:
Shovels, a grinder for making the little metal hooks out of rebar, wheelbarrows, big buckets, ladder to get on the kinder roof, sieve for sifting the sand & rocks, wire cutters…

Work groups – 26 participants, so 2 groups of 7 & 2 groups of 6. (L = leader) (AB= abanile)
Group 1
Ana Maria (L), Alejandra (AB), Edith (L), Cristina (AB), Benita (AB) Ma Catalina (AB), Amalia (rotoplas)

Group 2
Francisca, Maria Luisa (Grande), Maria Salud (L) (AB), Ma Luisa (menor) (L) (AB), Petra (AB), Lorena (rotoplas), Luisa Luna

Group 3
Isidra, Silvia (L) (AB), Fabiola, Jacqueline (AB), Eusebia, Irene (L),

Group 4
Concepcion (L), Soledad, Juana, Nosaria, Ma Refugio (AB), Erica (L) (AB),

The need for abaniles was discussed, essentially each group should ideally have 2 abaniles (experienced masons), the majority of the work does not require skills but the finishing touches, ie application of the concrete/plaster does. If there are not sufficient in the group they may have to look at contributing to pay someone for their time. They were tasked with finding abaniles within their groups, brothers, uncles, fathers, grandfathers…

Saul advised the community also needs to appoint a co-ordinator, kind of over-seer go-to person for the whole community, this was discussed & debated & Ma Salud was appointed with Maria Luisa (menor) her standin.

Q&A (dudas & preguntas)
The mother of Amalia (to be the recipient of rotoplas) asked what Amalia will need to contribute, Holly advised this is something that her group needs to decide, since they are all working in a group.

Amalia definitely needs to attend meetings to be part of the planning process.

Holly suggested all groups meet & define their guidelines/rules for their group, re participation, who’s bringing food etc.

The assembly was also advised there is a limit of the $$ apportioned to each family for the PVC piping part of the project. The cisterns can be located wherever works & wherever the families choose, but they need to bear in mind the cost of the piping from the roof to the cistern. Limit will be $500pesos per family, but if families wish to move them further they can pay the difference in tubing costs.

The next planning meeting for Vivienda de Urbana will be 23.2.11 @ 10.30am – same house

The next regional meeting is 2/2/11 @ 12pm at Presita de Santa Rosa

(we headed off to the next meeting, micro region 3 in Vivienda de Arriba)