5th Meeting at La Tinaja re Water Cisterns & 1st meeting at Peña Blanca re water cisterns

Where: Peña Blanca community (beside Kinder)

When:  24.4.12 approx 10.30-12midday

Who: Holly, Laura, (visitors Mark & Margaret, Seth & Christina) & 17 community members (incl 1 man) + 4 kids & 3 dogs

Purpose of the meeting: To informally meet with the community to discuss possibility of running pipes from the kínder school roof to the 10,000 litre plastic tank which has been supplied by Desarrollo Social.

& 1^st meeting at Peña Blanca re water cisterns

Summary of the visit:

Holly & Chela had previously visited this community out behind La Tinaja, during the visit the lack of water was discussed & the community mentioned they had a large Tinaco that is not currently hooked up to collect water, it is to be filled by Pipa (water truck) deliveries.

The problem is the road is very bad (the worst road any of us have been on, including Chela), the pipa truck had not been yet & during the rainy season it is unlikely the truck would be able to make it.

The tentative suggestion was made re the possibility of connecting the tinaco to a roof collection system & we were visiting on this day to determine feasibility & talk more about possibility of a cistern project in this location.

Holly had invited with Cedesa “volunteers” Mark & Margaret (who live in Guanajuato part time) & they in turn had invited Seth & Christina (who live in Gto & wanted to know more of the work of Cedesa, they have started the “Tianguis Ecologico de Guajajuato”)

We met at the closest Pemex station, as the road is so bad we needed to use Seth’s jeep & leave our cars to be watched by the Pemex guys, we all piled in (literally) & headed off.

The road to Peña Blanca is off the road to La Tinaja, & travels out behind LT. It is indeed the worst road we have travelled on with large boulders, rocks, dust puddles etc.

We met with the gathered crowd at the Kinder & saw that he Tinaco is up hill from the kinder, & outside the perimeter. Following are some facts we gathered:

• Approx. 50 families in this community
• They are “tercieros” essentially share croppers, they get to live on the land of the owner, for the price of 30% of their crops per year
• The landowner has irrigation well but the people have no wells except hand dug wells & springs in the river which dry out during the year
• The teeth of the people seem to be fine, no evidence among those gathered of fluoride damaged teeth.
• There are 3 kinders & 1 primary in this community
• They applied for 2 tinacos from Desarollo Social, to be filled with Pipas wkly to provide drinking/cooking only water for the 50 families, DS gave just one.
• Today – coincidentally was the first day they had had water delivered, a pipa with 10,000 litre capacity arrived as we were meeting, & began filling the tinaco (the delegada accompanied the pipa, so her husband spoke with us)
• We did not know if the 10,000 ltre truck was full, they were still pumping when we left.
• They would like individual family cisterns & have begun the process to join COCIRA (the citizens council) & understand that participation & working together is mandatory.
• The roof of the kinder was peaked. It looked to be approx. 4mt x 4 mtr ie approx. 16m2
• The roof of the neighbouring church was much bigger, maybe 12 mtr x 4 mtr?

We did not run this meeting in the normal fashion, rather as a q&a session, asking for their suggestions & answers to our questions.

The possibility of moving the tinaco to the space by the church was discussed, as it would fill much more quickly & therefore provide much more water during the rainy season. Also it would not work where it is currently & would have to be downhill from the kinder – with no obvious spot.

They all agreed they would love to do a pilot training session to construct 1 or 2 cisterns beside the church to capture water, we explained we have no resources currently but will keep looking.

Ultimately they said, they were very keen to have individual family cisterns like they had seen in La Tinaja & Villa de Guadalupe, they had spoken with the people of these communities & knew a little of what was involved, & were motivated to do what it takes.

We gave them “homework” to ask the Priest if he would ok the construction of cisterns beside the church so that at the next meeting/assembly they can begin planning.

Mark then headed off with about 15 of the women & children to walk across the hills to La Tinaja to attend the Inauguration which was about to start.

The rest of us said our goodbyes, agreed to make an assembly time, & crammed back into the jeep for our bumpy ride to La Tinaja.

Where: La Tinaja community (beside Health Clinic)

When:  24.4.12 approx 12.30 – 3.50 pm

Who: Holly, Chela, Laura, (visitors Mark & Margaret, Seth & Christina) & 45+ community members (incl 4 men) + 16 kids & 2 dogs

Purpose of the meeting: Inauguration of the Water Cistern Project – Calgary Global grant 25437+direct grant – 1 pilot cistern + 21 Family cisterns

Welcome balloons & a welcome poster guided our way along the road to find Chela, who had driven directly & was there with the community waiting for us… we all kissed & shook hands hello & then waited for Mark to arrive with the women & kids from Pena Blanca arriving over the “hill” (read rocky mountain!).

There were tarps strung to the shelter structure to créate more shade (in the desert!) & a large sound system set up, chairs all arranged, people waiting, children chasing eachother around… Photos of the participants had been placed on a large sheet of ply (which had served its original purpose as reinforcement for the cistern construction process).

Mark arrived & the music started, with a line up of Young teenage girls doing a cultural dance…acting as woman & man…The dance had obviously been well rehearsed & despite the extreme heat & shy glances to eachother, we all enjoyed it.

The Delegado(?) introduced us all & today’s agenda, there were people attending from Palmita II, Corralejo, Pena Blanca, San Lucas (& obviously La Tinaja)

Audelia – the COCIRA rep. & co-ordinator of the Project, made her speech, thanking all who were accompanying them today, on this important day as they conclude their first community Project. She thanked Cedesa & Rotary for their contributions, & for heping make this a “work of develpment – we are lacking much but together we can work together for a better way of life for our community”…

She spoke eloquently & without hesitation.

Alicia (another prime organiser in the Project) said she wanted to describe the process, how it had come about & how it went. She said they had first heard of & seen wáter cisterns at Vivienda de Arriba, that they had gone as community reps to visit Cedesa & Rotary & had asked for our assistance. We had told them yes, if they bring a “solicitud” & Saul had helped them to créate one, for dry toilets initially, since their houses are so close together there is no “wilderness” to go to the toilet in, & they dont want to continue to pollute the river (when it is actually running) as that’s where most people go to the toilet.

They also later asked for help with Cisterns. The cisterns came sooner  & “it is a dream to have these cisterns at our houses, I didnt think this would eer be , it arrived in reality, we  got “organised” & worked & nothing came for about 2 yrs , then 21 of us were still working & now we have cisterns – we are still working to get dry toilets. We enjoyed working in groups, some were faster than others but we all got there.

Interestingly Mark, as an aside, asked me if Alicia liked to talk as she seemed to be going on & on (especially if spanish is not your 1st language), & I pointed out that, actually no, she is very shy, she would have been stressing about this moment for days, but that she was giving it her all to describe to everyone how positive the experience had been. This is something we keep seeing, young women gaining confidence in themselves after proving to themselves they can do it…a very big bonus of the Project/process.

Chela spoke then – as some of the communities had come to today’s event to learn more about inaugurations but also about the process of joining the Citizen’s council. She asked one of the older communities to explain to the new communities the process to join. Including holding community assemblies, collecting lists of names & signatures, delegado’s stamp – presentation of the soliitude to become part of COCIRA etc.

She asked them all to call out names of the communities they knew that already made up COCIRA.

All of the communities were listed (22 of them) + the new ones in process, hence reinforcing the connections of everyone present. Some of the new ones in process are La Joya, San Lucas, ex Hacienda Pena Blanca, & Ejido Pena Blanca.

Chela involved everyone in discussions about their prioirities in life.

What’s important to you? She asked

The families/people

Their land

Their customs/traditions & way of life (& devotion & dances)

Organisation/taking decisión by assembly

She explained that the Project was an important step to bring them altogether to work in groups & learn the benefits of organisation.

“we visit the región with eachother to see how we can work together to improve our way o life”

For example – the road to Pena Blanca is really bad & is the only access for this community, at this point someone joked that it was so bad that Mark had chosen to walk rather than ride in the jeep with us – everyone laughed at the irony.

The representatives from the community of San Lucas were given the op. to speak, they also wish to join the efforts to receive assistance with finding resources for cisterns & toilets through participation on the citizen’s council. Ex Hacienda Pena Blanca, Ejido Pena Blanca, Palmita II echoed this.

Corralejo was asked to explain the process they have been following to join the council, including attending assemblies, they organised meetings within their own community & appointed leaders who can speak about their needs, “take agreements” & requests to communicate at the regional meetings & exchange info back to their community. Part of it is to work on economic help together, but mostly to worktogether to learn how to organise. They needed to advise everyone of the upcoming meetings, write an Acta (essentially an application to join), have it authorised by their delegado (elected community representative), they are learning the process with Saul & Chela.

It was the new people learning from the older hands, the process of organisation/belonging to this citizen’s council.

At this point there was a mass exodus & the women & men of La Tinaja quickly returned carrying very large buckets of  tortillas (blue & normal) all wrapped in brightly embroidered cloths, huge pots of rice, beans, mole, nopal etc & garafons of agua fresca…

After the feast we made our way to several completed & brightly festooned cisterns for the ribbon cutting. When we commented how straight & fine these cisterns were, many women blushed & said they had made them themselves (without the men!)…

We needed to leave the procession early & headed back to the cars, only to be told of a special cistern with Guadalupe painted on the side, back we went & found Guadalupe emblazozned on the side of the cistern, beside the barbed wired washing line…

Crammed back into the car & headed back to the highway.

Submitted by Laura Stewart

Update re Global Grant 25437 Calgary Water Cistern Project (with Direct grant combined)

4 Communities led the first phase – La Tinaja, 3 Esquinas, Cruz del Palmar & Guerrero. Following is the update of these communities:-

La Tinaja 22 (21 family + 1 pilot) cisterns, pilot began on 23^rd Jan. Cisterns are almost all completed & they will announce their inauguration on the 29^th March.

3 Esquinas 24 (23 family + 1 pilot) cisterns, pilot began on 30^th Jan. Cisterns are completed, they are yet to announce their inauguration date.

Cruz del Palmar 41 (39 family + 2 pilots) cisterns, pilot began on 30^th Jan. Cisterns are completed, Inauguration to be on 29^th March.

Guerrero 20 (19 family + 1 pilot) cisterns. pilot began on 6^th Feb. Interruptions on 7^th March re land dispute, but almost completed as at 17.3.12.

The next phase includes communities of Corralejo, Vivienda de Arriba & Tierra Blanca.

Corralejo 15 (13 family + 1 pilot+ 1 community proj) cisterns, they began their pilot on 12^th March. This was a difficult pilot as most of the men are absent from this community in the USA, Filiberto & Saul (our tech assistants) admitted to having to work extremely hard with the women in this community, since there were no men to help out.

Vivienda de Arriba(10) & Tierra Blanca(9) are beginning work on their cisterns on the weekend of 17^th March. They will proceed without a pilot training session, as this is phase II in each of these communities & the previous cistern recipients have volunteered to work with these participants.

Once funds are received from Port Lavaca & converted to Pesos, we will have a firm number of the next cistern/materials to be available & will begin on this final phase.

Report of progress Water project Global Grant 25437

Where: Communities of La Tinaja, Cruz del Palmar & Guerrero

When: 15 Feb 2012 during Team meeting at Cedesa.

Who Laura, Holly, Saul, Chela

Purpose: During our usual Water Cistern Project team planning meeting Saul gave an update of the progress in the communities who are part of the Calgary Global Grant.

All Pilots have now been completed & all communities are working on their individual family cisterns.

Saul reported the following:

La Tinaja (22 cisterns) – they are working well, not slow or fast, but steady. Was difficult initially as this community did not have any access to tools, borrowed or otherwise, thanks to the agreement by Walla Walla & Tallahassee RC’s to use approx. US$300 excess from a previous direct grant on purchase of tools, they no longer have to use machete’s & rocks to cut the wire & malla.

There is one group with a lot of men working in it, & they are progressing faster than the other 2 groups. There has been no problems from a human relations perspective, no gossip issues etc, all are working in harmony & with respect.

They have also begun thinking about organisation of their backyards, cistern, garden, animals, dry toilet etc, they hadn’t previously considered this.

Someone (who had given up her spot as she had not yet built her house) asked about a 2^nd phase in La Tinaja & Chela explained it is difficult to predict.

We discussed the possibility of doing a “cob” adobe workshop to teach the young people how to construct housing using the rammed earth method (essentially using the dirt they excavate to level their property to construct the house). There is a big issue with lack of skills & employment opportunities in this community, & a very large number of young people.

Cruz del Palmar – 41 Cisterns

This community is also progressing well, this is a 2^nd phase community, one young woman Dometila is particularly well involved & helpful. The various groups are all working well & at different stages, some at malla weaving stage others at cement stage. The president of the Consejo is a member of the project & is very active & organised.

Guerrero – 20 cisterns

The pilot training session took longer than expected with delays caused by the rain as well as an “Oportunidades” govt training day, which if they didn’t attend they miss out on.

The pilot cistern is not connected since the classroom is brand new & the boss of the construction of the classroom did not want any piping attached until they have held their inauguration (education department).

There is one group which everyone is good-naturedly joking about as they are the oldest, many older women in it, but ironically they are advancing the fastest.

There was an issue where one of the women did not want to be in the original group she was assigned to but couldn’t change so she felt kind of “left out”. Saul organised a meeting with the group & the woman & they worked on their agreements & compromises/promises & she is now included. He essentially told her you need to work this out together & sort it out or give up your place/materials, this was enough motivation for her to work on the issue & she is now fully integrated.

Subsequent to this meeting, there was an issue re possible delivery problems in Guerrero as a man claiming to own the land of some of the members of the project (they dispute this & have been on the land as many as 6 generations in some cases), attempted to have Sapasma stop the project (he thought it was Sapasma funded). Deliveries went ahead unobstructed & they continue to work on their cisterns.

4th Meeting at La Tinaja re Water Cisterns

Esperanza gives the role of "co-ordinator" a whirl...

the kids hard at play: grinding "corn"

Where: La Tinaja Community – outside Health Clinic

When: 18 January 2012

Who: Holly, Saul, Chela & Laura + 20 community members (including 2 men) + 12 kids

Purpose of the meeting: To plan wáter cisterns Project re the Calgary Global Grant.

Everyone shook hands hello, & we proceeded to form a circle (or as close as poss) to ensure full participation by all…

Chela asked for nominations for co-ordinator & records taker for the day & explained the roles of each & that it is normal procedure for every meeting. People were shy to volunteer & Saul joked that the co-ordinator role was the easiest (not to have to keep records) & just to keep order & appoint speakers.

More discussion about the role of co-ordinator, to encourage people to participate & say what they felt, as well as maintaining respect & harmony, to ensure a productive meeting. He explained first task was to créate an agenda & then encourage all to have their say on each point.

Saul described the role of secretary, to ensure all actions/decisions are clearly recorded for future ref.

More time was needed than usual on this topic as this community is less experienced than other communities we are working with & they are keen to learn.

Still no-one volunteered! Saul explained how important it is for people to participate, without fear or embarrassment.

Chela asked “have you had experience in this?” the response was No!

She asked how many years they had been working with government programs for example (more than 20 apparently)”& yet you have not learned how to organise yourselves – or run your own meeting?” “you have left it up to the govt. to execute your programs, I want to make it clear this is not a government program, you are expected to be totally involved & learn the process of organising yourselves – of determining & resolving your own issues. You need to learn how to do this, simply raise your hand & take turns to speak, if you all speak at once, no-one hears anyone else”

Esperanza was volunteered to co-ordinate, Chela “if you wish to speak, raise your hand & she will keep order”.

“a puebla who is quiet will never be Heard – you need to have a voice”

Today we are working on the cisterns Project, but you have many other issues to discuss, work on & resolve.

The Agenda was created:

Esperanza asked what points they wanted to discuss

• Construction of cisterns
• Sanitarios Secos (dry toilets)
• Fertile soil/Health/Food Production Training sessions

The roll was called – 2 participants were absent.

One of the women was able to recite what was discussed at the previous meeting as a review – the formation of work groups, the groups were read out, Chela asked if there were any changes to this, did anyone want to change or dropo ut “NO” was the resounding response.

The numbers of 21 participants + 1 Pilot were confirmed.

Chela then talked a little about Rotary & their role in this Project – the length of time & hard work that has gone into finding the resources to carry out this Project. I asked for permission to take potos & the subject of the wáter cistern Project blog came up. She explained they would all be “famous” as the potos would be on the blog & she gave out the blog address so that if anyone was able to go to an internet café in town they could view it. We joked that there were people viewing the Project who lived in Russia (which is true, for some reason there is a lot of repeat viewing in Russia).

Construction of Cisterns

Each group has 2 co-ordinators & 2 abaniles, each co-ordinator confirmed their roles & agreed to their tasks. (ie to ensure all are working together smoothly & report any issues back to community co-ordinator, either re materials or lack of harmony etc.

Chela asked a couple of them to describe their role

“that everyone Works well & the same”

Others giggled & said, & work with harmony & without gossip.

Chela reiterated, the better they work together the better the work will be, she mentioned if they were unable to find abaniles in each group they could consider contributing to pay someone. They also need to respect the hours they agree to work.

One of the men asked “do all the cisterns need to be the same size?” there are issues in this community with very small land size. He had seen cisterns in Vivienda de Arriba & had thought they were filled by the well. Saul explained no, these were filled with the rain captured from the roof & so the bigger the capacity the better, in extreme cases if there is no rain there might be the need to fill from another source, but the point of the cisterns is to not put further strain on an almost “drained” aquifer, & also to drink rain wáter as it is pure & not contaminated.

Chela described the satisfaction they will feel when they have completed their cisterns & have wáter stored. The same way they feel when they have some beans or corn in reserve for future plantings.

“At the end of the Project I want to see you with happy faces & have love for your ‘sister’ not unhappy faces”.

Another person had a question “I have a roof that slopes into the Street” Saul said no problem, as part of the Project he goes house by house with the tech assistant to help determine the best position of the cistern & where the piping needs to go from & to.

The day of the pilot was set for 23rd January, 5 days.

The discussion ensued on what hours would be best. Saul mentioned the starting time needs to be agreed & the finishing time will vary depending on how hard everyone Works, how fast everyone learns.

One woman said, I can come on the 23rd, but if I have an appointment on the 24th can I send a representative?” It turns out the govt. Opportunities program meeting is on the 24th, they dont specify a time in advance, people just have to be present for the day. We agreed that they could send the old relatives & younger relatives on that day, just as long as someone represents them so they can report back what they learned that day.

Chela asked them to make sure they eat well on the Pilot training days, it is hard work (physically & mentally) & they will need good fuel in their bodies, not junk food.

There was a lot of discussion about what time they would begin each day & finally they decided on the late time of 10am.

Delivery details were discussed, that the truck would bring all the materials for the pilot to the school & the wires & metals for each house, so they would have to accompany the driver to deliver house by house. The cement & cal will be delivered the following week.

Families will need to be there on Friday to take delivery of the materials. Adela agreed to organise this.

I asked if there was a possibility they could provide their own gravel (as some communities have) to cut down costs & enable more materials to be purchased for additional cisterns. This was very difficult for them so I agreed we would deliver the gravel. It would be delivered in 1 central place & people will have to move it either by organising someone with a pickup or by wheelbarrow loads.

Tools

The tolos needed were listed. This community is much further from San Miguel than others with whom we work, & it turns out has much fewer Abaniles (carpenters) & almost no tools!! Normally we rely on the community participants to bring or borrow tools & this has always worked out, in this case there were none to borrow. Detailed description of each of the tools took place, ie the levelers & the trowels etc. & no-one had any. This community derives it’s income (very little, if any!) from Agri work, ie working for big agribusinesses, they bring in pickups, fill them with Young people & pay them just $500pesos per wk, (less than US$50) to work very long hours in the fields. Consequently no-one has money but more importantly no-one has saleable skills, or the option to work for someone else.

Subsequent to this, I asked our good friends in Tallahassee & Walla Walla if they would agree to spending excess funds of $3000 mxn from a previous direct grant, on tools for Cedesa to own & manage & loan out in these cases.

Of course they agreed, & not too soon, as the Pilot took an additional day as the people were having to cut the metals with machetes & rocks! We now have a few tools for them to borrow a they are currently in the family cistern construction stage (at the time of writing of this report). Who knew what a difference a pair of wire cutters would make?!

Sanitarios Secos

A number of members of this community have been working with the citizen’s council (Consejo) to gain resources for dry toilets, there is a Regional meeting tomorrow – Chela said they would discuss the latest update there.

Workshops/Training

Chela asked who knew what capacitación (training) meant

Some answered , to learn, to understand to orientate.

Chela responded it was to provide you with the skills to resolve your own issues.

Eg, do you know how to treat your family when they get sick, vommit, have fevers etc?

How often does the doctor visit? “once a month”. So it is important for you to know some basic information about how to resolve health issues, also, Nutrition is another important factor in health & this community, ie what is tood to produce & feed you family.

Lack of nutrition affects your ability to think & learn – you are a long way from the market so it is important to know what to grow. Water, massages, herbs are all natural methods to improve health, all good things to know to be able to treat yourselves & your families.

Also, how to retain & regenerate your soils, (this área is largely eroded – actually looks like a moonscape!). How to ensure wáter is retained, to have better soil for food production.

Nopal, herbs, veges, fruits production, is important to learn, do you want to stay the same or improve your life?

Chela asked for 2 volunteers, she described Josephina as knows a lot but has no money & Rosaelia as knows nothing but has a bit of money, & asked them who would they rather be… The answer was Josephina.

Chela “the situation is very difficult in many aspects but if you really want training we can offer it once a month, but you really need to prove you’re interested & wish to participate – little by little you can improve your life, cisterns dry toilets, food production, soil regeneration, etc are you interested?”

“SI ¡!!” they agreed they were very interested.

(Side note, Cedesa specialises in this, integral development, they do it - & have done for 40 years – without charge to the participants & as their mission. This is not part of the Project, but is a bi-product for the participants).

Chela announced they need to have a separate assembly to determine how they wish to proceed, either nopal gardens, health, soil etc, which first. They will work also on terracing to attempt to retain soil against the major erosion.

We concluded the meeting at 1.25 & had some tacos which the women had bought to share with us.

Next event in La Tinaja : Pilot Training Prog 23.1.12

3rd Meeting at La Tinaja re Water Cisterns

Record of Event

Where: La Tinaja Community – Health Clinic

When: 7 Dec 2011

Who: Holly, Saul, Chela & Laura + 18 community members including 1 man + 7 kids

Purpose of the meeting: To plan wáter cisterns Project re the Calgary Global Grant.

People were absent today as another community meeting was being held at the primary school at the same time.

Chela opened the meeting & asked who would be co-ordinator & record taker for the day, since it was a small room & we were all sitting there freezing & couldnt easily see a board since we were in a circle, we ran the meeting informally, just recording actions in their minutes book.

She also asked why the community representatives from La Tinaja did not attend the regional meeting 26/11 at Juan Gonzalez or the training workshop 19/11 at Cedesa. They sheepishly admitted they forgot.

Chela reminded them that if they dont continue to meet or attend meetings they are failing their commitment, it doesnt matter if you happen to have an appointment that clashes with a meeting you have a responsibility to attend or send someone in your place. She asked what people think will happen if they stop attending meetings & working together, they were embarrassed to reply.

She reiterated that at Cedesa workshop it was only La Tinaja & Cinco Senores who were absent, there were representatives from all the other communities & a turnout of more than 70 participants when it was planned only approx 50 would attend At Juan Gonzalez regional meeting it was only La Tinaja absent, more than 100 people turned up for that meeting. You will forfeit your right & priority as attendance in meetings is a major part of the commitment.

We all agreed La Tinaja is very remote & it is difficult to travel to the other places as they are so far away, as well they have no telephone or cell phone service, so they need to stay in the loop of what is going on with their friends at Villa de Guadalupe (the nearest community).

They were asked to take initiative & fin out the dates of events etc, Alicia, Audelia & Dolores are the Consejo reps, they will advise the rest of the community “we need all of you to take responsibility to continue to work together to improve your living conditions, cisterns dry toilets & other things, if you dont want to that’s up to you, but you need to continue to participate to be part of ths, take account now, improvement in your life & living conditions is up to you, organise & participate together.”

We advised that funds for the cistern Project will be ready in January, Chela asked “what do we need to do next?” “decide which groups we work in” was the reply.

The roll had been called earlier & found that 3 were missing. Work groups were formed, including the appointment of a leader, & number 2 in each group, abaniles in each group & the co-ordinator for the whole Project (ie the person whom each group reports to, who in turn reports any issues to Saul – the regional co-ordinator).

One woman voiced her doubt about her husband being willing to help, & that she didnt feel she could volunteer him, Chela & Saul both explained this Project is for the benefit of all & therefore very important that everyone work together. The cistern needs not to be absolutely perfect (ie with expert masons) but just need proficiency.

There was a description of responsibilities, ie to attend each of the training days, to turn up on time, work in harmony, report issues to your group leader. The leader will work directly with the co-ordinator & the co-ordinator will report back to Saul for any issues regarding tech assistance, materials, deliveries etc.

Adela was voted Co-ordinator for the whole community.

There was discussion re the location for the training Pilot.

Debate was:

Primary School – 200kids, there for 6yrs, have wáter sometimes, other times are forced to drink from the river.

Kinder – 9 kids, there for 3 yrs, don’t have any wáter.

Decision was Primary School.

Meeting closed, & next planning assembly is 18 Jan 11am

Global Grant Approved!!! #25437

On 21st October 2010 Norman Myden from Chinook Rotary Club emailed me to see what we could get going re a water project - I told him he'd come to the right place, & we immediately set to work... In December we applied to the Alberta's Govt Community Initiatives Program (CIP) for funding which we hoped to match with Rotary Club & District & the Foundation to achieve a large grant of US$65,300.....

Well, I am very happy to announce that a year later on Oct 25th we received a very happy email from Ashley at The Rotary Foundation informing us our application had been successful & we are to receive the funding!!

District 5360 (located in Canada and includes all of the Rotary clubs in Alberta from Ponoka south and also clubs in the south-west region of Saskatchewan) is providing US$10,000, Chinook RC is providing $10,000 + Alberta Govt $20,000, SMA Midday is providing US$200 (& lots of blood, sweat & tears!) & this is all being matched by The Rotary Foundation with US$25,100.

For a grand total of US$65,300 & a planned cistern count of 108 cisterns in 4 communities decided by the Consejo (citizen's council) of 18 communities.

We are working through the small details now, opening bank accounts, transferring $$ & are expecting to be able to begin the project early December!!

The communities will be
Guerrero
La Tinaja
Cruz del Palmar
& 3 Esquinas (near Palencia)

9th Regional Event of the Communities requesting assistance with water

Record of Event

Where: La Tinaja Community – Health Clinic

When: 28^th Sept. 2011

Who: Holly, Saul, Chela & Jacqueline -Visitor from Honduras (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), 104+ adults incl. 11 men,

Purpose of the meeting: usual 4-6wkly meeting of the representatives forming the Consejo for the 18 communities in this región. (there have been more tan 9 events, but this is the 9th I have atended).

The Consejo was formed in Oct. 2010 to work together on common issues affecting the communities in this Consejo, primarily wáter but also other issues, such as dry toilets, roading, backyard production & health issues.

La Tinaja is on the outermost extremity of San Miguel, on the road to GTO.

Pickup truckloads of people arrived from all communities, 3 women had walked for more than 2 hrs from Cinco Senores to be here.

Tarpaulins had been strung to extend the shade structure, & people from La Tinaja arrived carrying as many chairs as they had.

Saul welcomed everyone, thanked them for making the journey here today & handed over to Adela from La Tinaja… She also thanked everyone for coming & welcomed everyone.

Saul said, lets get going & plan today’s agenda, Cata – president of the Consejo is here, but unfortunately Roberto – Secretary could not make it.

Each of the communities was invited to stand, introduce themselves & give a count of attendees:

1. Juan Gonzalez 10 2. Guerrero 4 3. Montecillo de Nieto 3 4. Vivienda de Arriba 6 5. Vivienda Urbana 1 6. Villa de Guadalupe 2 7. Cruz del Palmar 11 8. Cienega 2 9. Capaderillo 6 10. Tierra Blanca 8

11. Corralejo de Abajo 6 12. Los Magueyes 6 13. Cinco Senores 3 14. Presita de Santa Rosa 3 15. Los Torres 8 16. La Tinaja 18 + 2 + 6 17. La Palmita II 1 18. San Lorenzo 3 Total 109

Chela introduced Jacqueline from Honduras she is a co-ordinator of Misereor a global organisation. She is here to know more of work being done here, she was grateful to be able to see what is being achieved on various levels, congratulated the gathering on a grand meeting & encouraged them to continue to keep up the good work & commitment.

Chela introduced the board of the Consejo, some members couldnt make it but had sent representatives in their place.

Chela gave a brief introduction of the history of the consejo & the work Cedesa has been doing in the región. Holly & Laura explained that when they are talking it is for Holly to translate finer points that Laura may have missed in spanish. Chela explained that it is Rotary’s “fault” that Cedesa began working in SMA, they have previously worked in Dolores Hidalgo & surrounds.

3 yrs ago Laura from Rotary approached Cedesa to begin a Project in the first community of Los Torres, “we have been a good team, working on solutions piece by piece & we have come a long way” Saul has been working in same “symphony” with Cedesa & Rotary for almost 1 yr.

Proposal for co-ordinator – Adela (31), Ana (34)

Proposal for record taker – Adela

Call for points for the Agenda:

Cata proposed the following points.

1. Sanitarios Secos update
2. Cisternas update
3. Workshop
4. Information re coalition in defence of the Cuenca de la Independencia
5. Propose an “encuentro” (conference) of Consejo in November
6. General points

Moment of inspiration:

Saul explained he had been tasked to come up with the moment of inspiration & the more he looked the more confused he became, he quoted a phrase about organisation that loosely translates to “now is the time to raise our voice to the govt. Because if we don’t we deserve what we get”

Everyone was asked to add to this –

“if the govt leaves it to us, it’s up to us to make ourselves Heard”

“we need to work together to organise ourselves”

“it’s a question of what we do to deserve things, if we don’t work & are lazy we don’t deserve anything, & we should also know our rights”

Chela asked why we need to raise our voices – “so people can hear us”

“so people are aware of the situation in the campo”

Do we have enough wáter & toilets for example? “no” , then we deserve to not have these things if we don’t raise our voice & work for them.

Saul: Organisation in families, communities & between communities is essential, to organise to achieve solutions to our common problems. One person does not have the voice of 18 communities, for this reason it’s good to work together.

There is planning for 8000 houses near Atotonilco, they are going to need sanitation & wáter, which is not easy for 8000 houses. We need to be more informed of the plans & in this decisión, one comment from the crowd was “this development will not have dry toilets, they are likely to want drainage which will affect our river”

Item 1: Sanitarios Secos (dry toilets)

Cata: We have been working for a long time on this Project, we’re at the point of having resources for some Sanitarios Secos.

We feel we have 1st priority for SS since we have been working so hard for them, even if there are others with more need, it’s not fair if those not working receive them for nothing.

We are receiving $4milliones pesos out of $8milliones originally slated for another community Tambula. The Govt wants to administer the funds, not through Cedesa or Rotary, we would have preferred to receive the $$ for the materials & provide the labour ourselves to extend the funds further, but since this is more than $2milliones the restriction is that a contractor (& bid process) must be followed.

Unfortunately that means the $$ will not stretch so far, as the labour & co-ordinators will have to be paid for out of the $4m… The new design, 2 chambers, has been accepted.

Next week Desarrollo Social will be sending out social workers to verfiy that families on the list do not have any form of toilet currently. Unfortunately this will exclude many on the list that have been working hard for this, for example DIF houses must have flush toilets installed as part of the requirements, even if there is no wáter to flush the toilets. So, these toilets sit there, not functioning but because they exist they exclude the participant from this phase of the dry toilet Project.

We are currently awaiting the result of the “bid” process to see how much 1 dry toilet will cost, to know exactly how many can be built.

We attempted to argue the situation re the bid process, but it is a requirement. “I have a septic tank, but no wáter to uses it, so I don’t qualify – even though it’s a decoration because of the lack of wáter”

“many people on the list no longer qualify, even though they have been working on this for ages, & there will be others that do qualify that havent worked at all, it’s not really fair”

“it is unlikely we will just be able to ‘replace’ people on the list, we will probably just lose our allowance”

Chela- We are working in Phases, this will be the 1st Phase. Our objective will be for all campesino families to obtain a dry toilet, so we will continue to work & do it in phases.

If we do it in less than $2millones phases, we don’t need a “bid” process, but since this one if $4milones bids are needed.

Concha (from Los Torres) “we have been working continuously for 3 years & multiple phases, & often the ones inthe last phase are the ones that work the least or the Young ones who just got a house. It’s a struggle to ensure the ones working are the ones receiving the benefit, in some cases the ones working are not eligible as they have a “toilet” even if it does not function, so we need to make sure it doesnt just go to just anyone that “qualifies” by not having a toilet”.

A list of names was created of the people who will accompany the social workers in each community.

There was a vote as to whether or not to accept the conditions of receiving the $$ (ie the bid process), all voted yes, despite it ultimately no being favourable for all.

Item 2 – Cisterns

Saul gave an update, there is a 108 cistern grant with 95% likelihood, coming from Rotary grant, funded by Chinook RC & District & Alberta Govt & The Rotary Foundation. It will be for

Presita Santa Rosa : 24

La Tinaja 23

3 Esquinas (near Palencia) 23

Cruz del Palmar phase II 38

Laura asked for confirmation that CdP phase II was priority, Tierra Blanca person said “CdP have been working a long time so maybe they should receive the available 38”, the rest of the communities all voted in favour of CdP receiving the phase II cisterns.

Saul also explained that Sapasma have agreed to fund a 2nd Project with us.

This will be for approx 62 cisterns.

So far Guerrero is included for 24 cisterns

& Los Torres phase III for 19 cisterns

Sapasma have 4 solo cisterns they would like to build, therefore 15 available…

Currently looking at Los Magueyes & San Jose de los Allende…

One genteman in the crowd commented “I have been to San Jose de Los Allende, I was working there one time, & they have a really bad wáter situation, they are basically drinking out of puddles”

Item 3 – Workshop

Saul talked about the forthcoming “workshop” – ie working in groups on the backyard production Project. Production of food is going to be crucial this year, since no rains have come & many crops are failing. People will be forced to buy food & the prices will be pushed up since many are having to buy it.

During the workshop we will learn how to grow a vege garden including:

A micro tunnel for Nopal cactus

Natural medicines

& the next workshop will cover:

Conservation of soils & plants to grow for health.

What is your biggest urgency? “wáter” & “food”

It’s a priority to achieve wáter & food, do you guys have maize? “no, because no rain, no beans, no maise no calabassas” “the maize are all drying & dying, we desperately need wáter, so it’s going to be urgent to find food from other sources” “we’ll have to eat nopal”,

Who know’s how to grow nopal in a tunnel? (only a couple) so let’s have a training sesión…

3 people per community can come to Cedesa for the training, these people will be the Train the trainer people, they will be expected to pass on the valuable info they learn. You will need to co-ordinate & contribute for transport costs. Holly is going to try to find money to subsidise the cost of food for the day, & maybe help with a bus.

Who wants training? – they all eagerly raised their hands.

Laura mentioned that it is difficult for Holly to raise money & that participants could contribute at least what they can, eg 10 pesos. After brief discussion this was agreed, they will contribute what they can.

Taller/Workshop will be Saturday 29th October at 10am in Cedesa /leaving Cienegita at 8am

Item 4 Form part of the coalition in defence of the Cuenca de Independencia

Saul asked Audelia to report on what happened in the recent meeting re the Cuenca, held in Juriquilla, this was a follow up sessión of the diploma of wáter studies carried out by Dr Ortega from Unam. It included extras in the latest session, ie those that had joined the Consejo since then.

The subject covered the Aquifer that serves this región including 7 municipalities. Topics included contamination (natural & man-made), agriculture over-use. All attendees reviews info & dicussed issues, including prevention of over-use, pollution etc. The Consejo was described to these 7 municipalities as a good example of how to achieve positive change, it was decided a coalition should be formed to bring together the 7 municipalities, to work together to defend the aquifer.

Saul said the Consejo needed to appoint representatives if they considered this a worthwhile action, hence he is informing them today of the purpose of the coalition & the Consejo can choose to be part of it or not.

Chela asked who remembers what a coalition is – Saul re-explained, it is unión & organisation of people in defence of a common cause – what cause? Wáter, tres, natrual resources, rivers. There were about 10 organisations meeting at Cedesa in Sept. & do you think it is worthwhile to be part of this?all answered “yes”… the only responsibility is to have responsibility.

It is a process we are building Little by Little, we dont need to know how as you are all learning how to be part of this coalition, is everyone in agreement? “yes”

Saturday 22.10.11 10am @ Cedesa – Coalition in defence of the Cuenca

Previous attendees Cata, Roberto & Abraham – Consejo board members.

Item 5 – Consejo reflection, summary

Formed in approx Oct 2010, Saul invited people to evaluate the work & process to date & see if there are people who want to become reps or resign – how is it working, what needs to change?

Cata said it has been a lot of work, hopefully she has done a good job, but she doesnt actually have much time, for example she is here today, but supposed to be working. There have been lots of papers involved, lots of planning, lots of meeting, but they have achieved a lot…

Item 6 General Points

One of the delegados at the meeting said he was interested in forming a committee to ensure delegados do what they are appointed to do. He has begun working on this & asked if the Consejo was in agreement, the general consensus was that it was a good idea.

Chela asked Jacqueline – our visitor from Honduras to sum up, & describe how she found the meeting,

Jacqueline said she was impressed with the respect & harmony with which people participated in the meeting, that organisation is the prime key, & that Chela is doing a great job of demonstrating the benefits of organisation, that organisation costs (time, effort & commitment) but that it’s value for the pain… She invited everyone to keep active.

The meeting closed at 2.50 - & everyone enjoyed a lunch hosted by our host Community La Tinaja…

Beans, rice, tortillas, juice-water,

Then all piled back on the back of pick-ups & crammed into vehicles & made our way back along the dusty road home

Next meeting of Regional Consejo at Juan Gonzalez 26.11.11 at 11am, this will be an aniversary party & a meeting.