Record of Event pg 1 of 4
33rd Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres
Where: Los Torres (Chucha´s house)
When: 2.12.09 11am – 3.40pm
Who: Chela, (Cedesa), Laura & Elena (San Miguel Midday), + Los Torres people 32 women, 4 men + about 10 small kids, + Annamaria Torres from Vivienda de Arriba, & Teresa Gonzalez from Cruz del Palmar. (+ about 5 people from those communities).
Purpose:
Planning session for phase III, water purification talk, additional issues for the community to begin work on, eg small business opportunity re Sue & Fred from Ann Arbor.
We arrived at 11.30 – there was some confusion as to when the assembly had been booked for, I thought 11am & so did some of the women & Chela thought 11.30 & so did some of the women. Chucha insisted we have a taco in her kitchen before we began, so the assembly didn´t start until around midday.
!. Reflection – led by Elena, Elena personally gifted 3 Joyce Meyer books to the community, 1 for kids, 1 for youths & 1 for adults. They are books on good core topics, morals, treating people with respect, self dignity etc.
Elena read a quote from one of the books for inspiration, Chela talked about responsibility, obligations & harmony.
Chela talked about the earth, & asked where Maize comes from, where milk comes from, where beans come from – to which the answer was – The Earth!
The earth is our mother, our life, our food, our health.
The water arrives & causes erosion.
When the land is fertile, there is no erosion.
When the land is fertile, the wind does not cause dust storms, ie no erosion.
What other problems are there with the earth?
“contamination”
What kinds of contamination – rubbish, plastic, diapers, tyres, bottles, organic, & fecal.
What can we do to help –
• Collect the plastic, reuse wherever possible, collect the organic & fecal matter in compost bins.
• Plant trees on the edge of rivers to prevent erosion.
• Protect resources, don´t let sand extraction happen in your area.
• Know your rights & your obligations.
• Cultivate, conserve, plant & grow – look after your earth.
• Don´t rely on the “give me, give me” attitude, learn how to do things yourselves.
She gave an example of one of the children eating “cheetos”, & discussed the problems with this “food”. Lack of nutrition, toxic chemicals etc. Discussed also the benefits of eating healthily, eg apples v cheetos…
There was discussion of “free toileting” ie pooing in the open, without digging a hole or covering it, & how this affects the whole community, & should be a question of conscience.
2. Agenda/ appointing a co-ordinator & records taker for the meeting
The meeting started proper at 1.10pm & a proposed finish time for 3pm was set.
Veronica was appointed Co-ordinator (she is the young woman that has co-ordinated before & is very efficient). Annamaria (from Vivienda de Arriba) was appointed record taker. (good practice for when it´s her community´s turn!).
Agenda items were proposed
A. Lomas de San Jose technical team (coming from Los Torres)
B. Bacteria/sodis workshop
C. Phase III update
D. Planning next steps for the next 2 communities, Vivienda de Arriba & Cruz del Palmar
E. Traspatio (backyard garden) & road issues (extra issues for community to solve)
F. Proyecto Productivo (productive project – ie small business possibility)
pg 2 of 4
Agenda items discussed
A. Lomas de San Jose technical team (coming from Los Torres)
In LT there is a team of 4 guys who are the experts on constructing the cisterns & water collection systems now. These guys – with some additional training on the social & ecology aspects of the technical implementation – are going to be paid as the trainers & technical project advisers for the Lomas & Montecillo projects.
The team is Miguel Cruz, Juan Alvarado, Guillermo Alvarado, & Rafael Cruz.
It was suggested they come to the first official planning assembly meeting at Lomas de San Jose on Saturday 23rd January at 4pm, to meet with the community.
This will also be the first meeting for Chela & Benigno in that community as Enrique & I have been organizing the community without Cedesa for the first 3 meetings.
It will be suggested the team attend the first day´s training with Benigno, to learn the social & ecology aspects, (they have the technical side down pat).
The full plan for the project will be made in conjunction with Lomas community on the 23rd Jan.
B. Bacteria/sodis workshop
We are aware we need to ensure the potential issue of bacteria in the water in the cisterns is dealt with.
We have done lots of research on the internet & have decided the most fail-safe & easiest method to purify the water is the Sodis method, ie leaving the water in the sun in plastic bottles for 6 hours kills all bacteria. (please see website www.sodis.ch for more info, & to answer any questions you might have regarding plastic leaching into the water, the issue is dealt with thoroughly on this site).
We have touched on this topic in previous assemblies, today we covered it thoroughly.
Elena translated for me.
First I asked who has been drinking the water from the cisterns - & they all replied they all had.
I asked if anyone had been sick from drinking the water, stomach, diarrhea etc No – no-one has been sick. They love the taste of the water & drink more of it.
I explained the potential for bacteria to get into the water from the dust on the roof, especially if there is a surprise rain outside the rainy season. In case there are issues with bacteria they should be aware of a simple technique to kill all bacteria, virus & cysts. (this does not remove fluoride or chemicals from the water, only biological contaminants).
I showed 2 example bottles, & said the label must be removed (& removable) & the bottle must lay on it´s side in full sunlight for 6 hours, & then be emptied into a drinking water storage container (eg a garafon/20 litre bottle). They should have 1x 2ltr bottle per person, & do this each day.
Someone asked if they could use a coke bottle, & I said yes, as long as the label is able to be removed, & the plastic is transparent, so the UV rays can enter. They asked if they could do it using a garafon, I said no, must be a maximum of 10cm´s depth of water for full penetration by the UV rays.
Alejandro, Pofiria & Fabiana volunteered to go to the Kinder to demonstrate this method. The cistern at the kinder has a combination of water from the Pipa´s (trucks) & rainwater. The kinder teacher was very keen to learn this method. I gave the 2 demonstration bottles to Alejandro.
C Phase III update
I explained (with Elena´s help) the Rotary funding process has many levels, & we´ve just received final approval, & are now waiting for the actual cash to get to where it needs to go, to begin.
The next assembly at Los Torres is on the 20th January, & at this point I hope to have access to the funds to purchase the materials & begin the construction of the final cisterns.
pg 3 of 4
D. Planning next steps for the next 2 communities, Vivienda de Arriba & Cruz del Palmar
I updated the communities on our efforts to find funding for projects in their community.
We have spoken with the Ecology Depart director & also with the new Major – Luci, & are attempting to secure matching dollars through these avenues. I also mentioned we have another club - Walla Walla - who would like to work with us on a water project (or 2?) & we need to move quickly to write a grant for this.
We set community meeting times for each of these communities – on the 10th Feb. 2010.
Cruz del Palmar at 11am & Vivienda de Arriba at 3pm.
The women agreed to attend the next assembly at Los Torres on the 20th Jan. & report on their progress re arranging/organizing their assemblies on the 10th Feb.
Both of the representatives of these communities are very efficient, well spoken & excellent participators, if they can pull this together it will be a testament to them & the project in Los Torres, & is following the perfect model of a community project – ie one that grows legs itself, is replicated & motivates others. It is early days, but we are very excited about this development.
The visiting women thanked the LT assembly & left at this point.
E & F. Traspatio (backyard garden) & road issues (extra issues for community to solve)
Proyecto Productivo (productive project – ie small business possibility)
Chela led the discussion with a question to the community, what are they interested in learning about & what do they want to achieve?
They are very interested in being able to produce more of their own food, & were thrilled by the idea of being able to grow enough to be able to trade or sell.
A “traspatio” is literally a back yard garden, in which can be grown fruit trees, flowers, plants for food, & also to produce compost as a way of reducing waste & fertilising the land.
Chela also mentioned:
• A new type of oven they have just built at Cedesa, which is essentially a pizza or bread oven, made of bricks & adobe. For cooking bread, biscuits, baking roasts etc. It is very efficient in it´s use of wood, & burns hot with just a little wood.
• Some of the community are currently producing maize, frijol, calabasa, garbanzo beans, lentils & wheat, but only a few have parcels of land, most only have small back yards.
• Talked about bees, & honey & they said they would like to learn about how to use honey (lots have not tried it!!), & about beekeeping.
• Some of the benefits of pollen, good for your brain, & moto-neuron function, immunity etc.
• She asked what they know about bees – they knew that bees are essential for pollination & that without them the earth would likely die.
• She explained the potential to sell honey as part of the bee keepers union, or just in their own community. They were very interested & animated & want to know more.
There was no trouble getting a list of the following people who would like to be involved in a workshop to know more:
Concha, Leova, Hilaria, Lupe, Alejandro, Chuy, Fabiana, Carmela, Dulce, Cecilia, Marta, Vero, Consuelo, Cecilia (another Cecilia), Sofia, Juana, Juana (another Juana) & Caratina…
The first workshop/Project planning session will be held on Wednesday 13th January 12pm (& we expect to also to write up a draft project plan to submit to Sue Beutler of Ann Arbor RC as a result of this workshop).
Chela stated in a year they would have bees & backyard gardens, “1st produce for yourselves, thereby increasing your intelligence (re the pollen!), then produce enough to sell in the market of SMA.” (everyone laughed!!)
pg 4 of 4
Chela explained the first step for a traspatio is to clean their backyards, remove all the rubbish to one spot, & begin to collect organic waste in one spot. Bring ant poo to mix with the organic waste, & this is the beginning of compost production, necessary to enrich the soil they plan to grow plants in. They can bring other animal poo too, to help, eg donkey, sheep, chicken…
G. A visitor Saul Juarez Cabrerra ph 415 114 3156 asked about getting our help with other communities – Cienegita, Vivienda de Abajo (a long way from VdA)& Capadrillo(?) – we told him to come back to the next assembly with an update of who would like to be involved, names/numbers.
The meeting closed about 3.40 with everyone joining hands & giving thanks.
Dates of next meetings:
Wednesday January 13th 12 midday Los Torres
(Traspatio/Bee project planning workshop)
Thursday January 14th visit to Palencia with Georgina (president elect of the other SMA Rotary Club), Elena & Chela to Cedesa then Palencia (leave Sautto SMA at 10am, 11am leave Cedesa/Dolores Hidalgo for Palencia, 12midday at Palencia (site of potential water project for other Rotary Club).
Wednesday January 20th 12midday Los Torres
(community assembly)
Saturday 23rd January 4pm Lomas de San Jose & team from Los Torres, 1st Planning assembly
These records were made by Laura Stewart (San Miguel Midday RC – Community Service Committee)
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
3Rd Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project
Record of Event pg 1 of 3
3Rd Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project
Where: El Cortijo & Montecillo de Nieto Primary School
When: 18 November 2009 11.20-12.10, & 12.30 – 3.05
Who: pre planning meeting –Elena & Laura (Rotary), Chela Cedesa.
Assembly, Elena, Laura & Chela, Hector & Leon (2 professors), 26 women, 1 man & many children.
Purpose: Pre planning session at El Cortijo & then Community Assembly at MdN Primary School – continuing planning of the project, including deciding which families will be receiving cisterns in the first phase, (limited to 26 cisterns) & establishing working groups.
We decided to hold the meeting outside under a big tree, so we could sit in a circle, & be less constrained by the desks & layout in the classroom. It was more conducive to participation & involvement.
When we first arrived only a few women were there, & about 6 women were washing dishes after the lunch. (Feed the Hungry provides this school lunch program).
Elena & I looked more closely at the water collection system the municipal govt. had put in place. The membrane tank & it´s lid are ill fitting, for the support structure, & when we peered into the tank the level is only about 3 inches of water at the bottom. This is at the end of the rainy season, so the tank should be almost full!
We walked around the tank, & found a slimy puddle leading from under the tank, which seems to indicate there is a slow leak. We mentioned this to Leon (one of the teachers) who said they know about it & have informed the Ecology department, who are waiting for it to empty before repairing. This is additional confirmation for us that the ferro cement tank is the better solution.
Chela, Elena & I asked to be shown the kindergarten, which is across the road. We were led there by Eva & Enerina. Chela asked lots of questions about the community. The kinder is a lovely building with a grove of about 8 mature mesquites shading most of the grounds. They have a 1500ltr tinaco (plastic tank) at the kinder, not connected to the roof, but for delivery by the water truck.
Most people in the community have sold their land to foreigners. Only about 3 locals still own parcels of land. The lots they now live on are small unproductive lots. The people sold their land out of ignorance, & have spent the money in most cases.
There is a small springfed creek at the back of the kindergarten, but it is dry except in the rainy season, most of the year the “spring” is dry.
The meeting started at 1.20pm.
1. Hello & thank you for coming. (Chela)
2. “Reflection” (Elena)
a review of what has happened since the last assembly 1 month ago.
The women who committed to collecting a census of the community, listing who would be like to participate in the project, collected all the names & ages of each of the members of all the families (42 in total).
Elena thanked them for their hard & excellent work. She thanked everyone for coming today, walking here to attend the meeting, & described this as the seed, or beginnings, & congratulated them on their motivation to attend.
Is there anything pending from the previous meeting? No.
3. Chela engaged the community´s responses with a number of statements & questions
• It´s important for everyone to take responsibility in their own hands & make their family & community wellbeing a priority.
• “in this community you have a problem with water – what´s the problem?”
• They all responded the water is contaminated, & that fluoride was the contaminant. Chela gave a bit more background re the contamination issue around their region.
Page 2 of 3
• “You have yellow teeth from drinking this water, we are here to work to solve this issue for who?” & they all responded “for our kids!”
• How many people are at today´s meeting who also attended the 1st meeting – 20 people raised their hands. She congratulated them for organising themselves to attend this 2nd meeting.
• Is it a free project? – no! we need to work.
• People have rights, but with rights come obligations.
• Chela asked where else it talks about rights & obligations, Elena offered – in the bible, & Chela said, also in the Constitution of Mexico, & talked a little about the rights of the people as described in the constitution. An example was described using a book the teachers use in the 3rd grade class.
• The right to drinking water is a basic human right.
• One of the men at the meeting has been buying bottled water for 30 years.
• They all want clean water for their kids & grand kids.
• “you can all speak, not just listen”
• What are you prepared to do for safe drinking water – work & participate, by building the cisterns & attending the meetings.
They all recorded their names in the “roll book” from the first meeting.
4.What future do you see for your kids? What can you imagine?
Interestingly, this was a difficult one for the women to answer. Either they were trying to work out what it was we were expecting them to say, or they weren´t able to visualise anything for their kids´future… I suspect from their eventual answers, it was the former.
a. safe drinking water
b. the awareness to conserve water (because it´s not a renewable resource!)
c. for the kids to learn the bible, know the words of the bible. (living in harmony with eachother & resources, learn values).
(I was imagining how a group of American women would answer this question, with things like to be happy, to have good jobs, be passionate about what they do, be successful in their fields, travel the world, be good people, but nothing like this came up, again maybe they were wanting to provide the “right” answer).
5. Phase 1 Participants selection
The list of people interested in participating has 42 families.
The scope of this project (at least phase 1) is 26 cisterns, we communicated this & then set about determining who the first 26 families would be.
There were 28 people attending the meeting. We worked through the attendees, & called out the name & asked each person how many in their family. This is how the list transpired.
1. Maria del Carmen Villa Franco 7 people (2 families will share, 1 of 3, 1 of 4 people)
2. Margarita Pastor 6
3. Irene Jimenez 8
4. Maria Griselda 5
5. Soledara Ramirez 5
6. Alicia Peña 8 (2 families will share)
7. Marie Elena Cortez 6
8. Nancy Galvan 6
9. Lorena Garcia 5
10. Maria Irene Ramirez 6
11. Emelia Ramirez 7
12. Gloria Peña 6
13. Maria Cruz Jimenez 13 (2 families)
14. Victoria Vazquez 5
15. Lorena Ramirez 3
16. Hermalinda Barranca 7
17. Micaela Muñoz 7
18. Casilda Ramirez 8
19. Aurelia Peña 7
20. Secondido Ramirez 11 (3 families)
21. Eva Garcia 5
Page 3 of 3
22. Enerina Ramirez 3
23. Irma Carmona 9 (2 families)
24. Maria Blanca Ramirez (Taboada) 4
One elderly woman (with just her & her husband) said her husband can not help build it since he has a job, but she still wanted one, we pointed out that she could do the work herself, but since there are only 2 of them, maybe she could share with her close neighbours (family), she said she had not organised this, in the meantime we have her as the next phase, in an attempt to maximise the number of people we can serve.
We were lucky that so many families have chosen to co-operate as this will definitely maximise the solution!
6. Dividing into working groups
We explained the process of work groups, ie to build one cistern would take 1 family for days, but that 7 families could build 7 cisterns in 4 days, & that the group was collectively responsible for ensuring all cisterns are built.
There are currently 24 people on the list (with a space for 2 more if they attend the meetings in future & seek permission of the community).
It was decided to work in 4 groups of 6 (not 3 groups of 8). The names in bold are the leaders of each group.
Group 1. Group 2. Group 3. Group 4.
Margarita Carmen Griselda Gloria
Casilda Victoria Alicia Soledad
Eva Secondino Elena Audelia
Micaela Emelia Lorena R Enedina
Irene Nancy Maria Cruz Lorena G
Maria Blanca Maria Irene Irma Hermelinda
The next Assembly (#3) date was set for December 16th at 12.30
With luck we will have the funding approved by TRF, & be ready to begin the project by this date.
Photo album http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=steve.mckee&target=ALBUM&id=5395898476865345153&authkey=Gv1sRgCN3a_7DOi7iACg&feat=email
3Rd Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project
Where: El Cortijo & Montecillo de Nieto Primary School
When: 18 November 2009 11.20-12.10, & 12.30 – 3.05
Who: pre planning meeting –Elena & Laura (Rotary), Chela Cedesa.
Assembly, Elena, Laura & Chela, Hector & Leon (2 professors), 26 women, 1 man & many children.
Purpose: Pre planning session at El Cortijo & then Community Assembly at MdN Primary School – continuing planning of the project, including deciding which families will be receiving cisterns in the first phase, (limited to 26 cisterns) & establishing working groups.
We decided to hold the meeting outside under a big tree, so we could sit in a circle, & be less constrained by the desks & layout in the classroom. It was more conducive to participation & involvement.
When we first arrived only a few women were there, & about 6 women were washing dishes after the lunch. (Feed the Hungry provides this school lunch program).
Elena & I looked more closely at the water collection system the municipal govt. had put in place. The membrane tank & it´s lid are ill fitting, for the support structure, & when we peered into the tank the level is only about 3 inches of water at the bottom. This is at the end of the rainy season, so the tank should be almost full!
We walked around the tank, & found a slimy puddle leading from under the tank, which seems to indicate there is a slow leak. We mentioned this to Leon (one of the teachers) who said they know about it & have informed the Ecology department, who are waiting for it to empty before repairing. This is additional confirmation for us that the ferro cement tank is the better solution.
Chela, Elena & I asked to be shown the kindergarten, which is across the road. We were led there by Eva & Enerina. Chela asked lots of questions about the community. The kinder is a lovely building with a grove of about 8 mature mesquites shading most of the grounds. They have a 1500ltr tinaco (plastic tank) at the kinder, not connected to the roof, but for delivery by the water truck.
Most people in the community have sold their land to foreigners. Only about 3 locals still own parcels of land. The lots they now live on are small unproductive lots. The people sold their land out of ignorance, & have spent the money in most cases.
There is a small springfed creek at the back of the kindergarten, but it is dry except in the rainy season, most of the year the “spring” is dry.
The meeting started at 1.20pm.
1. Hello & thank you for coming. (Chela)
2. “Reflection” (Elena)
a review of what has happened since the last assembly 1 month ago.
The women who committed to collecting a census of the community, listing who would be like to participate in the project, collected all the names & ages of each of the members of all the families (42 in total).
Elena thanked them for their hard & excellent work. She thanked everyone for coming today, walking here to attend the meeting, & described this as the seed, or beginnings, & congratulated them on their motivation to attend.
Is there anything pending from the previous meeting? No.
3. Chela engaged the community´s responses with a number of statements & questions
• It´s important for everyone to take responsibility in their own hands & make their family & community wellbeing a priority.
• “in this community you have a problem with water – what´s the problem?”
• They all responded the water is contaminated, & that fluoride was the contaminant. Chela gave a bit more background re the contamination issue around their region.
Page 2 of 3
• “You have yellow teeth from drinking this water, we are here to work to solve this issue for who?” & they all responded “for our kids!”
• How many people are at today´s meeting who also attended the 1st meeting – 20 people raised their hands. She congratulated them for organising themselves to attend this 2nd meeting.
• Is it a free project? – no! we need to work.
• People have rights, but with rights come obligations.
• Chela asked where else it talks about rights & obligations, Elena offered – in the bible, & Chela said, also in the Constitution of Mexico, & talked a little about the rights of the people as described in the constitution. An example was described using a book the teachers use in the 3rd grade class.
• The right to drinking water is a basic human right.
• One of the men at the meeting has been buying bottled water for 30 years.
• They all want clean water for their kids & grand kids.
• “you can all speak, not just listen”
• What are you prepared to do for safe drinking water – work & participate, by building the cisterns & attending the meetings.
They all recorded their names in the “roll book” from the first meeting.
4.What future do you see for your kids? What can you imagine?
Interestingly, this was a difficult one for the women to answer. Either they were trying to work out what it was we were expecting them to say, or they weren´t able to visualise anything for their kids´future… I suspect from their eventual answers, it was the former.
a. safe drinking water
b. the awareness to conserve water (because it´s not a renewable resource!)
c. for the kids to learn the bible, know the words of the bible. (living in harmony with eachother & resources, learn values).
(I was imagining how a group of American women would answer this question, with things like to be happy, to have good jobs, be passionate about what they do, be successful in their fields, travel the world, be good people, but nothing like this came up, again maybe they were wanting to provide the “right” answer).
5. Phase 1 Participants selection
The list of people interested in participating has 42 families.
The scope of this project (at least phase 1) is 26 cisterns, we communicated this & then set about determining who the first 26 families would be.
There were 28 people attending the meeting. We worked through the attendees, & called out the name & asked each person how many in their family. This is how the list transpired.
1. Maria del Carmen Villa Franco 7 people (2 families will share, 1 of 3, 1 of 4 people)
2. Margarita Pastor 6
3. Irene Jimenez 8
4. Maria Griselda 5
5. Soledara Ramirez 5
6. Alicia Peña 8 (2 families will share)
7. Marie Elena Cortez 6
8. Nancy Galvan 6
9. Lorena Garcia 5
10. Maria Irene Ramirez 6
11. Emelia Ramirez 7
12. Gloria Peña 6
13. Maria Cruz Jimenez 13 (2 families)
14. Victoria Vazquez 5
15. Lorena Ramirez 3
16. Hermalinda Barranca 7
17. Micaela Muñoz 7
18. Casilda Ramirez 8
19. Aurelia Peña 7
20. Secondido Ramirez 11 (3 families)
21. Eva Garcia 5
Page 3 of 3
22. Enerina Ramirez 3
23. Irma Carmona 9 (2 families)
24. Maria Blanca Ramirez (Taboada) 4
One elderly woman (with just her & her husband) said her husband can not help build it since he has a job, but she still wanted one, we pointed out that she could do the work herself, but since there are only 2 of them, maybe she could share with her close neighbours (family), she said she had not organised this, in the meantime we have her as the next phase, in an attempt to maximise the number of people we can serve.
We were lucky that so many families have chosen to co-operate as this will definitely maximise the solution!
6. Dividing into working groups
We explained the process of work groups, ie to build one cistern would take 1 family for days, but that 7 families could build 7 cisterns in 4 days, & that the group was collectively responsible for ensuring all cisterns are built.
There are currently 24 people on the list (with a space for 2 more if they attend the meetings in future & seek permission of the community).
It was decided to work in 4 groups of 6 (not 3 groups of 8). The names in bold are the leaders of each group.
Group 1. Group 2. Group 3. Group 4.
Margarita Carmen Griselda Gloria
Casilda Victoria Alicia Soledad
Eva Secondino Elena Audelia
Micaela Emelia Lorena R Enedina
Irene Nancy Maria Cruz Lorena G
Maria Blanca Maria Irene Irma Hermelinda
The next Assembly (#3) date was set for December 16th at 12.30
With luck we will have the funding approved by TRF, & be ready to begin the project by this date.
Photo album http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=steve.mckee&target=ALBUM&id=5395898476865345153&authkey=Gv1sRgCN3a_7DOi7iACg&feat=email
Friday, November 6, 2009
28th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project
Record of Event pg 1 of 3
28th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project
Where: El Cortijo (behind La Gruta) & Los Torres Casa of Chuy.
When: 11.06.09 10.30 – 2.40pm
Who: Chela (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), Britta (Bi lingual visitor), & approx 26 community members
Purpose: Pre-assembly planning meeting & details catch up.
& Community assembly/meeting follow up.
I asked Chela (Cedesa), if she was able to continue her good work in another community that we are proposing as our next water Project – Lomas de San Jose.
She agreed, & we will need to firm up details closer to the time, when we have funding committed etc.
Chela mentioned 2 communities Cedesa have been working with for a long time that have horrendously high levels of fluoride. In the municipality of Palencia there are 8 communities with high levels of Fluoride & Arsenic. 4 of those are particularly high, San Deigo de la Union & San Luis de la Paz. SLdlP has approx 200 families, their levels are 6.8mg/l fluoride (1.5 is maximum safe level), & 60-70 ppm for Arsenic (25-30 parts per million is max safe level).
I said I would raise it at the Community Service Committee meeting – NB I did & it was decided that we should concentrate on communities in our own region first, this is outside the municipality of SMA.
We continued on to Los Torres.
There was a school meeting at the same time so slightly fewer people than normal, but still a good turnout on a very hot day.
The four groups constructing the 27 cisterns were roll called,
Attending were 5/7 group 1, 4/6 group 2, 6/7 group 3, & 3/7 group 4.
There were 4 phase III attendees.
The co-ordinator & records keeper were elected. Co-ordinator Veronica, Records Maricela.
The following agenda items were first decided & then discussed in order.
1. Review of the work to date.
Group 1. 3 almost finished (pipes to be connected)
Group 2 2 almost finished
Group 3 People in the group are not helping
Group 4 No materials have been delivered yet.
As of today the sand has arrived & there are materials for 6 more.
Group 1, only have materials for 1 more
Group 2 only have materials for 1 more
Group 3 only have materials for 3 more
Group 4 only have materials for 1 more
There was a lot of discussion about the difficulties they are finding working in groups. Working in groups is a new concept for many of these people. Some comments Concha “it is important to be in groups & not split off by family” Juan “when men are working with women around they should be aware of their language if women want to work with them” this was echoed by another young man. Juana “her husband started in a group, thought it was too much work now wants to just do it with his neighbours.”
Page 2 of 3
Porfiria “they have been too busy washing clothes, because of the swine flu the teacher has said they have to wash the kids clothes every day, so they have no time to help building the cisterns”
Veronica was the co-ordinator of this meeting & was very firm with everyone, she was a complete natural at the role, & had the meeting running very smoothly.
There was more discussion about what makes good groups, respect, motivation etc, & it was agreed that group 1 would help group 4 solve their problems. Also Benigno (Cedesa) will visit to help resolve any outstanding issues.
Group 2 said that they have 2 people working 100% of the time & others a lot less. Some people are helping by lending their tools.
Hilaria “ there needs to be an arrangement made re lending of tools, eg trade, gift, exchange”
Guillermo “ has had training, knows the full process is happy to help & his tools are used everywhere, still waiting for materials”
Concha “if people need help they should ask for it, otherwise who will know?”
Chela mentioned that asking shows interest, & then explained the definition of solidarity.
Group 3
Was some dispute about mis communication of arranged time to meet at someone´s house. Veronica asked the meeting if the rest of the people were prepared to help the woman or not, they all said they would. Another woman said if someone offers to help doesn’t mean they will do it for you!
Priority was decided – people with more knowledge should get their materials & build their cisterns 1st, then those people will help the next ones.
A new priority list for order of delivery of materials was created.
A young man said “at a lot of the meetings people say they will do things, & then don’t do it, people should stick to their word”.
2. Phase IV the school cisterns (funded by San Miguel Community fund 2nd Grant)
Who went to meet with the teacher (to plan re school phase IV)
Chuy, Hilaria, Catalina (Juan´s wife), Ofelia, Nicolasa & Elana
At first the Teacher said No, because she thought it was the same as the Montecillo de Nieto school Project completed by the govt & Ilan, & she thought it was dangerous, too easy to damage.
When they explained the cisterns would be the same as the one at the Kinder she happily agreed.
They asked when the materials would be available, I said whenever they are ready.
There was a discussion as to whether it should happen during or after phase II, some suggested during, as no-one would help afterwards.
Guillermo suggested small groups as big groups are inefficient.
The mini committee (as above) need to inform all of the parents of the school that they need to help with construction of the cisterns in 15 days at a meeting at the school.
There are approx 80 kids at school
Page 3 of 3
There should be a representative at school when the Maestra cant be there.
Make up the groups with the people here & then ask others at school to join the groups.
The 3 groups were decided.
It was agreed that they should either work or if they cant work then pay $100 pesos, this will pay the leaders of the groups who will be there all day every day to co-ordinate & need to be reimbursed for time off work.
There will be 2 abiniles for the 3 cisterns, they will be paid $250 pesos per day from the money collected from the people that are unable to work.
Meeting finished at 2.40pm
The next meeting is scheduled for 25.06.09 (I will be away in NZ)
It needs to be noted that the meeting today was so well organized, the community involvement was huge & there is a real sense of progress organization & motivation & an attitude of “we can do this!”… Amazing!
28th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project
Where: El Cortijo (behind La Gruta) & Los Torres Casa of Chuy.
When: 11.06.09 10.30 – 2.40pm
Who: Chela (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), Britta (Bi lingual visitor), & approx 26 community members
Purpose: Pre-assembly planning meeting & details catch up.
& Community assembly/meeting follow up.
I asked Chela (Cedesa), if she was able to continue her good work in another community that we are proposing as our next water Project – Lomas de San Jose.
She agreed, & we will need to firm up details closer to the time, when we have funding committed etc.
Chela mentioned 2 communities Cedesa have been working with for a long time that have horrendously high levels of fluoride. In the municipality of Palencia there are 8 communities with high levels of Fluoride & Arsenic. 4 of those are particularly high, San Deigo de la Union & San Luis de la Paz. SLdlP has approx 200 families, their levels are 6.8mg/l fluoride (1.5 is maximum safe level), & 60-70 ppm for Arsenic (25-30 parts per million is max safe level).
I said I would raise it at the Community Service Committee meeting – NB I did & it was decided that we should concentrate on communities in our own region first, this is outside the municipality of SMA.
We continued on to Los Torres.
There was a school meeting at the same time so slightly fewer people than normal, but still a good turnout on a very hot day.
The four groups constructing the 27 cisterns were roll called,
Attending were 5/7 group 1, 4/6 group 2, 6/7 group 3, & 3/7 group 4.
There were 4 phase III attendees.
The co-ordinator & records keeper were elected. Co-ordinator Veronica, Records Maricela.
The following agenda items were first decided & then discussed in order.
1. Review of the work to date.
Group 1. 3 almost finished (pipes to be connected)
Group 2 2 almost finished
Group 3 People in the group are not helping
Group 4 No materials have been delivered yet.
As of today the sand has arrived & there are materials for 6 more.
Group 1, only have materials for 1 more
Group 2 only have materials for 1 more
Group 3 only have materials for 3 more
Group 4 only have materials for 1 more
There was a lot of discussion about the difficulties they are finding working in groups. Working in groups is a new concept for many of these people. Some comments Concha “it is important to be in groups & not split off by family” Juan “when men are working with women around they should be aware of their language if women want to work with them” this was echoed by another young man. Juana “her husband started in a group, thought it was too much work now wants to just do it with his neighbours.”
Page 2 of 3
Porfiria “they have been too busy washing clothes, because of the swine flu the teacher has said they have to wash the kids clothes every day, so they have no time to help building the cisterns”
Veronica was the co-ordinator of this meeting & was very firm with everyone, she was a complete natural at the role, & had the meeting running very smoothly.
There was more discussion about what makes good groups, respect, motivation etc, & it was agreed that group 1 would help group 4 solve their problems. Also Benigno (Cedesa) will visit to help resolve any outstanding issues.
Group 2 said that they have 2 people working 100% of the time & others a lot less. Some people are helping by lending their tools.
Hilaria “ there needs to be an arrangement made re lending of tools, eg trade, gift, exchange”
Guillermo “ has had training, knows the full process is happy to help & his tools are used everywhere, still waiting for materials”
Concha “if people need help they should ask for it, otherwise who will know?”
Chela mentioned that asking shows interest, & then explained the definition of solidarity.
Group 3
Was some dispute about mis communication of arranged time to meet at someone´s house. Veronica asked the meeting if the rest of the people were prepared to help the woman or not, they all said they would. Another woman said if someone offers to help doesn’t mean they will do it for you!
Priority was decided – people with more knowledge should get their materials & build their cisterns 1st, then those people will help the next ones.
A new priority list for order of delivery of materials was created.
A young man said “at a lot of the meetings people say they will do things, & then don’t do it, people should stick to their word”.
2. Phase IV the school cisterns (funded by San Miguel Community fund 2nd Grant)
Who went to meet with the teacher (to plan re school phase IV)
Chuy, Hilaria, Catalina (Juan´s wife), Ofelia, Nicolasa & Elana
At first the Teacher said No, because she thought it was the same as the Montecillo de Nieto school Project completed by the govt & Ilan, & she thought it was dangerous, too easy to damage.
When they explained the cisterns would be the same as the one at the Kinder she happily agreed.
They asked when the materials would be available, I said whenever they are ready.
There was a discussion as to whether it should happen during or after phase II, some suggested during, as no-one would help afterwards.
Guillermo suggested small groups as big groups are inefficient.
The mini committee (as above) need to inform all of the parents of the school that they need to help with construction of the cisterns in 15 days at a meeting at the school.
There are approx 80 kids at school
Page 3 of 3
There should be a representative at school when the Maestra cant be there.
Make up the groups with the people here & then ask others at school to join the groups.
The 3 groups were decided.
It was agreed that they should either work or if they cant work then pay $100 pesos, this will pay the leaders of the groups who will be there all day every day to co-ordinate & need to be reimbursed for time off work.
There will be 2 abiniles for the 3 cisterns, they will be paid $250 pesos per day from the money collected from the people that are unable to work.
Meeting finished at 2.40pm
The next meeting is scheduled for 25.06.09 (I will be away in NZ)
It needs to be noted that the meeting today was so well organized, the community involvement was huge & there is a real sense of progress organization & motivation & an attitude of “we can do this!”… Amazing!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
32nd Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres
Record of Event pg 1 of 3
32nd Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres
Where: El Cortijo & Los Torres (school, upper community & Chucha´s house)
When: 28.10.09 10am – 4.15,
Who: Chela, (Cedesa), Bill & Montse Webb (Tallahassee Rotary) Laura (San Miguel Midday, + 51 adults including 7 men, + many children.
Purpose: Pre meeting planning in the car on the way. This visit was dual purpose, 1. to show Bill & Montse the results of the project to date, & introduce them to the people, & methods, 2. to plan next steps with the assembly. The plan included Visit to school to take photos, & meet with teachers & kids, then walking tour of close cisterns for Bill & Montse & visit to the kinder, again to meet with kids & teacher.
11am, we met with some of the community leaders, the teachers & children at the school. We took photos needed to complete the San Miguel Community Fund 2nd Project reporting (SMCF funded the cisterns at the school, which allowed Rotary funding to include more families).
We were met with much enthusiasm. Chela talked to the gathering of teachers & children about the great volunteer effort to build the cisterns, generally about water & conservation, & the water in the cisterns (2 of the 3 are full, the 3rd is waiting for roofing replacement). After a photo session we thanked them all for their involvement & moved on.
We visited another family cistern on the way. This cistern was less than 1/3rd full. The small roof was sited as the cause, I suspect it is lack of conservation, as the roof size should have been more than adequate to fill it by this point. The community also mentioned the municipality truck deliveries were very rare during the rainy season, so I suspect they have been using the water for general use (not just drinking & cleaning as it is designed). We will talk more on conservation at the assembly.
We visited the Kinder, & met with a happy welcome, at the first cistern built. It was completed in February, months before the rainy season, so they opted to have it filled with water from the town deliveries. This is not ideal as the town water was not emptied out before capturing rain water. Also the teacher has been using this water to wash the floors & for general cleaning. We explained there is not sufficient water for this, & other water should be used for this.
We explained this water is not ideal for drinking without treatment, (it should be mentioned the people in Los Torres have been drinking municipality truck delivered water for years, so actually this is not too drastic, considering it will have been diluted with pure rain water, so be a better quality than they have been used to). We will be doing another session on Solar disinfection, for the communities & children/teachers in the kinder & school.
We all squished in the van & drove down to the lower part of the community.
We were met by a big crowd, running a little behind schedule they were already waiting for us, but despite this, Chucha & Jose Miguel (the delegado & his wife) insisted on feeding us, we were treated to a delicious campo meal, of chicheron (pork skin) & nopal (cactus) & beans & rice with warm home made tortillas. We scoffed it down, knowing that the crowd was waiting outside & then joined the gathered assembly.
Assembly began at 1.30.
Chela mentioned they have tested Chucha´s well & it measured 5.8mg/l (this is very high, highest recommended safe level is 1.5mg/l), this testing took place while I was in NZ so I was previously unaware of this.
1. Chela introduced the team & gave a general talk on water & the aquifer. & how we must all work together to improve the situation.
2. A co-ordinator was nominated – Cecilia, & Alejandro was nominated to take records.
3. The roll was called, including the 2 visiting parties representing, Cruz del Palmar & Vivienda de Arriba.
4. Items for the agenda were called for :
The road.
Traspatios (backyard gardens)
Equipo de Acesoria (technical work team)
Conservation of water
Planning the 3rd phase of the project
New communities ie new projects in neighbouring communities
pg 2 of 3
cont.d agenda items.
New solicitudes (ie new projects for the Los Torres community)
These agenda items were prioritised & following is the order in which they were discussed.
Third phase planning
The meeting asked when funding will be available, I responded by end of November with luck, & explained the process to receive funding has many steps.
Veronica raised the point, some people still have not paid their contribution re the construction of the cisterns at the school, (this was an agreement made by the parents of the school kids, who ever could not attend to assist in the construction of the 3 cisterns, agreed to pay a fee) after much back & forth, it was decided to give the list to the teacher to chase. She is difficult to avoid…
A new person came forward to ask to be added to the list of recipients for phase III. Maria de Jesus Ramirez works in Montecillo de Nieto during the week & comes home at the weekend, she is a resident of Los Torres, & is prepared to pay her contribution towards the construction of the school cisterns.
Chela said there are strong volunteers & weaker ones, in this case the strong ones have managed to prove the concept for the others, & it should be decided whether others will be allowed to enjoy the fruits of their labours… & they need to take real need into consideration.
There were several others that asked to be included, Caritina Ramirez, Christina Maya & Juana Soria, with these additional 4, that brings us to 24 for phase III – including 3 tinacos for the elderly solo people.
The delegada also asked if we could provide materials for a cistern to be built for the padre of the church they go to in Cruz del Palmar. They are happy to build it for him, if we could provide the materials. I said I would have to check our budget, as we only have funding budgeted for 20 cisterns & are hoping to use the credit balance from phase II to pay for the difference.
The 3 groups for the 24 people were formed. (3 groups of 7, with no mention of the tinaco receivers, this will need to be addressed when the funds arrive.
Conservation of water
Elena & Laura discussed the need to be very sparing with water use. We demonstrated the cistern when full contains 12,000 ltrs, & at 3 ltrs per day per person, for 275 dry days of the year, this will be sufficient for a family of 14. The formula changes depending on how many litres the cistern currently has, & how many people there are in the family, but basically there is not enough to use for washing dishes or floors & it MUST only be used for drinking & cooking. They need to ration themselves.
Also, I mentioned I am worried the taps are too easy for the children to turn on, play with & lose all the water! They need to be very aware of this. Ideally we could have some sort of child proof lock on the taps, yet to determine how.
The community mentioned how grateful they are to have these cisterns, there have been very few deliveries of water by the municipality during the rainy season & they would have had no water, & had to beg or borrow it from the people with (contaminated) wells.
Neighbouring Community Projects
Cruz del Palmar
2 women from the neighbouring Cruz del Palmar,
Yolande Ramirez Juarez 415 155 9482 & Teresa Gonzalez Maya 415 113 9274
attended our previous assembly, asking how they could have a water project in their community, as they have a scarcity, & contaminated water. Los Torres people told them to go door to door & gather names, & inform them they would have to be prepared to form committees & work groups & do the construction themselves, then to return to the next LT assembly with a list of names.
They returned with a list of 32 families.
pg 3 of 3
Vivienda de Arriba
Another neighbouring community also arrived at the Los Torres Assembly, this was a group of 5 women representing the community of Vivienda de Arriba.
Anamaria Torres Ramirez (415 112 5094) told us they have a well in nearby Tierra Blanca Y Espejo, & supposedly have piped water, but during the dry season they receive no water. The well runs dry, in the dry season, & they are on the higher side & there is not enough water for them.
She was very well organised & already had collated a list of families wishing to be involved, 38 families in total.
We thanked them for being such excellent advocates for their communities, we explained the funding process & that we need time to investigate possibilities for financial assistance. We asked them to visit the next assembly to hear what we have discovered by then.
In summary
This is an extremely heartening result. For an outside community to visit their neighbours with a request for help shows great motivation, & an obvious desire to solve their own issues. This is exactly what we hoped would happen with this project, ie that others would seek to replicate this simple & effective model.
Chela (from Cedesa) is very interested to begin organisation with these communities, now all we need to do is find some more funding.
We have since visited with the Ecology department (& plan to visit with the department of social development) to encourage them to adopt our model & assist to provide safe drinking water in this municipality. This is an ambitious project, as they already have their chosen model (ie the San Miguel Viejo model, that we have evolved our project from). It will now be up to us to demonstrate the advantages of this model (that “teaches them how to fish”)´v´ their model (that provides a “fish Meal”).
Regardless of the direction the municipality decide to take, we will continue with our plan (with your continued support) to provide safe drinking water to as many communities as we are able, & we have a headstart on the needs analysis stage, (obviously still be thoroughly investigated).
At the end of the assembly Bill gave a heart warming speech about how with their hard work they have solved their problem, he thanked them for their courage & leadership, & said we are honoured to be their partners.
The meeting concluded at 4.15pm & we headed home with our tired but sated Tallahassee buddies.
Thank you so much to Montse for her excellent simultaneous translation!
Next meeting December 2nd at 11am – Chucha´s house
32nd Event of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres
Where: El Cortijo & Los Torres (school, upper community & Chucha´s house)
When: 28.10.09 10am – 4.15,
Who: Chela, (Cedesa), Bill & Montse Webb (Tallahassee Rotary) Laura (San Miguel Midday, + 51 adults including 7 men, + many children.
Purpose: Pre meeting planning in the car on the way. This visit was dual purpose, 1. to show Bill & Montse the results of the project to date, & introduce them to the people, & methods, 2. to plan next steps with the assembly. The plan included Visit to school to take photos, & meet with teachers & kids, then walking tour of close cisterns for Bill & Montse & visit to the kinder, again to meet with kids & teacher.
11am, we met with some of the community leaders, the teachers & children at the school. We took photos needed to complete the San Miguel Community Fund 2nd Project reporting (SMCF funded the cisterns at the school, which allowed Rotary funding to include more families).
We were met with much enthusiasm. Chela talked to the gathering of teachers & children about the great volunteer effort to build the cisterns, generally about water & conservation, & the water in the cisterns (2 of the 3 are full, the 3rd is waiting for roofing replacement). After a photo session we thanked them all for their involvement & moved on.
We visited another family cistern on the way. This cistern was less than 1/3rd full. The small roof was sited as the cause, I suspect it is lack of conservation, as the roof size should have been more than adequate to fill it by this point. The community also mentioned the municipality truck deliveries were very rare during the rainy season, so I suspect they have been using the water for general use (not just drinking & cleaning as it is designed). We will talk more on conservation at the assembly.
We visited the Kinder, & met with a happy welcome, at the first cistern built. It was completed in February, months before the rainy season, so they opted to have it filled with water from the town deliveries. This is not ideal as the town water was not emptied out before capturing rain water. Also the teacher has been using this water to wash the floors & for general cleaning. We explained there is not sufficient water for this, & other water should be used for this.
We explained this water is not ideal for drinking without treatment, (it should be mentioned the people in Los Torres have been drinking municipality truck delivered water for years, so actually this is not too drastic, considering it will have been diluted with pure rain water, so be a better quality than they have been used to). We will be doing another session on Solar disinfection, for the communities & children/teachers in the kinder & school.
We all squished in the van & drove down to the lower part of the community.
We were met by a big crowd, running a little behind schedule they were already waiting for us, but despite this, Chucha & Jose Miguel (the delegado & his wife) insisted on feeding us, we were treated to a delicious campo meal, of chicheron (pork skin) & nopal (cactus) & beans & rice with warm home made tortillas. We scoffed it down, knowing that the crowd was waiting outside & then joined the gathered assembly.
Assembly began at 1.30.
Chela mentioned they have tested Chucha´s well & it measured 5.8mg/l (this is very high, highest recommended safe level is 1.5mg/l), this testing took place while I was in NZ so I was previously unaware of this.
1. Chela introduced the team & gave a general talk on water & the aquifer. & how we must all work together to improve the situation.
2. A co-ordinator was nominated – Cecilia, & Alejandro was nominated to take records.
3. The roll was called, including the 2 visiting parties representing, Cruz del Palmar & Vivienda de Arriba.
4. Items for the agenda were called for :
The road.
Traspatios (backyard gardens)
Equipo de Acesoria (technical work team)
Conservation of water
Planning the 3rd phase of the project
New communities ie new projects in neighbouring communities
pg 2 of 3
cont.d agenda items.
New solicitudes (ie new projects for the Los Torres community)
These agenda items were prioritised & following is the order in which they were discussed.
Third phase planning
The meeting asked when funding will be available, I responded by end of November with luck, & explained the process to receive funding has many steps.
Veronica raised the point, some people still have not paid their contribution re the construction of the cisterns at the school, (this was an agreement made by the parents of the school kids, who ever could not attend to assist in the construction of the 3 cisterns, agreed to pay a fee) after much back & forth, it was decided to give the list to the teacher to chase. She is difficult to avoid…
A new person came forward to ask to be added to the list of recipients for phase III. Maria de Jesus Ramirez works in Montecillo de Nieto during the week & comes home at the weekend, she is a resident of Los Torres, & is prepared to pay her contribution towards the construction of the school cisterns.
Chela said there are strong volunteers & weaker ones, in this case the strong ones have managed to prove the concept for the others, & it should be decided whether others will be allowed to enjoy the fruits of their labours… & they need to take real need into consideration.
There were several others that asked to be included, Caritina Ramirez, Christina Maya & Juana Soria, with these additional 4, that brings us to 24 for phase III – including 3 tinacos for the elderly solo people.
The delegada also asked if we could provide materials for a cistern to be built for the padre of the church they go to in Cruz del Palmar. They are happy to build it for him, if we could provide the materials. I said I would have to check our budget, as we only have funding budgeted for 20 cisterns & are hoping to use the credit balance from phase II to pay for the difference.
The 3 groups for the 24 people were formed. (3 groups of 7, with no mention of the tinaco receivers, this will need to be addressed when the funds arrive.
Conservation of water
Elena & Laura discussed the need to be very sparing with water use. We demonstrated the cistern when full contains 12,000 ltrs, & at 3 ltrs per day per person, for 275 dry days of the year, this will be sufficient for a family of 14. The formula changes depending on how many litres the cistern currently has, & how many people there are in the family, but basically there is not enough to use for washing dishes or floors & it MUST only be used for drinking & cooking. They need to ration themselves.
Also, I mentioned I am worried the taps are too easy for the children to turn on, play with & lose all the water! They need to be very aware of this. Ideally we could have some sort of child proof lock on the taps, yet to determine how.
The community mentioned how grateful they are to have these cisterns, there have been very few deliveries of water by the municipality during the rainy season & they would have had no water, & had to beg or borrow it from the people with (contaminated) wells.
Neighbouring Community Projects
Cruz del Palmar
2 women from the neighbouring Cruz del Palmar,
Yolande Ramirez Juarez 415 155 9482 & Teresa Gonzalez Maya 415 113 9274
attended our previous assembly, asking how they could have a water project in their community, as they have a scarcity, & contaminated water. Los Torres people told them to go door to door & gather names, & inform them they would have to be prepared to form committees & work groups & do the construction themselves, then to return to the next LT assembly with a list of names.
They returned with a list of 32 families.
pg 3 of 3
Vivienda de Arriba
Another neighbouring community also arrived at the Los Torres Assembly, this was a group of 5 women representing the community of Vivienda de Arriba.
Anamaria Torres Ramirez (415 112 5094) told us they have a well in nearby Tierra Blanca Y Espejo, & supposedly have piped water, but during the dry season they receive no water. The well runs dry, in the dry season, & they are on the higher side & there is not enough water for them.
She was very well organised & already had collated a list of families wishing to be involved, 38 families in total.
We thanked them for being such excellent advocates for their communities, we explained the funding process & that we need time to investigate possibilities for financial assistance. We asked them to visit the next assembly to hear what we have discovered by then.
In summary
This is an extremely heartening result. For an outside community to visit their neighbours with a request for help shows great motivation, & an obvious desire to solve their own issues. This is exactly what we hoped would happen with this project, ie that others would seek to replicate this simple & effective model.
Chela (from Cedesa) is very interested to begin organisation with these communities, now all we need to do is find some more funding.
We have since visited with the Ecology department (& plan to visit with the department of social development) to encourage them to adopt our model & assist to provide safe drinking water in this municipality. This is an ambitious project, as they already have their chosen model (ie the San Miguel Viejo model, that we have evolved our project from). It will now be up to us to demonstrate the advantages of this model (that “teaches them how to fish”)´v´ their model (that provides a “fish Meal”).
Regardless of the direction the municipality decide to take, we will continue with our plan (with your continued support) to provide safe drinking water to as many communities as we are able, & we have a headstart on the needs analysis stage, (obviously still be thoroughly investigated).
At the end of the assembly Bill gave a heart warming speech about how with their hard work they have solved their problem, he thanked them for their courage & leadership, & said we are honoured to be their partners.
The meeting concluded at 4.15pm & we headed home with our tired but sated Tallahassee buddies.
Thank you so much to Montse for her excellent simultaneous translation!
Next meeting December 2nd at 11am – Chucha´s house
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
2nd Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project
Record of Event pg 1 of 2
2nd Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project
Where: El Cortijo & Montecillo de Nieto Primary School
When: 21 October 2009 11.20-12.10, & 12.30 – 2.45
Who: pre planning meeting – Bob, Elena & Laura (Rotary), Chela & Holly Cedesa.
Assembly, Bob, Elena, Laura & Chela, Hector & Leon (2 professors), + 32 Adults (including 1 man, Luis from Taboada), & 6 kids, with about a million kids playing outside in the school grounds.
Purpose: Pre planning session at El Cortijo & then Community Assembly at MdN Primary School – first public notification of possible project & call for interest in involvement in this project.
We arrived to the school & were welcomed by a bunch of happy & curious school kids, we entered the class room & the Teachers had already written up an agenda for the day, including the first item, which was a visit by a Govt. Official inviting parents to become involved in a program on parenting & health. The mums sat there pretty passively, looked at the handout books & were advised to attend the kinder if they were interested.
Next it was our turn, more people came in, a total of about 32, + the 2 professors who were very helpful, & co-operative, preparing printouts for people to sign their attendance & chalk for blackboards etc.
One of the teachers speaks English well, & was able to help with translation on a few points.
1stly Chela introduced us all, & spoke a little about Rotary, & Cedesa & what we were there for.
• The theme of the meeting was noted as water, & they were asked for their input on what they knew about water in the area. Some of the responses follow
• We have contaminated fluoride
• Contaminated by rubbish & drains
• & high fluoride
Chela asked what they knew about fluoride contamination, they were aware that it damages teeth, & she added that it also damages bones & major organs.
Chela asked them if they thought this was a problem or not, there was a resounding yes...
Chela talked about the watershed in general & the fact that the aquifer is reducing at a rapid rate & asked me to explain more, I talked about the slow recharge rate, that the water moves 1 mtr per year, so for example the rain we receive today will not enter the aquifer for 60 years if the water table is 60 metres deep in this area, in many areas the wells are deeper than 180 metres!
There was talk of pipes being layed to pipe the water from the Sapasma drilled well in Los Torres to MdN, but there has been no further action by govt on this. There has also been a rumour they might drill another well in MdN, but apparently this would go against current policy, re proximity of wells in regions.
Next we talked about a solution.
Only 2 people were aware of the Los Torres cisterns, but all were aware of the govt. Project to catch water at the school The tank is made of polypropelene (?) & is essentially supported in a structure with a loose fitting lid. There are mosquitos in the water. They have pumps & filters.
Pg 2 of 2
The most crucial point is that although there is a capacity of 30,000 litres it is estimated to be only 1/3rd full at the end of the rainy season. This is because only a small part of the available roof was piped to the cistern, it seems no followup has been done to check the efficiency of
the project, or they would have added the additional piping required to fill the tank. Pipes are cheap!
It was discussed that the community are not able to replicate this model (incidentally the same model as the project Rotary did at San Miguel Viejo, prior to our new development approach & revised model).
The maestro also mentioned that this project was very expensive, 1million pesos for just 9 schools.
Chela invited us to describe what Rotary was offering, & also asked why we were doing this.
Elena kindly translated for me, & in many cases guessed what I was going to say next & said it for me!!
We explained what Rotary was, & that there are members globally that care about the rest of the world & want to assist in making the world a better place.
We described the process of the project completed in Los Torres, including census, working in groups & positive outcomes. We handed around the instruction booklet which describes the process.
We also pointed out that there were many more families involved at the beginning, then some dropped out, & then some came back on board & that this was normal in the process.
We asked if they would like to be involved & all agreed.
We explained the next step was to form a mini committee.
5 people volunteered
Margarita (MdN)
Carmen (MdN)
Luis Cisneros (Taboada)
Irene Jimenez (MdN)
Emilia Ramirez (MdN)
These people will go house to house & explain the project, & ask who wants to be involved. They will record
Families, no. of people, roof material, size of roof
& they will invite them to attend the next meeting.
The committee will report back to the next meeting. (they agreed to do the census by Monday)
Next Meeting Wednesday 18th November 12.30 at the MdN School
Photo album http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=steve.mckee&target=ALBUM&id=5395898476865345153&authkey=Gv1sRgCN3a_7DOi7iACg&feat=email
2nd Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Montecillo de Nieto Water Project
Where: El Cortijo & Montecillo de Nieto Primary School
When: 21 October 2009 11.20-12.10, & 12.30 – 2.45
Who: pre planning meeting – Bob, Elena & Laura (Rotary), Chela & Holly Cedesa.
Assembly, Bob, Elena, Laura & Chela, Hector & Leon (2 professors), + 32 Adults (including 1 man, Luis from Taboada), & 6 kids, with about a million kids playing outside in the school grounds.
Purpose: Pre planning session at El Cortijo & then Community Assembly at MdN Primary School – first public notification of possible project & call for interest in involvement in this project.
We arrived to the school & were welcomed by a bunch of happy & curious school kids, we entered the class room & the Teachers had already written up an agenda for the day, including the first item, which was a visit by a Govt. Official inviting parents to become involved in a program on parenting & health. The mums sat there pretty passively, looked at the handout books & were advised to attend the kinder if they were interested.
Next it was our turn, more people came in, a total of about 32, + the 2 professors who were very helpful, & co-operative, preparing printouts for people to sign their attendance & chalk for blackboards etc.
One of the teachers speaks English well, & was able to help with translation on a few points.
1stly Chela introduced us all, & spoke a little about Rotary, & Cedesa & what we were there for.
• The theme of the meeting was noted as water, & they were asked for their input on what they knew about water in the area. Some of the responses follow
• We have contaminated fluoride
• Contaminated by rubbish & drains
• & high fluoride
Chela asked what they knew about fluoride contamination, they were aware that it damages teeth, & she added that it also damages bones & major organs.
Chela asked them if they thought this was a problem or not, there was a resounding yes...
Chela talked about the watershed in general & the fact that the aquifer is reducing at a rapid rate & asked me to explain more, I talked about the slow recharge rate, that the water moves 1 mtr per year, so for example the rain we receive today will not enter the aquifer for 60 years if the water table is 60 metres deep in this area, in many areas the wells are deeper than 180 metres!
There was talk of pipes being layed to pipe the water from the Sapasma drilled well in Los Torres to MdN, but there has been no further action by govt on this. There has also been a rumour they might drill another well in MdN, but apparently this would go against current policy, re proximity of wells in regions.
Next we talked about a solution.
Only 2 people were aware of the Los Torres cisterns, but all were aware of the govt. Project to catch water at the school The tank is made of polypropelene (?) & is essentially supported in a structure with a loose fitting lid. There are mosquitos in the water. They have pumps & filters.
Pg 2 of 2
The most crucial point is that although there is a capacity of 30,000 litres it is estimated to be only 1/3rd full at the end of the rainy season. This is because only a small part of the available roof was piped to the cistern, it seems no followup has been done to check the efficiency of
the project, or they would have added the additional piping required to fill the tank. Pipes are cheap!
It was discussed that the community are not able to replicate this model (incidentally the same model as the project Rotary did at San Miguel Viejo, prior to our new development approach & revised model).
The maestro also mentioned that this project was very expensive, 1million pesos for just 9 schools.
Chela invited us to describe what Rotary was offering, & also asked why we were doing this.
Elena kindly translated for me, & in many cases guessed what I was going to say next & said it for me!!
We explained what Rotary was, & that there are members globally that care about the rest of the world & want to assist in making the world a better place.
We described the process of the project completed in Los Torres, including census, working in groups & positive outcomes. We handed around the instruction booklet which describes the process.
We also pointed out that there were many more families involved at the beginning, then some dropped out, & then some came back on board & that this was normal in the process.
We asked if they would like to be involved & all agreed.
We explained the next step was to form a mini committee.
5 people volunteered
Margarita (MdN)
Carmen (MdN)
Luis Cisneros (Taboada)
Irene Jimenez (MdN)
Emilia Ramirez (MdN)
These people will go house to house & explain the project, & ask who wants to be involved. They will record
Families, no. of people, roof material, size of roof
& they will invite them to attend the next meeting.
The committee will report back to the next meeting. (they agreed to do the census by Monday)
Next Meeting Wednesday 18th November 12.30 at the MdN School
Photo album http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=steve.mckee&target=ALBUM&id=5395898476865345153&authkey=Gv1sRgCN3a_7DOi7iACg&feat=email
31st of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres
Record of Event pg 1 of 2
31st of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres
Where: El Cortijo
When: 21.10.09 2.45-3.45,
Who: Chela, Holly Yasui (Cedesa), Laura
Purpose: Pre mini-meeting planning & Mini Meeting with Los Torres leaders. The mini meeting was to
1. Plan the attendance by Los Torres women at the Water Foro, but the foro is now cancelled, meeting will be on other topics.
2. Discuss the formation of an Equipo de Acessoria – working team who are able to demonstrate the cistern technology & build in other locations.
Where: Los Torres – Chucha´s house.
When: 4.15-7.00pm
Who: Chela, Holly Yasui (Cedesa), Laura, Juan, Concha, Miguel, Chucha, Guillermo, Rafael, Carmella, Ofelia & 2 more women.
Purpose: as above.
!. The usual introductions & welcome.
2. Next was a general discussion, Q&A session.
SAPASMA (the municipal water providers), have not provided piping to the lower community, only the upper community. The well was also to be piped to Montecillo de Nieto (around 8 kms away) & apparently is not now.
MdN & Sapasma planning another well in MdN, but unlikely according to the proximity to this well, & regulations re proximity.
La Cienega & San Antonio la Joya, other side of the lake, have apparently recently received wells.
3. Chela took this time to discuss the general situation about the watershed. The aquifer is in crisis, the usage far outstrips the recharge rate, & it is reducing at approx 2 mtrs per year. There is no underground river, the water there is the only water there is, it is not replenishing any other way except rain, at a rate of 1mtr per year, to enter the aquifer. Ie if the well is 60 mtrs deep, then the rain from today will take 60 years to reach the aquifer at the today´s level…(1mtr per yearx 60 mtrs). In many places the water level is down to 180mtrs or more, so rain water will likely never get there…
4. Discussion about who will co-ordinate for today? Juan suggested no need for a co-ordinator as it is a much smaller meeting, easier to manage. Just need someone to keep records. He said that if you talk amongst yourselves you can stand up at the front of the class like in school – jokingly!
5. Agenda –
• Foro cancelled
• Visitor coming from Rotary in USA
• Other issues Los Torres community would like to work on
• Equipo de Acesoria
6. The Water Foro being planned by a coalition of people interested or affected by water issues has currently postponed, at least until we see what the new Local Govt. will do with regards water issues.
7. Visitor (Bill Webb) will be welcomed by a small committee who will then accompany him to view some of the nearby cisterns, including photos at the school & kindergarten. Carol, Carmella, & Chucha will organise this, speak to the teachers in advance, & meet us at 11am. (with the assembly to be moved to 12midday).
8. Other Community Issues to solve
Chela explained they now have a system for raising & solving their own issues (ie the community assembly & committees), & no longer have to rely on the government or outside help.
Page 2 of 2
They were asked to brainstorm ideas of issues the community would like to solve. Chela asked “how is life in Los Torres”
• Water (they mentioned how happy they were to have the cisterns because the trucks have not been coming from the Municipio & they would have had to borrow water, but with the cisterns they have their own!)
• No work, no money
• Not managing the money they do have well (would like budget advice)
• Health, not managing money well leads to lack of food or bad food
• Lack of awareness of nutrition
• Food production
• The road, better via MdN than CdP because if it was via CdP would need a bridge (to cross the mostly dry river)
Chela asked if they have ever done any projects or requests for assistance to the govt. in the past.
They said in the past they have paid for diesel for the govt to use machinery to level out the road, but it´s difficult because access is across ejido land & many different owners of the land that the road passes through.
They have been getting no-where with Ecology dept. feels like going round & round.
“We need to get upper & lower community more united, & working together.” Juan Alvarado
• Rafael mentioned, the 1st Thursday of every month there are meetings in different rural communities, working (paid small amount, paid by govt. program to do with boundaries –
• Federal $$ -
• Ejido people, of the 90 people involved only approx 20-24 participate regularly,
• only those that participate are paid. “Cacardos” program.
• They are making terraces, & bordos, planting Maguey & are paid approx 50 pesos per day.
• They get given jobs, eg plant 300 magueys or minimum road to construct.
• It´s good that it´s for your own land, so 50pesos per day is just a bonus
• It is good to retain the water, the water is all going to QTO where it is already sold, so whatever we can do here to retain it is worthwhile
• The program is only for those with Ejido land, many people in Los Torres only have their houselots & not additional productive land.
• Guillermo suggested maybe people could work on un-utilised land if they have none.
• The road is a major issue for the community as is the piping for the rest of the community, & there is a cost to rent the machinery.
• Chela suggested forming a communal fund, people could pay just 1 peso per day, ie 7 pesos per wk per family would be 630 pesos per wk, & use this money to improve the conditions of the community.
• People representing Los Torres should be paid their transport costs to get to meetings in SMA (from this communal fund for eg)
• Contributions would add value for everyone
• Chela suggested workshops in
• Traspatios(backyard gardens), natural health solutions (so not to have to visit the Dr) eg eat healthy foods, inhale eucalyptus steam, poultices, massage.
Chela said they need to put these issues to the next assembly (28th Oct) & get consensus & start prioritising issues & planning next steps.
9. Equipo de Acesoria the team consists of Juan, Miguel, Rafael & Guillermo, they were asked to meet, discuss their charges & find out the cost of materials to build a single cistern as a demonstration in Peñon de los Baños. Yolande Millan (Mujeres en Cambio) has been working in this community & has funds to build a demonstration cistern, to teach students.
Juan & his team have been asked to come up with pricing, & availability etc to go on weekends only to construct the cistern. They will report back to us at the 28th October assembly in Los Torres.
(this is great news, these Los Torres men are now skilled in Cistern construction, including materials purchasing, & can show others! It was also discussed by Chela, Holly & me that Juan would make an excellent promoter for Cedesa as they are very short staffed, & he has all the attributes, keen, enquiring, good follow up, very pro-active & organised.
Meeting ended at 7pm & we drove home… nearly got wiped out by a bus on the way home, but that´s a whole other story!
31st of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Los Torres
Where: El Cortijo
When: 21.10.09 2.45-3.45,
Who: Chela, Holly Yasui (Cedesa), Laura
Purpose: Pre mini-meeting planning & Mini Meeting with Los Torres leaders. The mini meeting was to
1. Plan the attendance by Los Torres women at the Water Foro, but the foro is now cancelled, meeting will be on other topics.
2. Discuss the formation of an Equipo de Acessoria – working team who are able to demonstrate the cistern technology & build in other locations.
Where: Los Torres – Chucha´s house.
When: 4.15-7.00pm
Who: Chela, Holly Yasui (Cedesa), Laura, Juan, Concha, Miguel, Chucha, Guillermo, Rafael, Carmella, Ofelia & 2 more women.
Purpose: as above.
!. The usual introductions & welcome.
2. Next was a general discussion, Q&A session.
SAPASMA (the municipal water providers), have not provided piping to the lower community, only the upper community. The well was also to be piped to Montecillo de Nieto (around 8 kms away) & apparently is not now.
MdN & Sapasma planning another well in MdN, but unlikely according to the proximity to this well, & regulations re proximity.
La Cienega & San Antonio la Joya, other side of the lake, have apparently recently received wells.
3. Chela took this time to discuss the general situation about the watershed. The aquifer is in crisis, the usage far outstrips the recharge rate, & it is reducing at approx 2 mtrs per year. There is no underground river, the water there is the only water there is, it is not replenishing any other way except rain, at a rate of 1mtr per year, to enter the aquifer. Ie if the well is 60 mtrs deep, then the rain from today will take 60 years to reach the aquifer at the today´s level…(1mtr per yearx 60 mtrs). In many places the water level is down to 180mtrs or more, so rain water will likely never get there…
4. Discussion about who will co-ordinate for today? Juan suggested no need for a co-ordinator as it is a much smaller meeting, easier to manage. Just need someone to keep records. He said that if you talk amongst yourselves you can stand up at the front of the class like in school – jokingly!
5. Agenda –
• Foro cancelled
• Visitor coming from Rotary in USA
• Other issues Los Torres community would like to work on
• Equipo de Acesoria
6. The Water Foro being planned by a coalition of people interested or affected by water issues has currently postponed, at least until we see what the new Local Govt. will do with regards water issues.
7. Visitor (Bill Webb) will be welcomed by a small committee who will then accompany him to view some of the nearby cisterns, including photos at the school & kindergarten. Carol, Carmella, & Chucha will organise this, speak to the teachers in advance, & meet us at 11am. (with the assembly to be moved to 12midday).
8. Other Community Issues to solve
Chela explained they now have a system for raising & solving their own issues (ie the community assembly & committees), & no longer have to rely on the government or outside help.
Page 2 of 2
They were asked to brainstorm ideas of issues the community would like to solve. Chela asked “how is life in Los Torres”
• Water (they mentioned how happy they were to have the cisterns because the trucks have not been coming from the Municipio & they would have had to borrow water, but with the cisterns they have their own!)
• No work, no money
• Not managing the money they do have well (would like budget advice)
• Health, not managing money well leads to lack of food or bad food
• Lack of awareness of nutrition
• Food production
• The road, better via MdN than CdP because if it was via CdP would need a bridge (to cross the mostly dry river)
Chela asked if they have ever done any projects or requests for assistance to the govt. in the past.
They said in the past they have paid for diesel for the govt to use machinery to level out the road, but it´s difficult because access is across ejido land & many different owners of the land that the road passes through.
They have been getting no-where with Ecology dept. feels like going round & round.
“We need to get upper & lower community more united, & working together.” Juan Alvarado
• Rafael mentioned, the 1st Thursday of every month there are meetings in different rural communities, working (paid small amount, paid by govt. program to do with boundaries –
• Federal $$ -
• Ejido people, of the 90 people involved only approx 20-24 participate regularly,
• only those that participate are paid. “Cacardos” program.
• They are making terraces, & bordos, planting Maguey & are paid approx 50 pesos per day.
• They get given jobs, eg plant 300 magueys or minimum road to construct.
• It´s good that it´s for your own land, so 50pesos per day is just a bonus
• It is good to retain the water, the water is all going to QTO where it is already sold, so whatever we can do here to retain it is worthwhile
• The program is only for those with Ejido land, many people in Los Torres only have their houselots & not additional productive land.
• Guillermo suggested maybe people could work on un-utilised land if they have none.
• The road is a major issue for the community as is the piping for the rest of the community, & there is a cost to rent the machinery.
• Chela suggested forming a communal fund, people could pay just 1 peso per day, ie 7 pesos per wk per family would be 630 pesos per wk, & use this money to improve the conditions of the community.
• People representing Los Torres should be paid their transport costs to get to meetings in SMA (from this communal fund for eg)
• Contributions would add value for everyone
• Chela suggested workshops in
• Traspatios(backyard gardens), natural health solutions (so not to have to visit the Dr) eg eat healthy foods, inhale eucalyptus steam, poultices, massage.
Chela said they need to put these issues to the next assembly (28th Oct) & get consensus & start prioritising issues & planning next steps.
9. Equipo de Acesoria the team consists of Juan, Miguel, Rafael & Guillermo, they were asked to meet, discuss their charges & find out the cost of materials to build a single cistern as a demonstration in Peñon de los Baños. Yolande Millan (Mujeres en Cambio) has been working in this community & has funds to build a demonstration cistern, to teach students.
Juan & his team have been asked to come up with pricing, & availability etc to go on weekends only to construct the cistern. They will report back to us at the 28th October assembly in Los Torres.
(this is great news, these Los Torres men are now skilled in Cistern construction, including materials purchasing, & can show others! It was also discussed by Chela, Holly & me that Juan would make an excellent promoter for Cedesa as they are very short staffed, & he has all the attributes, keen, enquiring, good follow up, very pro-active & organised.
Meeting ended at 7pm & we drove home… nearly got wiped out by a bus on the way home, but that´s a whole other story!
Monday, September 28, 2009
quick update MdN - Report 1 MdN Project Montecillo de Nieto
Hi guys,
Bill, let me present you to the team - Bob (I know you've met), Elena & Holly (whom you will meet in person on your forthcoming visit).
We have had 2 previous planning meetings, with this community, one at Casa de Aves (a local hotel that employs a large number of the community of MdN) & also the delegado (whom we have met previously at Presidential meetings involving his & the Los Torres communities).
These meetings would be considered pre-planning meetings, a handshake session, with a little bit of information imparted by both sides. Essentially to prove that the community is keen to be involved in this project, as they have seen at their neighbouring community Los Torres.
Thanks to Elena we had a very successful visit to MdN this morning. (Bob sorry that you were sick, hope you are feeling better).
We met with the 2 profesores of the MdN school - Hector Rivas & Leon Morales as planned.
They were very accommodating & organised, & had copies of the emails Holly & Irma & Elena had sent regarding the various things going on in MdN right now.
Re the Adobe Boveda Workshop - they are meeting with the community this Thursday & will choose 2 people to attend the workshop.
They have Holly's email address & agreed to send contact information & the 2 names to her after the meeting on Thursday.
Re the Foro
They will raise this topic at the Thursday meeting also & will forward details to Holly in the same way.
They said they will do their best to convince a couple of members of the community to present at the foro, but if not able to find someone for the presentation side, then they will at least impress upon them the importance of attending the Foro.
Re the MdN Community meeting on the 21st October
Change of time - now 12.30midday at MdN (they had a clash at 12 midday),
The community will be there & ready.
Re the Water collection project in general - they have some awareness about this already from a presentation by the Ecology dept, & a poster demonstrating the Water tank idea, & the project the Eco. dept has implemented at the school.
They feel sure that the community are very pleased to be involved in this.
A few facts:
the school has 64 kids
the kindergarten across the road approx 23 kids
there are approx 20 kids attending from nearby Taboada
the number of families in MdN was estimated at 45
the number of families in nearby Taboada is estimated at 10
It was agreed that Taboada should be included in the MdN project, as they are very close neighbours, & have the same water issues, they will also be invited to attend the 21st October prelim community assembly.
We explained we have sufficient funding (thank you Tallahassee!!) to begin a phase I of 26 cisterns.
As an aside - we had a look at the water collection system that the Ecology dept. has installed at the school.
Interestingly, despite having a capacity of 30,000 litres, the tank looks to be less than 1/2 full, which is less that should be at the end of the rainy season.
Only a small part of the roof has been included in this project, we could mention this to the dept of ecology, or we could maybe assist them to include a larger portion on the roof, to maximise this expensive storage system.
The meeting was from 9.30am to 10.30 am (Elena & I then spent some time exploring the neighbouring communities, re possible future projects.
Next Meeting 21 October at 12.30 at the MdN School,
with another meeting (a mini meeting with committee on foro, & proposed technical team) on 21st Oct at 4pm in Los Torres.
Hi guys,
Bill, let me present you to the team - Bob (I know you've met), Elena & Holly (whom you will meet in person on your forthcoming visit).
We have had 2 previous planning meetings, with this community, one at Casa de Aves (a local hotel that employs a large number of the community of MdN) & also the delegado (whom we have met previously at Presidential meetings involving his & the Los Torres communities).
These meetings would be considered pre-planning meetings, a handshake session, with a little bit of information imparted by both sides. Essentially to prove that the community is keen to be involved in this project, as they have seen at their neighbouring community Los Torres.
Thanks to Elena we had a very successful visit to MdN this morning. (Bob sorry that you were sick, hope you are feeling better).
We met with the 2 profesores of the MdN school - Hector Rivas & Leon Morales as planned.
They were very accommodating & organised, & had copies of the emails Holly & Irma & Elena had sent regarding the various things going on in MdN right now.
Re the Adobe Boveda Workshop - they are meeting with the community this Thursday & will choose 2 people to attend the workshop.
They have Holly's email address & agreed to send contact information & the 2 names to her after the meeting on Thursday.
Re the Foro
They will raise this topic at the Thursday meeting also & will forward details to Holly in the same way.
They said they will do their best to convince a couple of members of the community to present at the foro, but if not able to find someone for the presentation side, then they will at least impress upon them the importance of attending the Foro.
Re the MdN Community meeting on the 21st October
Change of time - now 12.30midday at MdN (they had a clash at 12 midday),
The community will be there & ready.
Re the Water collection project in general - they have some awareness about this already from a presentation by the Ecology dept, & a poster demonstrating the Water tank idea, & the project the Eco. dept has implemented at the school.
They feel sure that the community are very pleased to be involved in this.
A few facts:
the school has 64 kids
the kindergarten across the road approx 23 kids
there are approx 20 kids attending from nearby Taboada
the number of families in MdN was estimated at 45
the number of families in nearby Taboada is estimated at 10
It was agreed that Taboada should be included in the MdN project, as they are very close neighbours, & have the same water issues, they will also be invited to attend the 21st October prelim community assembly.
We explained we have sufficient funding (thank you Tallahassee!!) to begin a phase I of 26 cisterns.
As an aside - we had a look at the water collection system that the Ecology dept. has installed at the school.
Interestingly, despite having a capacity of 30,000 litres, the tank looks to be less than 1/2 full, which is less that should be at the end of the rainy season.
Only a small part of the roof has been included in this project, we could mention this to the dept of ecology, or we could maybe assist them to include a larger portion on the roof, to maximise this expensive storage system.
The meeting was from 9.30am to 10.30 am (Elena & I then spent some time exploring the neighbouring communities, re possible future projects.
Next Meeting 21 October at 12.30 at the MdN School,
with another meeting (a mini meeting with committee on foro, & proposed technical team) on 21st Oct at 4pm in Los Torres.
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