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

Where: Peña Blanca community (beside Kinder)

When:  24.4.12 approx 10.30-12midday

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

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

& 1^st meeting at Peña Blanca re water cisterns

Summary of the visit:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Where: La Tinaja community (beside Health Clinic)

When:  24.4.12 approx 12.30 – 3.50 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She spoke eloquently & without hesitation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chela involved everyone in discussions about their prioirities in life.

What’s important to you? She asked

The families/people

Their land

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

Organisation/taking decisión by assembly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Submitted by Laura Stewart

Report of Regional Meeting & Inauguration Cruz del Palmar

Where: Casa of Cata in Cruz del Palmar (& 3 other family casas)

When: March 29 2012 11am – 4.20pm

Who: Chela, Holly, Saul (Cedesa) Laura, (Rotary), + more than 158 people.

Purpose:

1. Regular Regional meeting of the now 22 communities part of the Consejo – Cocira formed as a result of the Water Cistern Project.
2. Inauguration of the 41 cistern project part of the Global Grant 25437 funded by Calgary RC & Alberta CIP & combined with Direct grants from Tallahassee RC, Port Lavaca RC & private donations, as well as excess funds from previous water cistern projects.

Holly & I arrived a little late at 11.40 & the meeting was in full process. There was a huge gathering of people seated & standing & participating in the discussions.

The roll had already been “called” & a list of communities & numbers of representatives was already made. Attendance was listed as follows:-

Corralejo 5, Pena Blanca 18, Capaderillo 3, La Tinaja 16, Tierra Blanca 3, Artesanos 3, Juan Gonzalez 17, Palmita II 14, Vivienda de Arriba 4, Villa de Guadalupe 8, Vivienda Urbana 5, Guerrero 2, Magueyes 2, Presita de Santa Rosa 10, Los Torres 3, San Lorenzo 3, Cienega 5, Cruz del Palmar 31, Montecillo de Nieto 4, La Joya 1, Banda 1. (there were more late arrivals but these were not recorded by community).

The Co-ordinator had been chosen – Roberto & record takers were taking notes for each community as well as for the Consejo.

The agenda had been decided & listed:

1. Presentation & Introduction
2. Programing of regional meetings, micro regional meetings & community direct attention assemblies.
3. Sanitarios secos update re resources
4. Cistern project – inaugurations/ next project with Sapasma
5. Pipa Communitario
6. Diplomado de turismo Rural
7. Report re Codecin
8. Inauguration of 41 cisterns at Cruz del Palmar

Item 1:This had already taken place (hence the list of attendees above)

Item 2: Programming of regional meetings, micro regional meetings & community direct attention assemblies.

After some discussion it was agreed that micro regional meetings were ideal to discuss issues closer to each community & with smaller more productive groups enabled. The list of micro regions was drawn up, & each decided when they would next meet, they will meet on a 2 monthly basis.

Regional meetings will be held every 3 mths (ie qtrly) unless there is a special meeting called.

Community direct attention/organisation assemblies will be every month with Saul or Chela attending each one.

Traspatios (backyard production) & health workshops will continue in each of the communities that wishes them, with other Cedesa “specialist” promoters, ie Juana for health, & Benigno for backyard production.

The special training workshops will also continue at Cedesa, with the next one being on alternative construction techniques, this one is aimed at the young men, many of whom are currently unemployed, to teach them inexpensive alternatives to the normal brick construction. They will learn rammed earth techniques as well as adobe. The idea being as a team they can assist eachother to construct housing for themselves. Traditionally young men in this state go to the USA to accumulate enough money to begin to build themselves (& their new families) a house. We know how fraught this tradition is & in attempt to offer alternatives this new workshop is being offered.

Micro region 1 – close to the Presa. Next Meeting 18/4 10am at Vivienda Urbana

Capaderillo, Guerrero, Vivienda Urbana, Presita de Santa Rosa

Micro region 2 – Next Meeting 16/5 10am Montecillo de Nieto

Montecillo de Nieto, Los Torres, Cruz del Palmar, Banda, Artesano, Magueyes

Micro region 3 – Next Meeting 25/4 Juan Gonzalez 10am

Vivienda de Arriba, Tierra Blanca, Juan Gonzalez, San Lorenzo, Villa de Guadalupe, Cienega, La Joya

Micro region 4 – Next Meeting 23/5 10am La Tinaja

Corralejo, Cinco Senores, La Tinaja, Palmita II, Pena Blanca

General Assemblies, or Regional meetings will be every 3 mths, the next one June 28/6 at Guerrero 11am.

Item 3: Sanitarios Secos

The work continues on this project, the funding has been promised but they are still working through all the requisites to receive the $$ & begin the actual project.

Item 4:

Cistern Project Inaugurations:

Cruz del Palmar today, La Tinaja Tues 24/4 at 11am, Guerrero Sat 28/4 at 11am (3 Esquinas to be advised).

A commission from Cocira will attend the inauguration in Guerrero in solidarity.

Sapasma next project:

Holly advised Waldo has said a next Sapasma project is likely within the next 2 months. Sapasma currently has a policy of providing cisterns only to communities without water, not to communities with Contaminated water, Cocira would like to discuss this with Sapasma, ie to see whether this can be changed, as it is essential that people with contaminated water have access to safe drinking water, even if they have well water for domestic use.

A list of priority communities was created, but depends on the existing policy of Sapasma & whether that can be changed.

Action: water tests need to be done at the following communities – ie not yet tested

La Joya, Corralejo, La Tinaja, Palmita II, Vivienda Urbana. The cost to the communities for these tests is $300 pesos, $150 for arsenic test & $150 for Fluoride test. These costs are to cover the consumables for the Cedesa Lab ie bottle, testing strips, chemicals etc. Chela asked that each community ask families to contribute even 5pesos each, to cover these costs.

Item 5: Pipa Communitaria

It had previously been proposed by Sapasma that a plan for the Consejo to operate their own Pipa (water truck) for deliveries of water to their own communities could be put into place. This has been discussed at great length in previous assembly & each representative has spoken with their communities. Each of the communities were asked to comment & vote on the proposal, there were many comments, “the purpose of cisterns is to collect rain water, which is pure water, it makes no sense to fill the cisterns with other water & will be very complicated to administer” “we don’t know the exact costs but we know it is likely to be expensive & it will be very complicated” “we just want rain water or people will not value it & will waste water” “it will be too complicated, we are many communities & it will be difficult to administer & control” “I don’t think it is viable with all the issues that could pop up, like a broken pump, no electricity, lots of potential expenses” “lots of responsibility & a lot of work” “difficult to prioritise deliveries, we could have lots of people wanting water at the same time & this would mean competing against eachother, & risking solidarity”

The vote was unanimously “NO”.

A commission will go to Sapasma to explain the reasons for “NO” vote & make alternative suggestions for resolving the issues - & work hard on getting existing Pozos(wells) functioning – in Los Torres, Cienega & Montecillo de Nieto – this will cut down the number of families without water significantly.

Also, extra pipa deliveries need to be asked for for the communities without water in Villa de Guadalupe for example.

At this point an additional item was added – discussion on ethics & values. Chela worked with the crowd to discuss the value of working hard to improve your community & your region, working with good heart & good conscience.

Item 6: Diplomado de Turismo Rural

Cedesa is hosting another rural diploma similar to the water one held 2008/09. It is described as follows:

Diploma course on Sustainable Rural Tourism, taught by Dr. Felipe Macias, University of Guanajuato (Social Science and Humanities)

Module 1 – social organization

Module 2 – sustainable energy in the rural environment

Module 3 – Territory and natural resources

Module 4 – Gender, environment and sustainable development

Module 5 – Landscape and special aspects of the countryside

Module 6 – Reception, services and goods to offer to visitors

Northern Guanajuato is diverse, not only because of its people and the natural reosuces, but also because of the ecology that provides food, medicine, fuel, rest, tranquility and recreation for its inhabitants. Without a doubt, rural areas have much to offer the urban population, including goods and services and the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences. Campesinos are the ones who protect, maintain and take care of natural ecosystems, especially the water, soil, flora and fauna and cultural heritage. Rural tourism includes actions that teach/confirm respect for the environment and natural resources as well as an opportunity for campesinos to improve their socio-economic situation.

Item 7: Codecin – Coalition of the Cuenca

Cedesa & representatives from Cocira are part of a coalition of the Cuenca (the region that includes the 7 municipalities sharing the same aquifer). They are working on various issues including maintaining conservation & defence of the aquifer & defence of the native seeds. This coalition is made up of many national organisations & is beyond just San Miguel.

At this point the assembly concluded & the Inauguration began.

Cata described the agenda which included first a banquet & rest & relaxation (after the long meeting), we then headed off to visit 3 cisterns nearby.

The 41 cisterns in this community were completed in record time, 3 wks to construct all the cisterns, which is an average of 2 cisterns per group per week.

The participants receiving the cisterns spoke their thanks at each of the houses. A huge thanks was extended to Rotary both local San Miguel & the international clubs who have made this project & continuing process possible. The speakers spoke with love about their cisterns & the difference it will make to their lives.

Two of the cisterns had been amazingly decorated. The first one had a very cute cobbled path around the circumference of the cistern, with another width of garden defined by large jagged rocks. The garden was filled with lillies & the cobbled path included specially selected rocks found in the dry river bed nearby. They had even created a little bridge going over the space where the water from the discharge would flow when they clean the cisterns out…There was also a little stone carved deity which they had found while excavating dirt to make the tepetate bricks in the area, he was placed looking over the tap. It was topped off with a full glass bottle of coke, & the woman joked that when her children & grandchildren come to visit they will be very happy to drink fresh water instead of the unreachable coke.

The last cistern was also incredibly decorated, this one had coach lanterns placed evenly around the top rim of the cistern, it was surrounded by a ledge of cement with little stone carvings placed evenly watching, it was topped off with a very ornate metal cross with a plastic baby doll attached, & with a terracotta bird watching on.

There were streamers & balloons & a ribbon strung across a metal arch way… Chela asked me to say a few words, I was choked up & could barely get any out but managed to congratulate the large crowd on their accomplishments in the last 3.5 yrs, beyond just the water cisterns, to have organised themselves to continue to have council meetings of this size & continue to work on their issues is a mammoth achievement.

Chela spoke & explained this is likely my last project since I am moving to Mexico City with my family. I invited them to visit us in Mexico City & couldn’t get any more words out with tears streaming. Flashing past were many memories of where this all started, all the zillions of emails & huge support from Bill Webb in Tallahassee & the many other clubs, Districts, Foundation & organisations that have supported these communities. How these communities continue to have faith that their work will be rewarded & how it has been.

The ribbon was cut & confetti was tossed. Cheers went up, & Holly & I made our excuses & raced off.

I really wish that Bill, Norman, Skip & all the members from all the other clubs that have been involved in this project from the start could have been there with us, but actually in a huge way you all were!!

Love

Laura

(As an addendum, 3 of the women from Los Torres were at the assembly, they bought with them a list of 12 more families who would like to receive cisterns, this will bring the total to 82 out of 91 families, & will be the last phase – we have decided to include them in this final project, bringing the project full circle – Los Torres is where we started & will be where we finish this final project – ay carray!)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

14th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary @ Vivienda de Arriba& Tierra Blanca re water Project

Record of Event

Where: Vivienda de Arriba – courtyard of church(40 mins from SMA)

When: 14^th March 2012 1.40pm – 3.20pm

Who: Chela, Holly & Saul, (Cedesa) Laura, (Rotary), + 27 adults (incl. 7 men) & 10 kids & 2 dogs…

Purpose of assembly: To plan the next phase of the GG/Direct grant Water Cistern project which will be 19 more cisterns in Vivienda de Arriba (10) & Tierra Blanca (9).

Note: Re Guerrero : today’s assembly was postponed from March 7, as on that day there was an issue in the community of Guerrero which Chela & Saul needed to attend to. Guerrero is another community we have been working in. There are 12 families whose land is currently in dispute.

On March 7^th a lawyer, earthmoving equipment & 50 police turned up to evict & bulldoze the house of at least one of the families.

Many people came in support of the families, including representatives from communities of the Citizen’s council – Cocira (formed by as a result of the water cistern projects).

It was stated by a member of the community that this was a rare event, ie to see other communities supporting one another, & was due to the organizational process of the water projects over the last 3.5 yrs.

As a result of the solidarity provided to the community, the lawyer decided to call off the earthmovers & the families are still in their homes.

Rotary has stayed out of the legal battle, but it should be noted we have continued to support the families to provide them with safe drinking water as the level of fluoride in this area is very dangerously high at 4+mg/l…

As an aside, at least one family mentioned that not only were they born on this land, but also their father & grandfather. There has also been a countersuit (filed co-incidentally the same day as the eviction notice was received), stating that the judge & the complainant have been colluding at the house of the complainant.

Regardless, the 19 (+1 pilot) cisterns in the community of Guerrero are almost completed & we continue our mission to assist people to resolve their drinking water situation.

When Vivienda de Arriba & Tierra Blanca community members heard the assembly of March 7 was postponed (& why) they decided to go to Guerrero to support their neighbours.

Consequently the first part of the assembly was a debrief of the current situation, Saul also read out an article that appeared in the newspaper Sol del Bajio on 14^th March describing the situation in Guerrero on the 7^th March.

The assembly moved onto usual routine.

Chela asked for a show of hands as to who was attending from Tierra Blanca & who from Vivienda de Arriba.

VdA had 15 people attending & Tierra Blanca had 16 (& more arrived later, not sure if Vda or TB)

Call for a co-ordinator & record taker for each community was made…

Lorena was appointed co-ordinator, & there were 2 record takers.

Page 2 of 2

Chela asked why everyone was here…

The response was “about the cisterns, to make agreements as to who will receive them”

“to define the training sessions, time & who”

There are 10 on the list for Vivienda de Arriba (with more waiting) & 11 on the list for Tierra Blanca.

They have already organized themselves into work groups (each community will work in one group). This the 2^nd phase for each of these communities, so they are already very aware of what is involved, & even better are happy to support their fellow community members & work with them to train them. Saul will of course still be visiting to ensure there are no issues, but this is an excellent result & more evidence of community building.

Anna – from Vivienda, mentioned there are 8 more people who would also like cisterns, Chela asked if they were current residents or were away in the USA working – reiterating that the project was not just a cistern project but involved participation in the process , Anna said they were local & have been participating.

We asked how each of the communities had “prioritized” the participants, ie there are more people wanting cisterns than we have cisterns available. Vivienda de Arriba decided based on attendance at meetings, & Tierra Blanca had had a “raffle” (drawing straws). Tierra Blanca advised that there are at least 38 people still wanting to be involved in the cistern project, of which we had mentioned 11 cisterns were available…

The situation currently is that we have only materials for 35 extra cisterns (although we have funding for more materials)… the materials are special order & have a lead time as much as 3 wks depending on the factory, hence our supplier had ordered in advance sufficient materials for 35 more cisterns & so we have had to split into additional phases.

When we receive the additional funds promised from Port Lavaca Rotary Club we will be able to place the next order of materials & therefore have another meeting with Tierra Blanca (& maybe VdA) to allocate the next number of cisterns. (ay carray – life is complicated!)

It was decided by VdA that no pilot training session was necessary, that past cistern builders would assist the newbies. Tierra Blanca initially decided to do a pilot at the Kinder (39 kids) then decided to give it to one of the families on the list instead, & do without a pilot training session.

We mentioned the tools required, & they all knew what was needed (in fact Anna was listing them out loud from memory) & they all have them or can borrow them.

They decided they would like to get started this weekend & so asked if I could order & pay for the materials in time for delivery on Friday. (which I have done).

Contact details were given for the driver – ie the driver calls the first person & that person guides him for deliveries to each of the houses on the list in each of the communities.

Saul mentioned we have sufficient Plywood left from previous projects, order for Sand & Gravel was made on the following day, & order for the doors will be made once we have final cistern numbers (since the process of ordering the doors is a little more complicated).

The meeting came to a close approx. 3.20. We then headed over to Anna’s place for tacos of nopal & chicheron with boiled eggs – yum!!

Excellent publicity from District 6940

Our very good friends at Tallahassee RC have achieved excellent coverage of the water cistern project in their district newsletter this month.

You can read all about it here (on page 5 & 6)

HUGE THANK YOU for the continued support from this wonderful Club & District & our very good friends Bill Webb, Larry Kubiak & John Medina...xxx

Report of progress Water project Global Grant 25437

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

When: 15 Feb 2012 during Team meeting at Cedesa.

Who Laura, Holly, Saul, Chela

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

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

Saul reported the following:

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

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

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

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

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

Cruz del Palmar – 41 Cisterns

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

Guerrero – 20 cisterns

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

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

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

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

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