Where: The Presidencia at the Municipal Buildings at the Glorieta beside the road to Los Rodriguez
When: Thursday 19th November 2008 2pm-5.15pm
Who: Enrique Nunez Martinez + 1 other (Secretario Technico – director of directors as we understand it), Ernesto Lopez (engineer Sapasma), Don Patterson + 2 others (director & engineers Ecology Dept), Chela Martinez, Benigno, Holly Yasui (CEDESA), Jose Miguel (Delegada of Los Torres) + 2 others, 4 members of the Montecillo de Nieto Community (Los Torres neighbours). Judy Fisher (representative from another NGO Patronato Pro Ninos), Laura Stewart (Rotary SMA midday),
General Project Purpose - SMA Rotary tasked Bob & Laura with defining the “needs” & determining the best proposal, for a major water Project involving the writing of a competitive grant for approx. US$100K.
Rationale: As part of the process of defining the “need” we will meet with as many people as possible that are directly involved in the provision of, or are aware of the need for the provision of, safe drinking water solutions to marginal communities.
Specific Project determined: We are now working on the Los Torres project
to fund individual water collection systems for each household in Los Torres. We have verbal funding agreed of US$60K combined, from our North American Rotary Partner clubs.
Meeting Purpose:
Judy Fisher instigated this meeting. She had had an earlier meeting as she described as follows:
I DID MEET WITH SALUD PALACIOS AND ENRIQUE NUNEZ (THE PEOPLE FROM THE PRESIDENCIA WHO ORGANIZED THE MEETING THE 19TH.) AT THE FIRST MEETING, ENRIQUE STATED THAT THE GREY WATER TRUCK FOR THE BATHROOMS AT THE SCHOOL CAME FROM AN ORDER FROM ECOLOGIA AND THE WATER FOR THE TINACOS CAME FROM SAPASMA. FOR THESE ORDERS THE PRESSURE DID COME FROM THE PRESIDENCIA, OFICINA CIUDADANA.
During the earlier meeting Enrique had suggested calling a meeting of all parties involved with the provision (or potential provision) of water to Los Torres. So that information could be transferred & a plan of sorts achieved.
Summary of Visit
We all met at the Presidencia & introduced ourselves. The entire meeting was in Spanish. I am not fully fluent & asked for clarification from Judy & Holly on points I thought I had missed.
Ecology Dept
Don Patterson led the meeting & talked in general about what the Ecology Dept does, ie environmental conservation, tree planting programs, water conservation efforts, the installation of water collection system at a clinic in San Augustin, & the planned implementation of more water collection systems in 9 more communities at a school or clinic level.
Points to note
a study done by Ecosciences in 2006 tested over 100 pozos (wells). The tests involved measuring the levels of fluoride, magnesium, arsenic & colioforms.
Pg 2 of 3
The study report indicated approx 20 community wells (affecting over 6000 people), contained higher than safe levels of one or more of the contaminants.
Of these 20 communities, the Ecology Dept have plans to provide water from roof collection (on schools &/or clinics) in 11 at risk communities in total.
This will provide safe drinking water during the school day for the children in these communities. It will not provide safe drinking water for the entire community.
They have insufficient funding to provide these measures to all of the affected communities at this point & the inference has been that any outside help would be gratefully accepted.
Over 50% of the pozos tested, tested positive for coliform, although no measures were made of the safe (or unsafe) levels.
(NB A lot of this information we/Rotary already knew as we have had a lot of contact with the Ecology department regarding exactly this. We also worked with them on our earlier San Miguel Viejo project – which replicated the model that the Ecology dept had done in San Augustin).
Don Patterson advised the communities that there was funding available for them to plant trees in their communities (the minimum average wage + trees would be provided by Ecology, but the community would have to approach & organise), the issue of how to water the trees would still have to be solved!
Sapasma is the local municipal govt. organisation responsible for the provision of water to the SMA region.
Ernesto Lopez – chief engineer (Rotary have had several meetings with Ernesto in the early stages of the scoping of this project), discussed their plans for the installation of a well in the upper part of the Los Torres community. The community has paid for a study into the feasibility of the drilling of a well in LT. Water does exist there, at a level of 180metres deep.
They are currently drilling a well. It will provide water for Los Torres & their neighbours Montecillo de Nieto (approx 15 mins drive away).
Points to note
Sapasma did not divulge how much this will cost the people of LT or Montecillo
The water has not been tested (is almost 100% likely to be contaminated with fluoride like the water less than 500 mtres away in the family wells in the lower community) so will likely be only useful for household & not Drinking water
The level of the lower community wells have been decreasing at the rate of more than 1 metre per year, just from single household use. There has been no taking into account how quickly the aquifer will drop given that they plan to pipe it to the houses in 2 communities.
Water consumption increases dramatically when it is provided on tap & does not have to be carried!
Water consumption also increases when the consumption per family is hard to measure (ie when it is on tap with no water meter)
Pg 3 of 3
CEDESA
Chela introduced herself & her organisation’s purpose, ie to help camposinos live a sustainable existence & stay on the land.
She had some interesting questions for Sapasma about the sustainability of their approach & the extreme cost to the communities (both financially & cost to the environment). It was agreed that a combination of water supply was necessary as it’s currently not cost effective to build a cistern big enough to supply water to the entire community for all water needs.
She described the technologies that CEDESA teaches & asked the community leaders if there was an interest in – for example – dry toilets, water collection, back yard gardens, bee-keeping. They said they were very interested.
Rotary I explained that Rotary was very interested in helping in the area of Water. That we were looking to make the biggest difference to the most people for the least amount of money & briefly described our plan/project (at this stage).
Enrique said that there is a new DVD available that contains info. about communities that need help with water. He said there are many communities that have no water. I pointed out that we have tried many times with many different departments to identify these & he said this DVD would do the trick.
I will email him for a copy of the DVD.
Enrique Nunez – the presidencia representative
Enrique was very receptive & pro-active (he called the meeting!). He is high level local govt. & is very keen for all of the govt departments & NGO’s to work alongside the community to resolve any issues.
He re-iterated that the door is always open – as did the other department directors.
Enrique called the next meeting for 28th January – 11am – Presidencia office.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
13th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project
Record of Meeting pg 1 of 1
13th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Where: Los Torres – Health Fair (organised by Judy & Bill in conjunction with Health Dept)
When: Saturday 15th November 8am – 4pm
Who: Bob & Sue Leonard, Laura (Rotary), Judy & Bill (Patronato Pro Ninos) The patronato board, volunteers & staff & Health Department staff, Casa Volunteers & the whole community of Los Torres (& I suspect neighbouring communities)
Project Purpose - SMA Rotary has tasked Bob & Laura with defining the “needs” & determining the best proposal, for a major water Project involving the writing of a competitive grant for approx. US$100K.
Rationale: As part of the process of defining the “need” we will meet with as many people as possible that are directly involved in the provision of, or are aware of the need for the provision of, safe drinking water solutions to marginal communities.
Visit Purpose:
To volunteer at the Health Fair, get to know the community better, see how this day was organised & what it achieved.
Summary of Visit
We met at the Fabrica Aurora carpark & carpooled. I met Mary Caruso (medical director for Patronato Pro Nino) & Maria Aguilar & Juan Camacho – 2 Casa volunteers.
The day was a focus on health, there were various components, first priority was for the kids of the community to have fun.
Medical staff saw each of the 150 children, recorded names & health statistics.
There were 3 different “talks” for the mothers to attend, on preventing accidents in the home, diet & nutrition, hygiene/handwashing, health in pregnancy, & dental health.
The women received diploma’s for attending the talks.
The children received a free colgate toothbrush for visiting the doctor
We collated & the issued goody bags for the mothers, included were – liquid soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, thermometer, brochures on the topics.
We served beans, rice, chicken, tortillas, fruit, juice & water to approx 500 men, women & children from the community (& neighbours).
Important points
The focus was on having fun
There were 2 clowns that provided a fantastic service 1. keeping the kids entertained whilst their mums were in the “talks” but most importantly 2. to organise the children to see the doctors.
150 children were happily led to see the doctor with minimum waiting time. They were given stickers with number on them, the clowns then called for the children in groups, ie all the kids with number 1 stickers, came up to “play” with the clowns then were taken in 2’s to visit the doctor. They were rewarded with a toothbrush – which seemed like a great novelty!
There were 3 bouncy castles & soccer games going on as well.
At the end of the day there were a lot of smiling faces, they had received a goody bag, their diploma’s, information, health checks & a huge nutritious meal. They even had leftovers to take home!
Everyone agreed it was a very successful day (except Judy fell & broke her wrist very badly & had to leave before the end)!
13th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Where: Los Torres – Health Fair (organised by Judy & Bill in conjunction with Health Dept)
When: Saturday 15th November 8am – 4pm
Who: Bob & Sue Leonard, Laura (Rotary), Judy & Bill (Patronato Pro Ninos) The patronato board, volunteers & staff & Health Department staff, Casa Volunteers & the whole community of Los Torres (& I suspect neighbouring communities)
Project Purpose - SMA Rotary has tasked Bob & Laura with defining the “needs” & determining the best proposal, for a major water Project involving the writing of a competitive grant for approx. US$100K.
Rationale: As part of the process of defining the “need” we will meet with as many people as possible that are directly involved in the provision of, or are aware of the need for the provision of, safe drinking water solutions to marginal communities.
Visit Purpose:
To volunteer at the Health Fair, get to know the community better, see how this day was organised & what it achieved.
Summary of Visit
We met at the Fabrica Aurora carpark & carpooled. I met Mary Caruso (medical director for Patronato Pro Nino) & Maria Aguilar & Juan Camacho – 2 Casa volunteers.
The day was a focus on health, there were various components, first priority was for the kids of the community to have fun.
Medical staff saw each of the 150 children, recorded names & health statistics.
There were 3 different “talks” for the mothers to attend, on preventing accidents in the home, diet & nutrition, hygiene/handwashing, health in pregnancy, & dental health.
The women received diploma’s for attending the talks.
The children received a free colgate toothbrush for visiting the doctor
We collated & the issued goody bags for the mothers, included were – liquid soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, thermometer, brochures on the topics.
We served beans, rice, chicken, tortillas, fruit, juice & water to approx 500 men, women & children from the community (& neighbours).
Important points
The focus was on having fun
There were 2 clowns that provided a fantastic service 1. keeping the kids entertained whilst their mums were in the “talks” but most importantly 2. to organise the children to see the doctors.
150 children were happily led to see the doctor with minimum waiting time. They were given stickers with number on them, the clowns then called for the children in groups, ie all the kids with number 1 stickers, came up to “play” with the clowns then were taken in 2’s to visit the doctor. They were rewarded with a toothbrush – which seemed like a great novelty!
There were 3 bouncy castles & soccer games going on as well.
At the end of the day there were a lot of smiling faces, they had received a goody bag, their diploma’s, information, health checks & a huge nutritious meal. They even had leftovers to take home!
Everyone agreed it was a very successful day (except Judy fell & broke her wrist very badly & had to leave before the end)!
Friday, November 7, 2008
12th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Record of Meeting pg 1 of 2
12th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Where: CEDESA Dolores (approx 1 hr from SMA)
When: Friday 7th November 8am – 4pm
Who: Laura (Rotary), Judy & Bill (Patronato Pro Ninos) Maria Jesus, Maria de la Concepcion, Maria Leova (& son), Cecilia (& son), Hilaria, (Community leaders Los Torres), Chela & Tere Martinez, Holly Yasui, Benigno & partner, & 1 other woman (from CEDESA).
Project Purpose - SMA Rotary has tasked Bob & Laura with defining the “needs” & determining the best proposal, for a major water Project involving the writing of a competitive grant for approx. US$100K.
Rationale: As part of the process of defining the “need” we will meet with as many people as possible that are directly involved in the provision of, or are aware of the need for the provision of, safe drinking water solutions to marginal communities.
Visit Purpose:
For the women of Los Torres to be introduced to the people of CEDESA, what they do & what they can offer. Ultimately for the people of Los Torres to decide if they need assistance to “mobilise” the community & run the water project.
Summary of Visit
The Fishers & I each drove out to Los Torres (Holly waited at the highway for us), & collected the women & children, to drive them to CEDESA in Dolores (a nearby town).
We arrived at CEDESA & met with the CEDESA team, introductions all round. We sat in a semi circle & watched another DVD, this one on the topic of water & conservation.
The discussion was then about what CEDESA does & has done by way of assisting communities to take their own issues & solutions in their own hands. Chela impressed upon the women that they have the skills & ability to be responsible for their own wellbeing & that they need not be reliant on govt. & outside organisations but better work with them towards solving issues & improving the prospects of the community.
There was a lot of discussion (all in Spanish – with Holly translating for me if I missed something). The focus was water & what the women believed the issues were: Scarcity, contamination of fluoride (see important points below), Sapasma & proposed well, river that dries part way through the dry season, cost to buy water, sporadic delivery by municipal trucks.
We had a bite to eat & a cup of tea.
Chela then organised discussion on solutions, she said that each person/family needs to be responsible for their own health, access to water etc. That they need to discuss problems & solutions & work together to solve it, & that the answers were in their hands.
The problem of water can help organise the community!
Record of Meeting pg 2 of 2
12th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
The women said they knew the issues but were unsure how to solve them & asked for help with this.
They decided an assembly was necessary & agreed that on 22nd November CEDESA would travel to Los Torres & help facilitate an assembly with the major discussion being on water issues & solutions.
We were given a tour of CEDESA viewing all of the sustainable technologies they have implemented & provide training on - dry toilets, grey water recycling, backyard gardens, water collection tanks, with discussion about the beehives & fields for crop production.
The women of Los Torres indicated they would be very interested in learning more about natural health methods, & backyard gardens (with the aim to improve the family economy) & also beekeeping.
We then drove them home to Los Torres.
Important points
In previous visits to Los Torres, we (Rotary) had been reluctant to raise the topic of fluoride contamination. The people in the community – although most were showing an obvious symptom of fluorosis – bad teeth – did not have an awareness of the issue. We were unsure how to “break the news”, considering we had no cure or solution to offer.
In the last 2 wks a dental health van- provided by Patronato Pro Ninos, in conjunction with the dept of health - has visited Los Torres & treated the children. During this time the subject of fluoride contamination has been raised & the community now has an awareness of this issue.
They are currently at a loss as to how to solve this, especially since the only source of water they can rely on, comes from contaminated wells.
Action
The Los Torres women will organise an assembly to be held at the school in Los Torres on 22nd Nov at 12midday. They will first publicise it at the forthcoming Health Fair (PPN & Health dept), on the 15th Nov & then will go door to door to explain the purpose & illicit support.
It was suggested they write the pertinent points on a piece of paper & use that as a reference when they talk to each household, in order to cover all points.
Thank you
12th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Where: CEDESA Dolores (approx 1 hr from SMA)
When: Friday 7th November 8am – 4pm
Who: Laura (Rotary), Judy & Bill (Patronato Pro Ninos) Maria Jesus, Maria de la Concepcion, Maria Leova (& son), Cecilia (& son), Hilaria, (Community leaders Los Torres), Chela & Tere Martinez, Holly Yasui, Benigno & partner, & 1 other woman (from CEDESA).
Project Purpose - SMA Rotary has tasked Bob & Laura with defining the “needs” & determining the best proposal, for a major water Project involving the writing of a competitive grant for approx. US$100K.
Rationale: As part of the process of defining the “need” we will meet with as many people as possible that are directly involved in the provision of, or are aware of the need for the provision of, safe drinking water solutions to marginal communities.
Visit Purpose:
For the women of Los Torres to be introduced to the people of CEDESA, what they do & what they can offer. Ultimately for the people of Los Torres to decide if they need assistance to “mobilise” the community & run the water project.
Summary of Visit
The Fishers & I each drove out to Los Torres (Holly waited at the highway for us), & collected the women & children, to drive them to CEDESA in Dolores (a nearby town).
We arrived at CEDESA & met with the CEDESA team, introductions all round. We sat in a semi circle & watched another DVD, this one on the topic of water & conservation.
The discussion was then about what CEDESA does & has done by way of assisting communities to take their own issues & solutions in their own hands. Chela impressed upon the women that they have the skills & ability to be responsible for their own wellbeing & that they need not be reliant on govt. & outside organisations but better work with them towards solving issues & improving the prospects of the community.
There was a lot of discussion (all in Spanish – with Holly translating for me if I missed something). The focus was water & what the women believed the issues were: Scarcity, contamination of fluoride (see important points below), Sapasma & proposed well, river that dries part way through the dry season, cost to buy water, sporadic delivery by municipal trucks.
We had a bite to eat & a cup of tea.
Chela then organised discussion on solutions, she said that each person/family needs to be responsible for their own health, access to water etc. That they need to discuss problems & solutions & work together to solve it, & that the answers were in their hands.
The problem of water can help organise the community!
Record of Meeting pg 2 of 2
12th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
The women said they knew the issues but were unsure how to solve them & asked for help with this.
They decided an assembly was necessary & agreed that on 22nd November CEDESA would travel to Los Torres & help facilitate an assembly with the major discussion being on water issues & solutions.
We were given a tour of CEDESA viewing all of the sustainable technologies they have implemented & provide training on - dry toilets, grey water recycling, backyard gardens, water collection tanks, with discussion about the beehives & fields for crop production.
The women of Los Torres indicated they would be very interested in learning more about natural health methods, & backyard gardens (with the aim to improve the family economy) & also beekeeping.
We then drove them home to Los Torres.
Important points
In previous visits to Los Torres, we (Rotary) had been reluctant to raise the topic of fluoride contamination. The people in the community – although most were showing an obvious symptom of fluorosis – bad teeth – did not have an awareness of the issue. We were unsure how to “break the news”, considering we had no cure or solution to offer.
In the last 2 wks a dental health van- provided by Patronato Pro Ninos, in conjunction with the dept of health - has visited Los Torres & treated the children. During this time the subject of fluoride contamination has been raised & the community now has an awareness of this issue.
They are currently at a loss as to how to solve this, especially since the only source of water they can rely on, comes from contaminated wells.
Action
The Los Torres women will organise an assembly to be held at the school in Los Torres on 22nd Nov at 12midday. They will first publicise it at the forthcoming Health Fair (PPN & Health dept), on the 15th Nov & then will go door to door to explain the purpose & illicit support.
It was suggested they write the pertinent points on a piece of paper & use that as a reference when they talk to each household, in order to cover all points.
Thank you
Friday, October 31, 2008
ANOTHER 11th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project
Record of Meeting pg 1 of 1
11th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Where: Los Torres Community (approx 1 hr from SMA)
When: Friday 31st October 9am – 2pm
Who: Laura (Rotary), Judy (Patronato Pro Ninos) Maria Jesus (Delegada Los Torres) Maria de la Concepcion, Silvia, Hilaria,
Project Purpose - SMA Rotary has tasked Bob & Laura with defining the “needs” & determining the best proposal, for a major water Project involving the writing of a competitive grant for approx. US$100K.
Rationale: As part of the process of defining the “need” we will meet with as many people as possible that are directly involved in the provision of, or are aware of the need for the provision of, safe drinking water solutions to marginal communities.
Visit Purpose:
To deliver an invitation for the women leaders of Los Torres to visit CEDESA to meet & understand what CEDESA does & can offer.
Summary of Visit
Judy & I drove out to Los Torres. We met with the women, & were invited into the Delegada’s home. We took with us a laptop to play a DVD as an introduction/overview of CEDESA.
Judy is bilingual, we talked with the women about the possibility of the Rotary Project (we are still treading lightly with this as the community needs to be responsible for driving this project so we are only making suggestions at this point, not wanting to be seen as forcing upon them a project which they believe has no merit). I should point out that all the indicators are there that they not only want this project but are happy to start NOW. (The delegada asked for this already).
We gave them the invitation from CEDESA & explained that we would drive out to Los Torres, pick them up in 2 vehicles & drive them to Dolores to CEDESA for the day. The purpose being for them to get to know more about CEDESA & what they do & ultimately for them to decide if they would like CEDESA’s involvement to solve the water issues in Los Torres.
The women were very receptive & a date was set! We would take them to CEDESA on 7th November.
11th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Where: Los Torres Community (approx 1 hr from SMA)
When: Friday 31st October 9am – 2pm
Who: Laura (Rotary), Judy (Patronato Pro Ninos) Maria Jesus (Delegada Los Torres) Maria de la Concepcion, Silvia, Hilaria,
Project Purpose - SMA Rotary has tasked Bob & Laura with defining the “needs” & determining the best proposal, for a major water Project involving the writing of a competitive grant for approx. US$100K.
Rationale: As part of the process of defining the “need” we will meet with as many people as possible that are directly involved in the provision of, or are aware of the need for the provision of, safe drinking water solutions to marginal communities.
Visit Purpose:
To deliver an invitation for the women leaders of Los Torres to visit CEDESA to meet & understand what CEDESA does & can offer.
Summary of Visit
Judy & I drove out to Los Torres. We met with the women, & were invited into the Delegada’s home. We took with us a laptop to play a DVD as an introduction/overview of CEDESA.
Judy is bilingual, we talked with the women about the possibility of the Rotary Project (we are still treading lightly with this as the community needs to be responsible for driving this project so we are only making suggestions at this point, not wanting to be seen as forcing upon them a project which they believe has no merit). I should point out that all the indicators are there that they not only want this project but are happy to start NOW. (The delegada asked for this already).
We gave them the invitation from CEDESA & explained that we would drive out to Los Torres, pick them up in 2 vehicles & drive them to Dolores to CEDESA for the day. The purpose being for them to get to know more about CEDESA & what they do & ultimately for them to decide if they would like CEDESA’s involvement to solve the water issues in Los Torres.
The women were very receptive & a date was set! We would take them to CEDESA on 7th November.
11th exploratory meeting for water project
This report is in the form of an email from Judy Fisher who made the initial introduction to the Los Torres community for us, for which we are very grateful - who knew then, how it would develop!!
Hi Holly,
As I mentioned on our conversation by cell phone, the visit with Los Torres went very well today. The attendees at the meeting were the Delegado and 3 of the Group Leaders. We introduced the discussion with the topic of water because that is the theme that has been prevalent in our last meetings. They discussed what they perceive as their water issues and brought up the following:
1) No water well in the upper village; need to walk 2 hours 3 times a week for water
2) Wells in lower village sometime are dry in very dry season; and, these wells they understand are causing the dark teeth that the women have. The Patronato Dental Van has been at the village for the last week and the Dentist has been informing them of the problems of fluoride for the teeth.
3) 2 Tinacos from Patronato and large "botes" for the families in the upper community, but insufficient water trucks from the city to keep them filled
4) Contamination of private "botes"
5) Can't keep the level of cleanliness they wish to have in the home because of scarce water.
Next, we read to them the invitation from CEDESA and asked their opinion about going to a meeting to discuss water issues with other community leaders who have or have had water issues. They were in agreement that it would be beneficial to understand more since they are in the process of discussions with SAPASMA (drilling a well) and the Rotary Club (installing water catchments systems.)
Then, we showed them the DVD. At the conclusion, the Delegado said she was very interested in meeting with CEDSESA as she felt she could get help on other issues, not the least of which is cooperation from the Community for a variety of projects. We left the DVD and the Booklet for them to review again before next Friday and asked them to go over both to be prepared for the meeting.
I am attaching 2 files, one the census of Los Torres by family and the second a list of the contacts that I have for Los Torres--people in the community and contacts who are involved with helping the community.
For the meeting on Friday, November 4, we can expect 6 from Los Torres (the Delegado, the 4 Group Leaders and one 4 year old boy), from the Rotary 1 (Laura Stewart) and from PPN 2 (Bill and Judy Fisher). The community leaders did request that the meeting be limited to 10 am to 2 pm as it will take another hour to return to the community.
Laura and I discussed that she would send to you her outline of all of the facts on water in the Community so that CEDESA would have a though understanding before the meeting on Friday, Nov 7.
Should there be any further changes as to attendees, Laura and I will communicate to you very early next week.
Saludos,
Judy Fisher
Hi Holly,
As I mentioned on our conversation by cell phone, the visit with Los Torres went very well today. The attendees at the meeting were the Delegado and 3 of the Group Leaders. We introduced the discussion with the topic of water because that is the theme that has been prevalent in our last meetings. They discussed what they perceive as their water issues and brought up the following:
1) No water well in the upper village; need to walk 2 hours 3 times a week for water
2) Wells in lower village sometime are dry in very dry season; and, these wells they understand are causing the dark teeth that the women have. The Patronato Dental Van has been at the village for the last week and the Dentist has been informing them of the problems of fluoride for the teeth.
3) 2 Tinacos from Patronato and large "botes" for the families in the upper community, but insufficient water trucks from the city to keep them filled
4) Contamination of private "botes"
5) Can't keep the level of cleanliness they wish to have in the home because of scarce water.
Next, we read to them the invitation from CEDESA and asked their opinion about going to a meeting to discuss water issues with other community leaders who have or have had water issues. They were in agreement that it would be beneficial to understand more since they are in the process of discussions with SAPASMA (drilling a well) and the Rotary Club (installing water catchments systems.)
Then, we showed them the DVD. At the conclusion, the Delegado said she was very interested in meeting with CEDSESA as she felt she could get help on other issues, not the least of which is cooperation from the Community for a variety of projects. We left the DVD and the Booklet for them to review again before next Friday and asked them to go over both to be prepared for the meeting.
I am attaching 2 files, one the census of Los Torres by family and the second a list of the contacts that I have for Los Torres--people in the community and contacts who are involved with helping the community.
For the meeting on Friday, November 4, we can expect 6 from Los Torres (the Delegado, the 4 Group Leaders and one 4 year old boy), from the Rotary 1 (Laura Stewart) and from PPN 2 (Bill and Judy Fisher). The community leaders did request that the meeting be limited to 10 am to 2 pm as it will take another hour to return to the community.
Laura and I discussed that she would send to you her outline of all of the facts on water in the Community so that CEDESA would have a though understanding before the meeting on Friday, Nov 7.
Should there be any further changes as to attendees, Laura and I will communicate to you very early next week.
Saludos,
Judy Fisher
Thursday, October 23, 2008
10th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project
Record of Meeting pg 1 of 2
10th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Where: CEDESA - Dolores
When: Thursday 23rd October 9am – 2pm
Who: Gary, Bob & Laura (Rotary), Holly Yasui, Chela Martinez, Tere Martinez (CEDESA)
Project Purpose - SMA Rotary has tasked Bob & Laura with defining the “needs” & determining the best proposal, for a major water Project involving the writing of a competitive grant for approx. US$100K.
Rationale: As part of the process of defining the “need” we will meet with as many people as possible that are directly involved in the provision of, or are aware of the need for the provision of, safe drinking water solutions to marginal communities.
Visit Purpose: For the project to have it’s greatest chance of success, the project team has determined we need to invest a significant amount of time in “mobilising” the community. i.e. getting them fully engaged & acting as driving partners of the project.
Rotary SMA Midday, is primarily an English speaking club & although we have the skills, expertise & experience (Bob Leonard is a world expert on Development) to implement this project, the difference in culture & language present difficulties.
CEDESA is a grass roots organisation that has been established & active for 40 years. They have a history of working with 120 rural (camposino) communities in the northern area of the State that SMA is in (Guanuajato). They have extensive training facilities & their primary focus is environmentally sustainable technologies & to assist people to thrive on the Land, & not be forced to move off the land, to the USA or subsist in urban communities.
This trip was to meet with the organisers of CEDESA & determine their suitability as mobilisation partners in this project.
Summary of Visit
We drove from SMA to CEDESA in Dolores (a nearby town), approx 1hr away. Holly is a volunteer that has been working with CEDESA to raise their profile & an awareness of what they can offer. She is bilingual & assisted with communication. We met with Chela & Tere – 2 sisters that (along with another woman, now passed) established this organisation in 1965 with a Catholic priest named Davalos.
We viewed a dvd which showed that they have been very active over the years, 1stly increasing literacy from 5% of the community to over 80%, & then helping to establish schools, training communities on environmental issues, including water collection & conservation. For 40 years they have been promoting the “art of living in the country”.
We were given a tour of their facilities, which involved grey water recycling, dry/composting toilets, water collection tanks, backyard gardens food production, hives for honey production & fields for large crops production.
Record of Meeting pg 2 of 2
10th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Currently they are hosting a diploma in water studies run by Dr Ortega of UNAM (Mexico’s largest university). It is held ever 2nd Saturday for 8 months. Included in
the course is a section on water testing & water filtration. They currently have a satellite laboratory set up to test water samples for Fluoride, arsenic, magnesium & will later test bacteria. This is of great benefit, as there is currently no access to water testing for the small communities.
The people running CEDESA are a very warm & caring group of people. They have the knack of being able to work with all strata of communities, from the indigenous people to the high level government. They thrive on empowering the people to take full control of their own issues & solutions.
Points of interest
They have “promoters” & “technicians” that visit the communities & assist with both social & technical aspects of the issues being resolved.
They have been active mostly north of Dolores but are interested in spreading their work south of Dolores in the SMA region
They are developing a new focus on the “family economy” enabling families to produce more than they need & have the balance for trade or sale.
From a Development perspective Bob believes they are “text book” examples of how to do it right.
Action:
We need to invite the women leaders of Los Torres to CEDESA to determine if Los Torres would like CEDESA’s help with this project. CEDESA (via Holly) will work on a suitable date & Laura & Judy (from Patronato Pro Ninos) will deliver the invitation.
10th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Where: CEDESA - Dolores
When: Thursday 23rd October 9am – 2pm
Who: Gary, Bob & Laura (Rotary), Holly Yasui, Chela Martinez, Tere Martinez (CEDESA)
Project Purpose - SMA Rotary has tasked Bob & Laura with defining the “needs” & determining the best proposal, for a major water Project involving the writing of a competitive grant for approx. US$100K.
Rationale: As part of the process of defining the “need” we will meet with as many people as possible that are directly involved in the provision of, or are aware of the need for the provision of, safe drinking water solutions to marginal communities.
Visit Purpose: For the project to have it’s greatest chance of success, the project team has determined we need to invest a significant amount of time in “mobilising” the community. i.e. getting them fully engaged & acting as driving partners of the project.
Rotary SMA Midday, is primarily an English speaking club & although we have the skills, expertise & experience (Bob Leonard is a world expert on Development) to implement this project, the difference in culture & language present difficulties.
CEDESA is a grass roots organisation that has been established & active for 40 years. They have a history of working with 120 rural (camposino) communities in the northern area of the State that SMA is in (Guanuajato). They have extensive training facilities & their primary focus is environmentally sustainable technologies & to assist people to thrive on the Land, & not be forced to move off the land, to the USA or subsist in urban communities.
This trip was to meet with the organisers of CEDESA & determine their suitability as mobilisation partners in this project.
Summary of Visit
We drove from SMA to CEDESA in Dolores (a nearby town), approx 1hr away. Holly is a volunteer that has been working with CEDESA to raise their profile & an awareness of what they can offer. She is bilingual & assisted with communication. We met with Chela & Tere – 2 sisters that (along with another woman, now passed) established this organisation in 1965 with a Catholic priest named Davalos.
We viewed a dvd which showed that they have been very active over the years, 1stly increasing literacy from 5% of the community to over 80%, & then helping to establish schools, training communities on environmental issues, including water collection & conservation. For 40 years they have been promoting the “art of living in the country”.
We were given a tour of their facilities, which involved grey water recycling, dry/composting toilets, water collection tanks, backyard gardens food production, hives for honey production & fields for large crops production.
Record of Meeting pg 2 of 2
10th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Currently they are hosting a diploma in water studies run by Dr Ortega of UNAM (Mexico’s largest university). It is held ever 2nd Saturday for 8 months. Included in
the course is a section on water testing & water filtration. They currently have a satellite laboratory set up to test water samples for Fluoride, arsenic, magnesium & will later test bacteria. This is of great benefit, as there is currently no access to water testing for the small communities.
The people running CEDESA are a very warm & caring group of people. They have the knack of being able to work with all strata of communities, from the indigenous people to the high level government. They thrive on empowering the people to take full control of their own issues & solutions.
Points of interest
They have “promoters” & “technicians” that visit the communities & assist with both social & technical aspects of the issues being resolved.
They have been active mostly north of Dolores but are interested in spreading their work south of Dolores in the SMA region
They are developing a new focus on the “family economy” enabling families to produce more than they need & have the balance for trade or sale.
From a Development perspective Bob believes they are “text book” examples of how to do it right.
Action:
We need to invite the women leaders of Los Torres to CEDESA to determine if Los Torres would like CEDESA’s help with this project. CEDESA (via Holly) will work on a suitable date & Laura & Judy (from Patronato Pro Ninos) will deliver the invitation.
Monday, September 29, 2008
9th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project
Record of Meeting pg 1 of 2
9th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Where: Los Torres (via Salida Dolores)
When: Monday 29th Sept 2008, 9.15-2pm
Who: Bill & Judy Fisher, Patronato Pro Ninos, Maria de Jesus (Los Torres delegada) Jose Miguel (delegada’s husband), Gary, Gordon, Bob, David & Laura (Rotary),
Purpose - SMA Rotary has tasked Bob & Laura with defining the “needs” & determining the best proposal, for a major water Project involving the writing of a competitive grant for approx. US$100K.
Rationale: As part of the process of defining the “need” we will meet with as many people as possible that are directly involved in the provision of, or are aware of the need for the provision of, safe drinking water solutions to marginal communities.
Patronato Pro Ninos: are a local non profit organisation. They work closely with the department of health to provide medical & dental services to the communities in need. They have a relationship with the people of Los Torres, they have been providing them with vitamin supplements to add to their tortillas. An interesting point they made is in future they would do more work before providing the supplements, to educate & inform. The take-up time would be faster then. There had been some resistance from the people that were unaware of the benefits, but the word is now spreading & the mothers are now keen to keep adding the supplements.
We met at the Fabrica Aurora & drove out the road to Dolores. We turned at the turnoff for Casa de Aves continued towards Casa de Aves & then took the right fork (with Casa de Aves to the left). We carried on a dirt road for some time with a few muddy patches to negotiate. (drive is approx 45mins from La Aurora).
2nd Meeting with the delegada.
We were very lucky to be taken to the community with Bill, Judy as they already have a relationship with the community delegada (community organiser) Maria de Jesus.
This was the 2nd meeting with the delegada on this topic. It included a bigger team to gather more information & for more of the team to see what the Los Torres scenario would involve.
Judy facilitated a Q&A session between the delegada & her husband & our team.
Points of interest
The previous meeting in Los Torres yielded a lot of information. This report covers just the additional points/information raised.
The lower community have 10 pozos (wells), family owned, some families share the water with others that don’t have a well.
The pozos are very shallow (by comparison with other communities) only 10-15 mtrs deep.
The wells were only 3 mtrs deep 20 years ago, they have to be dug deeper each year (i.e. 1988 3 mtrs deep, 2008 15 mtrs deep)
At the end of the dry season the wells are almost dried up.
Record of Meeting pg 2 of 2
9th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
The wells are used for household & gardens but not agriculture.
Approx. 6 wks ago Sapasma visited the village to see whether it was feasible to drill a well (in the top community)
Sapasma said the well would need to be 80 mtrs deep.
The community had to pay for the feasibility study – US$3000
If Sapasma digs the well it is supposed to service 3 communities, Los Torres, Cruz del Palmar & Montecillo de ?
The other 2 communities were not asked to pay for the feasibility study (according to the delegada’s husband).
Sapasma would apparently pipe the water to the other 2 communities, from Los Torres.
Sapasma is to return in October, with a proposal. Each family will be expected to contribute to the cost of the drilling of the well (nb in another community that community was charged US$300 per family).
It is not known if the other 2 communities – to benefit from the well – will be asked to contribute.
As mentioned in previous notes, the Los Torres mothers already meet on Friday’s at 3pm to discuss Health Department topics (from Health dept supplied Topic Cards), approx ¾ of the mums meet at 3 on Friday, the other ¼ meet on Saturday. The sessions are led by Maria Concepcion.
The delegada & her family put on a large lunch for us all including freshly made tortillas, chicheron, beans, rice & the contribution of baking goods we bought.
The team ate a scrumptious lunch, then viewed the gardens & looked at the roofs of the houses. Then we drove to the upper community to look at the school & water facilities there.
Action:
Contact Sapasma to determine their plans for Los Torres (Bob will ask Enrique to email Ernesto Lopez (the chief engineer) to ask our questions.
9th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
Where: Los Torres (via Salida Dolores)
When: Monday 29th Sept 2008, 9.15-2pm
Who: Bill & Judy Fisher, Patronato Pro Ninos, Maria de Jesus (Los Torres delegada) Jose Miguel (delegada’s husband), Gary, Gordon, Bob, David & Laura (Rotary),
Purpose - SMA Rotary has tasked Bob & Laura with defining the “needs” & determining the best proposal, for a major water Project involving the writing of a competitive grant for approx. US$100K.
Rationale: As part of the process of defining the “need” we will meet with as many people as possible that are directly involved in the provision of, or are aware of the need for the provision of, safe drinking water solutions to marginal communities.
Patronato Pro Ninos: are a local non profit organisation. They work closely with the department of health to provide medical & dental services to the communities in need. They have a relationship with the people of Los Torres, they have been providing them with vitamin supplements to add to their tortillas. An interesting point they made is in future they would do more work before providing the supplements, to educate & inform. The take-up time would be faster then. There had been some resistance from the people that were unaware of the benefits, but the word is now spreading & the mothers are now keen to keep adding the supplements.
We met at the Fabrica Aurora & drove out the road to Dolores. We turned at the turnoff for Casa de Aves continued towards Casa de Aves & then took the right fork (with Casa de Aves to the left). We carried on a dirt road for some time with a few muddy patches to negotiate. (drive is approx 45mins from La Aurora).
2nd Meeting with the delegada.
We were very lucky to be taken to the community with Bill, Judy as they already have a relationship with the community delegada (community organiser) Maria de Jesus.
This was the 2nd meeting with the delegada on this topic. It included a bigger team to gather more information & for more of the team to see what the Los Torres scenario would involve.
Judy facilitated a Q&A session between the delegada & her husband & our team.
Points of interest
The previous meeting in Los Torres yielded a lot of information. This report covers just the additional points/information raised.
The lower community have 10 pozos (wells), family owned, some families share the water with others that don’t have a well.
The pozos are very shallow (by comparison with other communities) only 10-15 mtrs deep.
The wells were only 3 mtrs deep 20 years ago, they have to be dug deeper each year (i.e. 1988 3 mtrs deep, 2008 15 mtrs deep)
At the end of the dry season the wells are almost dried up.
Record of Meeting pg 2 of 2
9th Exploratory Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project Committee
The wells are used for household & gardens but not agriculture.
Approx. 6 wks ago Sapasma visited the village to see whether it was feasible to drill a well (in the top community)
Sapasma said the well would need to be 80 mtrs deep.
The community had to pay for the feasibility study – US$3000
If Sapasma digs the well it is supposed to service 3 communities, Los Torres, Cruz del Palmar & Montecillo de ?
The other 2 communities were not asked to pay for the feasibility study (according to the delegada’s husband).
Sapasma would apparently pipe the water to the other 2 communities, from Los Torres.
Sapasma is to return in October, with a proposal. Each family will be expected to contribute to the cost of the drilling of the well (nb in another community that community was charged US$300 per family).
It is not known if the other 2 communities – to benefit from the well – will be asked to contribute.
As mentioned in previous notes, the Los Torres mothers already meet on Friday’s at 3pm to discuss Health Department topics (from Health dept supplied Topic Cards), approx ¾ of the mums meet at 3 on Friday, the other ¼ meet on Saturday. The sessions are led by Maria Concepcion.
The delegada & her family put on a large lunch for us all including freshly made tortillas, chicheron, beans, rice & the contribution of baking goods we bought.
The team ate a scrumptious lunch, then viewed the gardens & looked at the roofs of the houses. Then we drove to the upper community to look at the school & water facilities there.
Action:
Contact Sapasma to determine their plans for Los Torres (Bob will ask Enrique to email Ernesto Lopez (the chief engineer) to ask our questions.
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