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
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
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.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
30th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project
Record of Event pg 1 of 3
30th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project
Where: El Cortijo (behind La Gruta) & Los Torres Casa of Chuy.
When: 23.09.09 10.30 – 1:00pm
Who: Chela (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), Holly(Cedesa), & approx 36 adult community members (including 5 men) (& tonnes of children!)
Purpose: Pre-assembly planning meeting & details catch up.
& Community assembly/meeting follow up.
Chela, Holly & I met first for a pre-meeting planning session & then headed for Los Torres.
.1. the Roll was called (using the list of attenders they have created, & checking th column when they respond “presente”.
.2. Difference between an Assembly & a meeting: Chela re-iterated the difference, an assembly must have a quorum of more than ½ the number of families in the community attending. A meeting is a group of community members gathered to discuss issues & recommend actions.
.3. The purpose of meetings & description of the attendees was discussed. The community commented that it is more than a meeting to discuss water cisterns, it is also for talking about traspatios, grey water etc. Chela called for a name of the group, many suggestions were made,
Eg assembly of progress, communal assembly, assembly of community health, assembly of development & progress, assembly of productive solutions.
Chela concluded that it is a space of analysis, discussion of solutions, & for making decisions.
.4. Chela called for proposals for the co-ordinator & record taker for today’s meeting. It was unanimously decided that Jesus (a young man of about 22) should be co-ordinator, & Concha would take records again.
(This was particularly interesting as Jesus had been involved in an issue during a previous assembly where he was accused of not working hard enough with the group & had walked out of the meeting – it was a meeting while I was in NZ – he had obviously gotten over this & was very keen & did a great job of co-ordinating a really busy meeting!)
.5. Jesus called for Agenda Items
Agenda was set:
1. Invitations to 2 events – Holly
2. Talk about consulting team creation “Equipo de acessoria”
3. Cruz del Palmar women attending – would like help to build cisterns in their community.
4. Review Maria & School cisterns – complete?
5. Conservation of water
6. Purification method
Agenda item 1.
Holly had 2 events to invite the people of Los Torres to attend
a) Adobe domed roof building workshop – this is a workshop being subsidised by a local foundation, for the purpose of teaching rural communities how to construct domed roofs out of compressed adobe.
There are 4 spaces for Los Torres community members paid for. This includes food, & a transport allowance & 3 days attendance at the workshop on 5,6 & 7 October.
pg 2 of 3
One of the women made the point that whoever attends should then demonstrate the building techniques to those that are unable to attend, since they are getting the workshop for free, as a way to share the technology.
Jesus Alvarado, Daniel Garcia (both young men of about 22), Manuel Alvarado & Santiago Cruz all asked to attend, (with Manuel Alvarado snr going as an observer as his hand is still damaged). Holly will co-ordinate via Daniel’s cell phone 415 114 5205.
This was discussed in conjuction with the 2nd Agenda item of creating a consulting team at Los Torres
B) the 2nd invitation was to for the community (whoever would like to go) to attend a Forum on Water, it’s a forum where the people affected by water issues get to share their experiences, in the hope that they can then network with other people similarly affected, & to meet representatives from organisations that are working in the field of water.
Holly asked if they would care to speak at the forum, on 2 topics, both the problems they faced & the solution they have implemented. A committee was formed
Marta Y Manuel, Chuy, Ofelia, Reyna, Carmela, Maria, Piedad, Carolina & Delfina.
A mini meeting is planned for 21.10.09 at 4pm, to work on the presentation.
Agenda item 2. Forming a Consulting team in Los Torres.
Laura & Chela proposed that a consulting team be formed, that can then work as technical consultants & trainers of future projects & for other communities.
There are many people in Los Torres that are able use their newly learned skills & experience to help others. For future projects we need to employ technical consultants, why not use the people of Los Torres?
It was suggested the team should be 3 or 4 people, & proposals were made
Juan Alvarado, Jose Miguel Cruz (delegado), Rafael Cruz, Guillermo Alvarado.
Most of the men were not present so their wives need to propose this to them & report back at the next meeting.
Agenda item 3. Cruz Del Palmar solicitation
This was a particularly exciting part of the meeting – the dream of this project was that this method of catching & saving water be replicated in as many communities as possible.
Today, 2 women from Cruz Del Palmar – a neighbouring community, especially came to the meeting to ask for help in implementing Cisterns in their community!
(Teresa Gonzalez & Lucia Ramirez Ramirez of Bella Vista in Cruz Del Palmar)
They stood & introduced themselves (no mean feat in front of such a large audience) & described their problem & asked for help. They were asked what they had found out about the LT Water project, & they said they found that everyone liked it & that it’s working. Chela asked them how they thought LT had done it – they responded “in groups!”
They have sporadic water delivery in their part of CdP, some of CdP has water from a community well on tap, others have none. We have no information of level of Fluoride contamination in this community.
pg 3 of 3
The LT people had various suggestions for them – including,
• form a group of people to do the initial work,
• then go door to door & survey the people in the community to see who would be interested in being involved in a water cistern project
• gather statistics (size of families etc)
• come back to the next meeting with the information they have gathered.
• Don’t expect the whole community to be involved, the LT people at today’s meeting are the ones interested in the LT community for example.
• CdP people could come & participate in the Phase III project to learn the process.
• The work has to be done in groups, it doesn’t work individually & you need to involve the whole family (including the kids) in the process
The LT people have become expert in the process of solving their own issues, so much so, that they are able to advise people in their situation!!!
Dependant on what information the women from CdP come back with, ie description of need, & statistics, Rotary may help in this community as well. We could apply for funding from SMCF again, so that we can do a demonstration training day.
The main point is - that word of the success of the LT project is getting around & the project is growing legs!
The women were invited to present their info at the next meeting.
There was a big round of applause for the women of CdP!!
They thanked us all & left.
Chela took the opportunity to discuss more general information about the watershed & the environment (this is her true passion),
Agenda item 4 Review of Maria’s & the School’s cisterns
Maria’s cistern is completely finished (as are all of them now), most of them are more than ¾ full, the delegado has added ANOTHER piece of roof & piping, so his is overflowing!!
The school cistern needs more piping, after discussion of how to solve this, Chela offered that Benigno would return to LT, assess the situation & purchase the necessary pipes (he has access to the funds needed & it would be more complicated to get someone from LT to do it re funds)
The School kitchen roof (for 1 of the 3 cisterns) needs to be covered – even if is only for the next few weeks of the rainy season, as the roof is asbestos & there is no more money in the budget to replace it.
Items 5 & 6 to carry over to next meeting. We ran out of time.
Next Community assembly 28.10.09 10.30 am
Forum planning mini meeting 21.10.09 4pm
Domed adobe roof building workshop (cedesa) 5,6,,7 Oct all day.
Forum for people affected with water issues, 24 October 9-6pm Near the Presidentia
30th Mtg of the SMA Midday Rotary Water Project
Where: El Cortijo (behind La Gruta) & Los Torres Casa of Chuy.
When: 23.09.09 10.30 – 1:00pm
Who: Chela (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), Holly(Cedesa), & approx 36 adult community members (including 5 men) (& tonnes of children!)
Purpose: Pre-assembly planning meeting & details catch up.
& Community assembly/meeting follow up.
Chela, Holly & I met first for a pre-meeting planning session & then headed for Los Torres.
.1. the Roll was called (using the list of attenders they have created, & checking th column when they respond “presente”.
.2. Difference between an Assembly & a meeting: Chela re-iterated the difference, an assembly must have a quorum of more than ½ the number of families in the community attending. A meeting is a group of community members gathered to discuss issues & recommend actions.
.3. The purpose of meetings & description of the attendees was discussed. The community commented that it is more than a meeting to discuss water cisterns, it is also for talking about traspatios, grey water etc. Chela called for a name of the group, many suggestions were made,
Eg assembly of progress, communal assembly, assembly of community health, assembly of development & progress, assembly of productive solutions.
Chela concluded that it is a space of analysis, discussion of solutions, & for making decisions.
.4. Chela called for proposals for the co-ordinator & record taker for today’s meeting. It was unanimously decided that Jesus (a young man of about 22) should be co-ordinator, & Concha would take records again.
(This was particularly interesting as Jesus had been involved in an issue during a previous assembly where he was accused of not working hard enough with the group & had walked out of the meeting – it was a meeting while I was in NZ – he had obviously gotten over this & was very keen & did a great job of co-ordinating a really busy meeting!)
.5. Jesus called for Agenda Items
Agenda was set:
1. Invitations to 2 events – Holly
2. Talk about consulting team creation “Equipo de acessoria”
3. Cruz del Palmar women attending – would like help to build cisterns in their community.
4. Review Maria & School cisterns – complete?
5. Conservation of water
6. Purification method
Agenda item 1.
Holly had 2 events to invite the people of Los Torres to attend
a) Adobe domed roof building workshop – this is a workshop being subsidised by a local foundation, for the purpose of teaching rural communities how to construct domed roofs out of compressed adobe.
There are 4 spaces for Los Torres community members paid for. This includes food, & a transport allowance & 3 days attendance at the workshop on 5,6 & 7 October.
pg 2 of 3
One of the women made the point that whoever attends should then demonstrate the building techniques to those that are unable to attend, since they are getting the workshop for free, as a way to share the technology.
Jesus Alvarado, Daniel Garcia (both young men of about 22), Manuel Alvarado & Santiago Cruz all asked to attend, (with Manuel Alvarado snr going as an observer as his hand is still damaged). Holly will co-ordinate via Daniel’s cell phone 415 114 5205.
This was discussed in conjuction with the 2nd Agenda item of creating a consulting team at Los Torres
B) the 2nd invitation was to for the community (whoever would like to go) to attend a Forum on Water, it’s a forum where the people affected by water issues get to share their experiences, in the hope that they can then network with other people similarly affected, & to meet representatives from organisations that are working in the field of water.
Holly asked if they would care to speak at the forum, on 2 topics, both the problems they faced & the solution they have implemented. A committee was formed
Marta Y Manuel, Chuy, Ofelia, Reyna, Carmela, Maria, Piedad, Carolina & Delfina.
A mini meeting is planned for 21.10.09 at 4pm, to work on the presentation.
Agenda item 2. Forming a Consulting team in Los Torres.
Laura & Chela proposed that a consulting team be formed, that can then work as technical consultants & trainers of future projects & for other communities.
There are many people in Los Torres that are able use their newly learned skills & experience to help others. For future projects we need to employ technical consultants, why not use the people of Los Torres?
It was suggested the team should be 3 or 4 people, & proposals were made
Juan Alvarado, Jose Miguel Cruz (delegado), Rafael Cruz, Guillermo Alvarado.
Most of the men were not present so their wives need to propose this to them & report back at the next meeting.
Agenda item 3. Cruz Del Palmar solicitation
This was a particularly exciting part of the meeting – the dream of this project was that this method of catching & saving water be replicated in as many communities as possible.
Today, 2 women from Cruz Del Palmar – a neighbouring community, especially came to the meeting to ask for help in implementing Cisterns in their community!
(Teresa Gonzalez & Lucia Ramirez Ramirez of Bella Vista in Cruz Del Palmar)
They stood & introduced themselves (no mean feat in front of such a large audience) & described their problem & asked for help. They were asked what they had found out about the LT Water project, & they said they found that everyone liked it & that it’s working. Chela asked them how they thought LT had done it – they responded “in groups!”
They have sporadic water delivery in their part of CdP, some of CdP has water from a community well on tap, others have none. We have no information of level of Fluoride contamination in this community.
pg 3 of 3
The LT people had various suggestions for them – including,
• form a group of people to do the initial work,
• then go door to door & survey the people in the community to see who would be interested in being involved in a water cistern project
• gather statistics (size of families etc)
• come back to the next meeting with the information they have gathered.
• Don’t expect the whole community to be involved, the LT people at today’s meeting are the ones interested in the LT community for example.
• CdP people could come & participate in the Phase III project to learn the process.
• The work has to be done in groups, it doesn’t work individually & you need to involve the whole family (including the kids) in the process
The LT people have become expert in the process of solving their own issues, so much so, that they are able to advise people in their situation!!!
Dependant on what information the women from CdP come back with, ie description of need, & statistics, Rotary may help in this community as well. We could apply for funding from SMCF again, so that we can do a demonstration training day.
The main point is - that word of the success of the LT project is getting around & the project is growing legs!
The women were invited to present their info at the next meeting.
There was a big round of applause for the women of CdP!!
They thanked us all & left.
Chela took the opportunity to discuss more general information about the watershed & the environment (this is her true passion),
Agenda item 4 Review of Maria’s & the School’s cisterns
Maria’s cistern is completely finished (as are all of them now), most of them are more than ¾ full, the delegado has added ANOTHER piece of roof & piping, so his is overflowing!!
The school cistern needs more piping, after discussion of how to solve this, Chela offered that Benigno would return to LT, assess the situation & purchase the necessary pipes (he has access to the funds needed & it would be more complicated to get someone from LT to do it re funds)
The School kitchen roof (for 1 of the 3 cisterns) needs to be covered – even if is only for the next few weeks of the rainy season, as the roof is asbestos & there is no more money in the budget to replace it.
Items 5 & 6 to carry over to next meeting. We ran out of time.
Next Community assembly 28.10.09 10.30 am
Forum planning mini meeting 21.10.09 4pm
Domed adobe roof building workshop (cedesa) 5,6,,7 Oct all day.
Forum for people affected with water issues, 24 October 9-6pm Near the Presidentia
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