Report of Inauguration of Sapasma II Project in Cienega

Where: Community of Cienega Juana Ruiz

When: 10 Feb 2012 11.30am-2.45pm

Who Enrique, Laura (Rotary) (+guest of Enrique’s Maria – briefly), Chela, Holly (Cedesa), Camilo, Waldo, Francisco, Alba & 4 Sapasma promoters, & approx. 70 community representatives, from Cienega & also many of the Consejo communities.

Purpose: To celebrate the completion of the 2nd Sapasma Project in this community.

First phase was 26 family + 1 pilot, this phase was for 18 family cisterns. Therefore bringing the total number of cisterns in this community to 45.

There had been unseasonal rain this last week & so the access road was particularly muddy but this did not dampen anyone’s spirits, a Tarpaulin had been stretched out to provide shade/shelter to the many people gathered to celebrate this event.

There were many speeches, Camilo from Sapasma spoke first, he thanked the partners of this project, Rotary, Cedesa & the community. Chela spoke, also thanking the team & explaining a little of the history of this project. Enrique also spoke as did Francisco & the delegado of the community.

We all proceeded on procession fashion, to the first of the cisterns to have a ribbon cutting, & then to 2 more cisterns. One of the cisterns was already ½ full thanks to the unseasonal rain that arrived just as the cisterns were completed!

The trip also included a visit to the Sapasma Pozo, which was put in place more than 3 years ago, including all of the piping, but still has not been operating to provide them domestic use water (their well has high levels of fluoride, ie will not be suitable for drinking), when they eventually do get the problem with water supply resolved. This has been unresolved for many years now, the pipes installed new 3 yrs ago are in some cases now damaged & already needing replacement (despite never having piped water!). The Consejo continues to support Cienega to attempt to resolve this issue with Sapasma – we all hope it is “sorted” soon.

We all proceeded back to the original meeting place & were treated to a banquet feast of red rice, carnitas, nopal salad, salsa & of course delicious tortillas!

I sat next to Francisco of Sapasma & was very pleasantly surprised to find he is a Rugby Fan & knew all about not only the game but the Allblacks!! Who would have thought?

A good day had by all…

Report of 5th visit to Guerrero

Mixing the nopal with Cal to create a natural Sealant

to paint onto the cistern & roof.

Working on the inside & out...

Where: Guerrero Primary school – (past Capaderillo, before La Aurora & Don Juan)

When: 9 Feb 2012 10am-10.45am

Who Laura (Rotary), (Guest Suzanne), Saul (Cedesa) 22 adults at least ½ men, + 3 kids

Purpose: To visit on the 4^th day of the Pilot/training session in this community.

There had been unseasonal rain this last week & so the access road was particularly muddy, & this has impacted the work pace of the project as well, ie unable to mix & form concrete in the rain. Ultimately this caused the pilot to be extended an additional day of training.

When we arrived the cistern was in place, cement was being applied inside & out to the standing cistern. The top/cone was yet to be attached & cemented.

The cistern was positioned behind a brand new building being constructed by the architect/builders working for the Education department, Saul informed me the women in charge of the project had said the tubing was not to be connected to the roof of this new building until they had had the inauguration of this building at the end of the month. We agreed this was pretty ridiculous as we would miss out on the opportunity to collect at least some rain from this unseasonal rainfall we are having. Saul was going to attempt to meet with her & change her mind.

We watched the women mixing the nopal with the lime to make the natural sealer product with which the roof & the outside of the cistern would be painted.

Everyone was in fine form & working hard.

We congratulated the team & bid them goodbye.

The wire & metal materials for the first phase of the cistern construction for each of the 19 families has been delivered & they have begun work on their cisterns after the training session each day.

The cement is due to be delivered a little later as we don’t want to risk issues with the rain.

Presita de Santa Rosa Inauguration of Sapasma II project

The community of Presita de Santa Rosa celebrated the completion of 21 cisterns in the first phase of the water cistern project in their community.

The 20 family cisterns were funded by the Sapasma II project & the pilot was generously funded by a private donation from Chris.

I was unable to attend, but Enrique from San Miguel Midday Rotary had this to say

"On Presita de santa Rosa saturday visit, it was also a great event.

We met at the school patio, representatives from SAPASMA, CEDESA, Rotary MD, local beneficiaries and +- 8 communities... also I. Soto (a Green Fund member) and Miguel Gil (Rotarian and Social Development Sub-Director) participated.

Agenda was well structured, including community experiences ("you make a dream come through", remarked an old woman) and short speeches from representatives. Holly read a synthesis of the whole project evolution with hard data per communities and beneficiaries.

I brought an ecoStove for promotional purposes and which we raffled to the attendees at the end of the meeting... Ing. Fco. Jimenez SAPASMA Director agreed to help with $250 pesos

Then we had a good meal, with background music and a lot of fun people."

Los Torres Sapasma Project II inauguration

The Los Torres community held their inauguration of the 3rd family cistern phase of water projects held in their community. This phase was funded by the Sapasma II project.

The inauguration was held on Wednesday 25th January, to celebrate the completion of 18 more cisterns in Los Torres, bringing the total to 60 cisterns in this community.

I was unable to attend on the day as I had other Project urgent matters to attend to, Ivar & Enrique from San Miguel Midday Rotary attended & Ivar had this to say

"Very nice event - and very short! An inauguration meeting was held in a large room, the Community Salon. Speeches by Sapasma, Cedesa and Rotary plus a thank you speech by a lady from the community. App. 60 participants. It all took about 1/2 an hour. Then a delightful lunch and that was it."

Report of 4th visit to Guerrero 24.1.12

Where: Guerrero Chapel – (past Capaderillo, before La Aurora & Don Juan

When: 24.1.12 12.40pm

Who Chela (Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), 22 adults (including 2 men), 14kids, 4 dogs

Purpose: To prepare for the water cistern project being funded by Rotary GG 25437.

We arrived late as Chela was stuck behind a “pilgrimage” with 1000’s of people blocking the road, & only 1 lane occasionally opened to traffic…

We arrived seating in the shade & began the assembly.

We remembered the last planning meeting was held in September, & the roll was called. 20 people were present on the list with 3 people absent.

The format differed from usual, ie we did not appoint a co-ordinator or record taker or set agenda as it was very windy & dusty, so was to be a brief meeting.

We had a brief review of the previous meeting, with the roots of this community being discussed, the length of time & number of generations who have lived here, defending their rights to live on the land & remain productive.

The Guerrero Community participants had since attended a workshop on curative plants & nopal tunnels, & soil regeneration. They have wild nopal but many are old & have not been tended so produce less.

Chela asked “are the groups you formed complete? Or do we need to adjust the quantity?”

It was mentioned that one person had left & another participant has taken her place.

Chela suggested we revise the work groups – she asked provokingly “do you need cisterns or not?”

The answer was almost shouted, yes, we have a very high need!

Group 1 participants were Irene, Graciela, Benancia, Leticia, Salud, Berta, Elvia, Mercedes (With new member Gabriela).5 were missing & Chela asked why not – no-one was certain but they thought they were working & could not attend. Chela reiterated how much work is expected of the participants & attendance & participation is mandatory.

Group 2 & 3 participants were reviewed & the groups were shuffled around to end up with total of 19 participants & 1 pilot = 20 cisterns (down from 24 previously).

We spent some time reiterating how important this project is ie that they are unofficial community (despite 6 generations) & hence not eligible for govt. funding, that this is likely their only chance to receive assistance & participate in a cistern project.

Salud – a woman who was involved in the Capaderillo Project as she was such an excellent participant, explained how she learned during the training all that she needed to know to construct & maintain the cistern & not to be afraid of learning new skills.

Pilot date was set 6/2-10/2

Feb 3^rd materials & mallas to be delivered – Pilot at the Primary School – people will need to be home to receive delivery of the mallas.

Hours of pilot were discussed, debated & decided – to start at 8am.

Tools needed were discussed & people agreed/volunteered to bring what was needed.

Conditions of work were discussed – respect & harmony, to work in solidarity & with the responsibility of future projects resting on their shoulders.

We were treated to a quick taco – rice, beans, tostadas & tortillas with agua fresca & we graciously received & ran, as we had next assembly in Corralejos to attend at 3pm.

Meeting ended at 2.40pm

Report of 2nd recorded visit to Corralejo 24.1.12

Report of 2nd recorded visit to Corralejo

Where: Corralejo, under big tree in the centre of the community

When: 24^th Jan 2012

Who: Chela(Cedesa), Laura (Rotary), 12 women (no men) 3 kids, + 2 dogs

Purpose: To plan the water cistern project in this community.

History – approx. 50 families in Corralejo, majority of the men are in the USA working, the age of the community is uncertain, approx. 2 generations.

Pre-meeting discussion: I had mentioned the case of a 12yr old boy in the community of Don Francisco, who is unable to walk & has never been to school – to Chela on the way to Corralejo. She in turn mentioned it to the women gathered & 2 of the women had heard of this case where the child is left to his own devices sitting in his own pee etc during the day. They agreed it was sad that he was not a priority for his family & contrasted it with another story of another young man unable to walk, but whose mother has carried him on her back every day to & from school, this young man is now in Secondaria.

Chela opened discussion by asking about finances & security v too many children, ie family size. She explained that in most of the “developed” countries people choose to have 2 or 3 children, but in Mexico people keep having kids. She asked why they thought this was –

Answers were

• Lack of care to prevent pregnancy
• This generation mostly have 2 kids (replied one young woman)
• Grandmothers in the group agreed they have 5 or 6

We moved into general discussion comments were:

• Some husbands are here & some in the USA,
• Although there is a well, there is still a scarcity of water as often no electricity for the pump for example they have had no electricity for 8 days now & hence no water for 8 days.
• There has been 3 visits to this community (one which I did not attend & report)
• Corralejo was at the 1^st big regional council meeting in Capaderillo in Oct 2010.
• They joined the consejo in Nov (?)
• They have been working with the consejo to obtain dry toilets

Chela asked them to explain why they were here today –

“to learn about water cisterns & back yard production”

There are a total of 12 people wanting to participate in the water cistern project.

The groups were defined – 2 groups of 6.

There was discussion about the pilot & where it would be held. They decided they would like 2 pilots, one in the kinder & one in the Primary school.

I explained there was only money in the budget for training on one pilot, they discussed this & said they would contribute to payment of another tech assistant for the 2^nd pilot.

They could pay $250 per day x 4 days = $1000 /12 families or the 24 families at the primary for example would be $52 pesos per family.

I raised the point that 6 people is really insufficient for a pilot, eg in Vivienda de Arriba they struggled because they had only 16 people, & we had said from that point, that 20 would be minimum size.

The women argued they are young & fit & determined & can do it.

I did not continue to argue (but parked it) this as it was unproductive & my Spanish is not elegant enough!

Note: Holly was not at the meeting but agrees, 6 is too few for a pilot, we are moving to suggest they do one pilot, & then as a community build the 2^nd cistern at either the kinder or primary.

Date for the pilot(s) will be after 1^st March – once we receive delivery of the special order of materials.

We advised at least 1 abanile is required for each group, ideally more, the women said it was difficult to confirm this far out as they don’t know if their husbands will be working/have jobs at this time.

Contact point will be Marlene (Community Co-ordinator) 415 107 0341 (with backup from Hilda & Reina)

Next meeting will be determined after delivery of materials, to firm up responsibilities & determine tools etc.

Dry toilets – Leonida spoke about the dry toilet situation as she has been attending the meetings, the next meeting on this subject will be Friday 3^rd Feb at 10am (Consejo meeting).

Health & Back yard production workshops: There are 13 currently on the list to attend these workshops.

The women had bought makings of tacos & meal for us, Chela explained we had just eaten, so a takeaway plate was prepared, beans, rice, casserole & tortillas! & We headed off up the stony mountainous track to beat the dark!

Assembly at Cruz del Palmar

January 18, 2012

Chela, Saul and Holly met in the main square of the community with approximately 48 adults and a number of children. Of the families in mutual-aid groups, all were represented except three, who were excused for having advised Cata Melendez, the community coordinator (and president of COCIRA) that they would be unable to attend, but were ready to start the cistern project.

It was confirmed that there will be 39 families, one rotoplas and 2 pilot projects – one in the VIBA (Video Bachelerato – tele high school) and the other in the secundaria (secondary school). The pilots will take place January 30-Februry 3, starting at 9 a.m.

The person responsible for delivery of materials to the VIBA is Angela Ramírez

The person responsible for delivery of materials to the secundaria is Audelia García

The community contact is Cata Melendez, 415 105-7994

There are six presta-fuerza groups, as indicated in the list sent by Saul.

In confirming the presta-fuerza groups, we emphasized the need to make a serious commitment to work together and complete the project within the time-frame defined by the grant budget (three months from training to inauguration of the finished cisterns). Etapa I of Cruz was one of the projects that did not finish properly, it took months for the last cistern to get built because the family withdrew from its presta-fuerza group and tried to do it all on their own. We emphasized that these funds are not for individuals or single families working alone; participation in the presta-fuerza groups is a requirement of this project.

Saul explained what would take place during the training and discussed the materials and tools that would be needed for the pilot and the family cisterns. It appears that unlike La Tinaja, all the presta-fuerza groups have professional albañiles who can loan their tools as needed.