Xesalli does not have a real center but consist of twenty two families spread out along a dead end 4x4 road. These families migrated here from Chel in 1997 and the road was built two years ago. Here is the village center with the original school house on the left and the only store in the top right.Last year while I was in Chel three men from a neighboring community approached me with an invitation to visit and help their village with a program similar to the cattle program. When I visited them and we talked about their various needs it was universally decided the potable water was the number one need. There is a lot if water in the mountains above Xesalli what they lacked was materials to build a water system. It has been a pleasure to get to know this village and see this system become a reality. Today March third we are only three days away from completing the concrete work. We have 500 feet of 3 inch pvc pipe on site and today’s meeting with the municipality who we have asked to provide the rest of the piping went very well.
This community migrated from Chel in 1995. Xesalli is not really a town but a row of houses along the road. Two years ago they put in this “road” when three communities received funds to build a hydro-electric system. Big changes in three years, a 4x4 road, electricity, and now water. It may sound great but I have witness a hard life here and they come from a much harsher history. Chel the community they came from was burned to the ground in 1983 and for 2 to 10 years these people lived in the mountains. The stories about what they endured are incredible. What you see in these pictures has been built by people who returned without shoes, tools, blankets, or money. Today I rode out from Chel to Chajul and was glad to arrive after 3 hours of bumps. Yesterday the roads were blocked by landslides and the people walked 4 hours in the rain starting at three in the morning. People my age remember carrying bags of coffee on their backs the whole distance. It is a good place to lend a hand. The following are some photos of Xesalli.
All housing is simple. There are no concrete floors but half the houses have electric lights
Here is the village supermarket. Chel where the shopping really happens is only a twenty minute walk away.
Children start talking on adult responsibilities early. I have seen girls as young as 4 weaving although 8 is more common.
Margarita has been ill this is why her hair is short.
This girl is sitting in front of a Thuj, a traditional stream/sauna bath house.
Weaving is an art for all Ixil women.
Favorite colors and designs are personal signitures. A woman normally only completes 4 to 6 weavings a year. Her shirt which took two months to weave and $12 of thread only sells for $30
For cash coffee is king here selling for $1 a pound. Gaspar recieved a bumper crop this year.
Juan also is real happy with his harvest as he prepars to husk the beans
After the beans are husked they are washeed then sun dried. For 5 day they will be turned three times a day and gathered up every night.
Corn and beans are the main food crop. The forest is constantly giving way to new fields
Here is the home I stayed in during the project. When I left Juancita was hanging cow eyeball to smoke above the fire. I missed that meal.
Kitchen cabnets and counter complete with a grinding stone for the corn.
Higinio (on the right) and Pedro in conversation at the proposed tank site.
The crew that took me to the site upstream to show where we could collect good water.
This is the spot. I have drank from this spot and for added protection we are putting a sand filter on the second tank.
Work begins with digging a hole four feet down.
Nim Siban -one of my first ixil words - big rock
A record was keep of how many loads a family carried and how many days of work were completed.
Martin my mason for the project ask for the final touches on the hole.
The community turned out in force to gather sand and gravel from the river bed.
Young boys as well as young girls share the workload.
The loads were tough.
The trail was steep to clear the river bed. It was only about a 15 minute walk to the worksite.
Juancito the town "mayor" loading a mule.
When all the sand was collected it was time to move cement.
On one of the pour days we carried 44 bags of cement before breakfast. I had to scolded two men who wear carrying two bags at a time.
Hand mixing, hand sawing, hand digging, it is a slow phisical process
Pouring the floor
While we were busy preparing the floor for the first tank I contracted with the ”local mill” to cut 6 dozen 1x12’s and 6 dozen 2x4’s. Salvador does all the cutting without a guide and had a 1 and 15 minute one way commute to this site from his house. It was 45 minute from the water tank and a steep climb. The young men in these photos carried three loads this afternoon.
I learned a new use of the Spanish word cuesta today. These two young men kept describing the trail as cuesta mucho.It is usually used in buying and pricing things but can also be used in describing the cost of effort to accomplish something. The leader of Xesayi was viewing these same photos and said this project "cuesta the gente mucho" but it will benefit them more
A short pause to rest Fransico's neck. The people of this community did not pay for these boards or this water system but I think they earned it with thier labor. They will value it not only for the gift of water but becuase of the price of thier labor.
It is a good thing we didn't order wider boards.
On load delivered, two more to haul today and then back to thier regular daily work.
forming the walls of the tank.
and wraping the forms with rebar to strenghten the concrete.
Another group effort for the pour. We decided to pour walls and cieling in one day to make for a stonger bond.
I think there are around 50 buckets of concrete in one yard and 6 yards in this pour.
With the first tank done we were warmed up for some real hiking. We preassembled the forms and the pack everything up the mountain.
It is a 45 minute walk up the mountain with cement, rebar, tools and
preformed pannels. I thought it would b easier to prebuild the tank and only haul what was really necessary.
Horses are our friends
Those preformed pannels sounded like a good idea but imagine packing this up the trail on you next hiking trip.
Forming the filter tank below the collection site.
We formed and poured this the fists day
The sand filter is simply clean rock with a filter cloth and then sand. The water flows threw the sand and the sand removes 85% of the harmful bacterias.
Laying 3" pvc pipe between the filter tange and the collection tank.
Finally we have completed the last tank. We latter made a small dam of boulders and concrete to form a pool around the upper half of the tank.
All three tanks are completed as well as the piping between the firt two tanks. On our third visit to the local municipal we showed them a computer video of the project and they finally agreed to provide the rest of the piping! This is a big step and as the elections come closer I hope they will be more motivated next year to help in Nuevo Puntos and Los Encuentros. Over the next month the community will complete the trench and piping between the two tanks and connect the smaller pipes to each house. For years to come these families will be able to turn on a simple hose bib and recieve clean water inside thier homes. What a blessing.
I have visited these two other communities where I want to do another water project next year. I am going to wait on a blog entre until I get home but the work there makes Xesalli look easy. It is a 45 minute hike to the village and almost another hour to the spring. The terrain is steeper and sand harder to find. Their need is a lot greater and when we discuss the amount of work they are ready to do it and responded without water the village will die. I am truly humbled by this experience.
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