POTABLE WATER IN CABA AND LAGUNA CABA

FAMILIES SERVED 85 PROJECT COST $9390

Meet Phillipe and his son. Let see what has happened in their village.

Last November I was guided on a trip to visit to the villages of Caba and Laguna Caba. The trip’s purpose was to take a look at the water needs in these villages.  These villages are sister villages and share virtually the same site. In all there are 85 families in this locality. This place has a special history because during the 80’s it was a refuge center for the people fleeing from the surrounding villages. I was often told that every spot on the hillside was full of people during that time.

REBUILDING THE SPRING BOX

    When I was shown the village spring and water system that they were using I was immediately drawn into the idea of helping develop and purify the water supply.  Here was a village of 85 families, over half of whom did not have water to their home. The present water system did not have a holding tank and was left exposed to parasites and bacteria. Much of the existing piping had even become clogged by a type of worm. Yet on the positive side the spring was excellent yielding over 30 gallons a minute. It was also closer to the village than any other site I had yet visited so the cost would be lower and finally the leadership was willing to work hard in service for their village.

Martin  the alcalde in 2012 and his family with Nicolas another village leader.

           Let me explain my impression of the leadership. The second time we visited the Caba I visited Nueve Puntos on my way in. We had enough blankets and vegetable seed for every family in Caba and Laguna Caba but we needed porters to carry the aid from Nueve Puntos to Caba. The Porters that were supposed to arrive from Caba to help us did not show up so we hiked to the village and left the aid in Nueve Puntos.  This trail is rough and we were in the middle of the muddy season.It is a secondary trail that snakes through some pretty broken territory. Arriving late in the evening we were exhausted. We explained to the alcalde (the village leader) that we needed the aid in the village by the end of the next day. This meeting took place at 9:00 at night yet he gathered 4 volunteers and one mule for the journey. They all got up at 3 am to make the two way trip to Nueve Puntos to bring back the aid.



Imagine going up or down these in the dark.

 Around 5 pm I got worried because they still had not arrived back so I hiked up to the top of the first pass. My feet were so sore from the previous day’s journey I knew it was not smart for me to go any further. I waited and waited for them to arrive. As twilight began to descend I keep inching my way back to the village. With each small retreat I prolonged the daylight as I was exiting the thicker forest. Finally before I made the last descent and the light totally faded they arrived in the trail. As we descended together we were meet with whistles and calls that were sent up the hill from others who had been waiting. The hikers sent back their answers signaling all was well. Instead of frustration at such a taxing journey there was pride and joy at the mission accomplished. They had hiked from 3 in the morning to after 7 at night to bring this aid to their people. I know the comparison I mentally made was not totally equal but I wondered how many town mayors in the states would make a journey like this to help their community. This was not only an extremely hard physical trip. One that I personally could not have done but it was risky. The trail was intense proven by the fact that the mule that left with them that morning had fallen. It was ok but they left it back up the trail with a family to heal up for a few days.  Making this trip was a sign of extreme dedication that would make building a new water system possible. That night I personally made a commitment to the alcalde to come back in March to begin the water project. We would find the money somehow.

a look at the water flow from the spring

   Meanwhile back in the states without any knowledge of these events two families decided to make a strong contribution to TRE. The amount was equal to the need and in a space of three weeks we had the finances and a plan. It felt almost divinely orchestrated that the time for clean water had arrived for Caba.

            So after that long introduction let’s take a look at the ripple that was created.

           

                                                              MARCH 2013

 THE SIGNING

  When I arrived back in the village almost 500 bags of sand and gravel had already been carried into the village. El family was responsible to carry river sand and gravel back from the river below. It was a steep one hour climb . This was a little scary for me to see work begun before we had made all of our final agreemnts. The purpose of this visit was to establish the plans for the system, do a final material list and cost analysis, and sign a final agreement. The village was so eager that they had already begun gathering materials.

TRE Office in Caba, Laguna Caba

    I personally don’t like a lot of office work but my office in Caba was pretty sweet. We needed to make a map of the village and layout the system. This lets everyone see a “picture” representation of the project. It also is the easiest way for me to start a material list, final cost analyses and a written agreement with the village. I can not remember when I was happier to be working at a desk

But with a penthouse view like this who wouldn’t enjoy it. The valley that is in the right side of the photo drops off so steep it is a 45 minute journey down to the river below. That is where the sand and gravel were gathered.

After a couple of days we had finished the map and other paper work and it was time to call a village meeting. Remeber Phillipe he is behind the bull horn. This is the small ridge between the two communities and it serves as a great town hall.

Here Andres is describing the project and who will be responsible for each part of the project. We had divided the project into three parts like we normally do and the responsibility for unskilled labor again fell upon the villagers. In this case a added struggle was that the closest road we could truck materials in on was still 5 hours away. There would be around 300 trips needed just to bring the materials to the site.

Martin the alcalde in 2012 is nominating another community member to be part of the water committee. They needed 4 members. It was funny to watch this process. Different men who have been dedicating time in community service throughout the past year would nominate another friend who they felt would be good for the job. They had done their service and now it was someones elses time. The problem was that the job meant extra unpaid work that no one really wanted. Some men who knew their name was coming up would kind of hide behind someone else and then kick the ground when they were nominated. Everyone would laugh and give a personal sigh of relief it was not them. I understand and respect these nominees. Their lives are hard and more work is not what they need. Service is not free.

The Signing

There are two common highlights in a water project. One is when the finances and agreements are  finally finished and in place and we are ready to work. The second is when the taps are opened for the first time. Both feel like moments of great accomplishments. When the agreement was verbally finalized the men gave TRE a round of applause for coming and offering help. I too was clapping and some men laughed becuase the applause was for me. They thought I had not understood  but I told them no I am applauding in joy that we, all of us, have arrived in this place of aggreement. What a good day!

                                                   

                                         

                                            BRINGING IN THE MATERIAL  PART TWO

Pipe Rebar and Cement

By providing these materials we can give the opportunity for this village to change their future. By making one phone call and writing one check to the hardware supplier we have set in motion that posibility. Casa Grande, the hardware store in Nebaj arranged for a tuck, in this case a dump truck to deliver the main load of materials to Chel.  Andres had arranged for us to use a new home for two weeks fee of rent as a storage unit. I love the attitude I often encounter that motivates people to donate their time and help of any kind because “esta para la gente”, It is for the people. The cost to do our work would be so much higher without it. In this case this family was willing to wait to move in their new home until the neighboring village could move all these materials to Caba.  

A little note about the house we stored the pipe in. Today in the states there is movement towards micro homes that promotes building smaller simpler homes in an effort to be environmentally responsible. The world’s poor is ahead of the curve on this trend. This home measures less than 14’x20’ giving the family under 300 square feet of space. We could only stack the 20 foot lenghts of pipe diagonally and the rebar needed to be leaned through a hole in the gable end in order to fit inside this home.

Once we had the materials in Chel and stored safely for the night we sent word to the village to come out and begin transporting them. The following two days each family would send out a representative to carry their allotted load. The first to arrive was the new alcalde of Caba an his son. He wanted to make sure I knew that he was ready and responsible to lead his village in this project. During that afternoon we loaded people and animals with cargo and they took their loads to different homes in Chel to spend the night. Early the following morning they would begin their journey back.

                          
Loads of heavy sacks are second nature in the lives both the men and animals. Coffee and cardamomo are hauled out of the village to Chel and corn and other supplies are carried back in. What made the villagers stop and think a little was how to load the rebar and pipes.







I have listen to men tell me that when they were boys they would cry when their fathers went away to work in the mountains. These kids are proud to step in with the men to help.

Heading to a Home in Chel for the night.



The following morning the alcalde and I started hiking up the trail at 3am. I was wanting to find different positions to take photos from as people passed by with their cargo. As we waited in one spot we could here someone coming and having trouble with there mule.Stern world flowed freely telling the mule to keep going in a deep gruff voice. After a few minutes this boy and his mule came into view. Here his mule is negociating  a rocky accent while the boy, who seems less than 10 years old patiantly watches on. The mule has two bags of cement, a new broom for his mother and a bottle of atol, adrink made from corn for the boy. We followed him for a while and I was impressed as he prodded the mule with his stick and firmly gave it cammands but never was abusive.