Running Water at the School: Part 3 - A Job Well Done

May 2012

The day to build the rainwater catchment finally came.  After 6 months of discussions, deciding on Option I, wood floating away, voting a new President, and deciding on Option II – they were ready. 

I was asked to host a new trainee who had only been in country for 2 weeks, and figured that this would be great experience for him. 

Like anything else, 10% of the people do 90% of the work.  The padres are obligated to show up to meetings and work days or else they will get fined.  Therefore, they do come to work, but usually want to leave by noon.  To build this catchment system well, it takes at least 2 days.  Furthermore, they aren’t all experienced construction worker, which makes the job that much more difficult. 

At first it was just Misael and I trying to motivate the guys to help to no avail.  Thankfully my other close friend, Atilio the Health Committee President, was there.  I shot him a look and asked him a question, he could tell I needed his help, and he was in.  From then on the build went down hill.  Atilio who is a fantastic mason was directing people left and right.  By the end of the first day we had installed the PVC pipe and had the form ready for the concrete base.  The next day, without Atilio’s help, we were able to pour the entire form.

After the form was hardened, it still took about 3 weeks for the padres to install the rest of the system.  The best part was that they finished it without my assistance. 

Here’s the take away: 

·      A health project that was 100% locally funded, managed, and implemented by the community. 

·      I facilitated a process, rather than implementing a project.

·      I was able to leverage my relationships with key community members to allow them to lead the project.

·      If I had brought in the funds, it would have been MY project.  Misael, Atilio, and the maestro would never have stepped up the way they did to accomplish the work.

·      POTABLE, RUNNING WATER for 49 school children and 15 women who cook at the kitchen.

Is the system perfect?  No. 

Could it be bigger?  Yes. 

But when the community makes the decision that the system isn’t good enough and the tank needs to be bigger, they now have the capacity to do improve that themselves.