Last June, WES/Global Connections celebrated our 10th delegation to El Rodeo, our Sister Community in El Salvador. The experience was a full one and marked the completion of a system of potable water for every household in the village. I’ve been asked “just how long did this project take from start to finish?” Honestly, it took ten years…
On our very first visit in 2009, we were shown the sources of water that the village relied on. They were very picturesque, sometimes spilling from an overhead pipe into a small stream where fragrant “mariposa” plants bloomed. Minnows would nibble at your feet while you bathed… Other sources were merely an unprotected hole in the ground in the middle of a lush forest. There were a few of these “fuentes.” All were teeming with parasites. In early 2009, every child in El Rodeo had become sick from drinking the water.
In 2010 and 2011, the delegation partnered with the Village Council to hold community assemblies. A democratic and participatory process revealed (unsurprisingly) that clean water was the people’s number one priority. By the summer of 2011, WES members had purchased water filters for every family in the village. By 2012, we were told that the health of the community had improved dramatically. But filters last only a few years and water still had to be carried long distances, in large “cantaras,” mostly on the heads of women over the steep, rutted path’s that connect the small scattered houses. In 2012, WES donors paid to have the major water sources tested for volume and contaminants. The Aguas Caliente spring was chosen as the primary source for a water system. In less than a year, WES members raised the funds to buy the privately owned water source in the name of the people of El Rodeo. It took over four years to get clear title to the spring.
A water storage and distribution system was designed by the local aid organization, ADES. But the cost was far beyond what WES members could handle on our own. So a partnership began between the community, ADES, the aid organization CoCoDa, the Japanese Government and WES. WES members contributed over $10,000 toward the project. After two years of insisting on stringent (and costly) earthquake requirements and an expansion of the system, the Japanese government withdrew their support. The remaining partners decided to take a chance and build the first phase of the system without having the funds for the second. CoCoDa convinced the other partners to incorporate a solar-powered pump and scoured U.S. Rotary Clubs to raise funds for phase 1. They succeeded.
Time passed and the original water filters wore out. WES members replaced them all. The lower collection tank was built and seemingly miles of pipes were connected in underground trenches, dug by community “labor teams.” A group called Engineers Without Borders traveled from Spain to El Salvador to learn about solar-powered water systems and visited El Rodeo to see the project that was underway. They too, fell in love with the place. Through EWOB, the city of Bilbao, Spain funded a grant to complete the project. We were there when the village got the good news. We were all ecstatic. The dream of clean water was getting close.
Two years later, in 2019, it became a reality.
It is impossible to describe all of the twists and turns that happened during the course of the project. But there were some things that were unshakable: the motivated community members and the organized partners. It was a lesson in Solidarity that I will never forget. WES members were in it from the very beginning and in it for the long haul. As village leader Elvis Zavala said, “Without WES, this could never have happened.” We at WES/GC are filled with gratitude.
In 2020, WES/Global Connections will begin walking with the people of El Rodeo toward their new goal, a community center to house tools, hold meetings, celebrations and learn new skills: a “Casa Communal.” The journey continues.
The WES/GC Delegation leaves on June 24. If you are curious, please attend the info-session between Platforms and after the 2nd Platform on Jan. 12. If you think that WES/GC is something you might like to be a part of, please let us know.
Ross Wells,
for WES/Global Connections
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