During these three months, Cooperación Comunitaria worked with communities and authorities in three different areas,
- Workshop: Historical community profile, held in the communities of Ojo de Agua and La Cienega. As well as the Socio-economic and habitability surveys and GPS coordinates location, in the communities of La Ciénega and Ojo de Agua.
- Community Risk Maping Workshop in the communities of Ojo de Agua and La Ciénega, with Pastoral and Civil Protection groups participation, where the risk points and safe accommodations were identified in the map prepared by the participants.
- Workshop: Frequency and impact of threats, in the communities Ojo de Agua, La Cienega, with Pastoral and Civil Protection groups’ participation. In this workshop they identified the impact of risk land and environmental threats within their communities.
- Analysis of soil and edges by our geologist, in the community of La Lucerna in order to elaborate a landslide risk´s map.
- Workshop: Historical community profile with the community La Lucerna Alta and La Lucerna Baja. Habitability problems were a recurring theme among the inhabitants.
- Workshop: Safe and unsafe lodging, in the communities of La Ciénega and Ojo de Agua. With the participation of the Social Pastoral, Civil Protection and University Social Service groups.
- Comparative Analysis of Habitability Workshop, in the communities of Ojo de Agua and La Ciénega, with participation of Pastoral Social, Civil Protection groups, University´s social service and communitie´s groups. They elaborated the process and cost of building a house with local materials vs. industrialized materials, and the subject and results were discussed.
2. Supervision of Indigenous Education Regional Center construction project
- Presentation, to the communities of Ojo de Agua and La Ciénega, of the Supervision of Indigenous Education Regional Center construction project.
- Preparing the Constructionfor the Supervision of Indigenous Education Regional Center: some activities wehre made like meeting with teachers and elaboration process of adobes for the construction, visits to the community of La Cienega to analyze the land. Also the CRATerre ElemenTerre pedagogical suitcases were presented in the communities in order to teach about the traditional knowledge of construction with soil, which at the end was discussed.
3. Established alliances with the local University in order to start upgrading the students performance and work in rural matters.
-Meeting with authorities of Guerrero State Intercultural University, where the Cooperación Comunitaria team was presented and a collaboration agreement with the University was signed. Through it, students would work on their Social Service with Cooperación Comunitaria.
- Talk at the Guerrero State Intercultural University, where students were informed of the collaboration agreement between Cooperación Comunitaria and the University so they can perform their University Social Service.
Cooperación Comunitaria México
Rebuilding the habitat in communities of Guerrero
In the last months, we have been working on a training program for reducing the vulnerability in four communities of the Mountain of Guerrero, on one hand, through the analysis of landslide risk; on the other, through the increase of construction capabilities on reinforced adobe construction technique.
The group which we are working with represents the local key stakeholders of the municipality, such as the team of Municipality´s civil protection, the communal agrarian office in charge for planning the sustainable use of natural goods; “Pastoral Social“ from the church, builders interested on be trained as a community promoters, students from the local University, teachers for indigenous education and participants from four communities.
In August, we started our first workshop with the community Ojo de Agua, La Ciénega, La Lucerna Alta y La Lucerna Baja Communities. It consists in analyzing landslide risk by combining community knowledge with detailed geological studies; maps of risk-zones, for the relocation of risk-prone homes and crops. Next week we are starting with workshops to increase inhabitants community resilience. The geologist and architects from Cooperación Comunitaria organized a four days workshop, which will have another module in September.
By that time, we will be working with the communities increasing their capabilities for building the first Indigenous Education Center on reinforced adobe that will work as a training hands-on workshop on reinforced-adobe construction techniques.
This Center will be built in a collaborative way, which function also as constructive housing models. Training more local actors and promoter will aloud to count on labor to rebuild near 3,900 houses that are still damaged.
We are working hard on increase the resilience, reducing the vulnerability of communities living in the Mountain of Guerrero.
We deeply thank you for being part of this effort.
Best regards
From Cooperación Comunitaria team!
Dear donors:
Due to we haven´t got the amount of money to build enough houses in one community, we have changed our strategy. We are beginning to build community centers in the communities where we have got housing demand. These centers have already a specific use that the community decided. The first one is a Wisdom Center built by 5 communities in Mexcaltepec, Chilapa municipality.
The other 4 centers will be built for Indigenous Education, teachers need a place to meet, discuss, and plan education programs, and they have been looking for a place the last 3 years without any success. The communities are: Ojo de Agua, La Ciénenga, Paraje Montero and el Tejocote. They will be building two centers per year, and by 2018 another 20 houses will be built in the first community. So we have enough time to keep going with the fund raising.
The first Wisdom Center has just finished it's construction process in Mexcapletepec, Chilapa where all the technical assistance was given by the building community Promoter that Cooperación Comunitaria has been training since 3 years ago. He was able to direct the construction and give the assistance to the construction groups from 5 communities that were involved in the Center’s construction. Cooperacion Comunitaria’s architects were there just to give the theoretical and hands-on workshops, as well as supervising the construction twice. It took one month to build it, thanks to the excellent assistance of the Promoter as well as the organizational skills of the communities.
As well we have worked in a Spanish video where you can watch the testimonies form the families that have built their reinforced adobe homes, composting toilets and wood saving stoves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwQQSW5Ot98&t=39s
Thank you once again for your support and being part of this project that enable people from affected communities to improve their living conditions!
With all our gratitude
Cooperación Comunitaria´s team
Links:
In the last months we have been working on the reconstruction of the habitat in 3 communities of the Mountain region of Guerrero.
84 wood saving stoves
24 composting toilets
15 reinforced adobe houses.
3 community promoters trained by Cooperación Comunitaria to give technical assistance and supervising.
Our comprehensive method which we work with, focus on the environmental, productive, constructive, and cultural dimensions in order to solve complex situations from the several factors that affect the communities.
Cooperación Comunitaria has provided the building materials, has accompanied the constructive process, giving technical assistance, supervising the self-construction as well as increasing the organisational, self-management and building skills of the families in communities.
Today more families live in a secure, better quality and sustainable habitat.
Thank you for your support and being involved
TESTIMONIES
Marta y Toribio
“ We are 8 members in our family and all have participated in the construction of our house. It´s important for our kids to learn since now how to build” .
Valentina
" It´s been a lot of work because I am alone with my 4 children, but we deserve to have a suitable house”.
Felix
" We choose to have a composting toilet because we don´t want keep polluting the water and crops".
Esperanza
" I am very happy with my stove, it saves a lot of wood".
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