Building resilience with communities of Guerrero

Since 8 years ago, Cooperación Comunitaria has been working with communities in the Comprehensive Reconstruction of Habitat in Guerrero, right away after Ingrid and Manuel hurricanes happened. During this time, we have strengthened the  relationship with different communities through the social accompaniment and technical advice to rebuild reinforced adobe housing and improve the productive aspects in order to reduce their vulnerabilities related to threats like earthquakes, landslides and strong winds as well as the effects caused by climate change.

The commitment of the communities in the reconstruction process has recovered the ancestral wisdom, as well as comunitary practices that constitute their traditional way of life. The recovery of ancestral knowledge reinforces self management as it revalues the building culture, strengthening their relation with the territory, therefore the use of local materials.

Social Production of Habitat with local materials in Soledad and Ojo de Agua communities

In the Soledad and Ojo de Agua communities, the reconstruction process of reinforced adobe housing is taking place. After the community assessment and participatory design processes, a self reconstruction process is taking place.  It has motivated the self management of the community in order to find and administrate all local materials such as stone, wood and adobe which are produced by the participants. 

All the process has been directed and accompanied by the local promoter Grabiel, who has been working with Cooperación Comunitaria since the beginning of the reconstruction. We have done integral risk management and building with local materials workshops, which have strengthened the local building culture, while he has been training two new architects in the reinforced adobe construction system. The construction process is at the stage of the walls and the participants already show their happiness to see their dream to build safe, sustainable and locally adapted houses come true. 

Wood-saving stoves for reducing vulnerability of women of La Ciénega

In the Ciénega community, we have concluded the autoconstruction of 25 wood-saving stoves with an active participation of women. These stoves heat more than the conventional ones and need less wood to function. They were designed to keep smoke out of the kitchens, which reduces lung and respiratory diseases.

The stove was named as “Juana Stove '' being that in the Me’phaa culture, Juana is the Tata Mbatsun (lord of fire) wife, who is responsible for taking care of fire.

The autoconstruction of these stoves was reached thanks to the support of the students of the Sustainable development career of the intercultural university of the state of Guerreo. These students received technical training in ecotechnics construction during 2018 and up to 2020.

Knowledge arises from this process,  nourishes the collective wisdom and generates consciousness and trust in the construction with local materials that make houses and kitchens more affordable.

Kitchen- Dinner for intercultural primary school of Xochistlahuaca

Together with the  Xochistlahuaca school community we have concluded the constructive process of the school’s kitchen-dinner for the bilingüal spanish-Ñomndaa primary school. The school’s dinner was self-constructed by the parents and teachers who also built a wood-saving stove “Juana”. This is the result of the design that was done together with the Guerrero Mountain women, the Cooperación Comunitaria team and the CESDER teacher Domingo, who is part of the 1050º pottery collective.

With these spaces we reduce the space vulnerability of the students and reinforce the primary school project  “A school for life”, an educational project designed for working with children according to their language, identity, culture and costumes, as well as recovering traditional culture. 

Reducing vulnerability of the school community of El Obispo

Together with the school community of El Obispo, with whom we have already worked in different stages of the social production of habitat, we have built a community kitchen of the primary school.

This process has reinforced the construction culture and knowledge of those who are still interested in building with local materials, which at the same time, makes the construction more affordable and has a lower impact on the environment. 

Because of its community use for collective festivities, all the community has participated in the participatory design, and construction process. 

We thank you for being part of this big effort!