When the trenches were half dug, sides were taken. The water lines were ready be laid when the old woman who owns the land with the water spring said that she didn’t want to give one drop of water to the school or the 12 other households who were supposed to drink from that source. Why the change of heart? It turns out that someone had produced an old document signed in the community that stated that they bought the spring for 3000soles (about $1000) over 10 years ago to be used for communal drinking water. There are hand-written receipts for that amount, but her son only remembers seeing 500soles pass hands to his father. The problem is that the father has since passed away and there were no other witnesses. Now, the woman feels that her family had been tricked and she wants no part of a new water deal.
After much negotiation, she finally said that she would allow water to go to just the school. But then her other sons who now live in coastal cities came back to this small community in the mountains, Suro Antivo. When one son agreed that the water should go to the school, his brothers jumped on him. They felt that the respect of the family was being challenged. At this point, it seemed best to seek another solution…
The ITDG sociologist, the community leader (Teniente Gobernador), Homero, and I went to talk to the owner of the other spring in the village, where the new water system is being built. First, we thanked Emilda for her honorable gift to the community…and asked if more water could be drawn from the spring to supply the school…and maybe a few more neighbors. Homero is a skilled diplomat and handled the conversation with great care. After some discussion, and a mention that her generosity would be “recognized” by the community, she agreed.
The next morning, about 40 people gathered together in front of the school, including the district mayor, the school teacher (who wrote up notes in the formal Act book), the municipal registrars, and Emilda in her big straw hat. The meeting started about an hour late, but I think the informal milling around is where the real communication took place. At last, the Teniente convened the meeting and explained the situation of how they reached the deadend with the other spring. The community leaders asked the mayor that the budget stay in the community. The mayor agreed, and said that the materials could be used to extend Emilda’s water source to the school and where the system didn’t reach, families could build individual spring boxes and pipes to their homes, under direction of the municipal engineer. Everyone applauded. We shared strawberry soda and moonshine. Soon we’ll be sharing water.
Meanwhile, we had arranged for the top water specialist in Cajamarca to come to Suro Antivo and evaluate the water site near the cemetery. He works for the department of Environmental Health and has a laboratory in the regional hospital. He reviewed the topography and geology of the site and said with confidence that the surface water from the cemetery flows away from the spring used for drinking water. The spring emerges from several hundred meters deep. He gave some recommendations, such as digging a drainage gully to divert any overflow water, and lining the new graves with lime. (He also said the human body is 60% water and the rest of us decomposes completely in 2 years, so old bones are no threat…who knew?) He tested for pH, which is in the normal range, and for Nitrates in the hospital lab. The text confirms that there is zero contamination from the cemetery. Whew.
All things seem simpler at a distance. It sounds simple enough: bring spring water to homes. But in reality, the complexity of community dynamics cannot be underestimated and spring water can be contaminated by “holy water”. Now that there is an alternative water spring and we know that the water sources are pure, we’re ready to start building…again.
