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For four years, neither Ms. Elia Pérez González nor her daughters have had to include fetching water from the spring as part of their duties. Before, they walked twice a day and carried 20 liters on their backs for ten minutes. “It wasn’t that much, but it’s ten minutes in which you feel very comfortable at home and do other things,” jokes the Mexican coffee producer shyly. Even cooking on his new two-burner stove doesn’t fill his house with wood smoke. And her tortillas no longer had any smoky taste. Visits to the market have also become significantly less frequent since they have learned to conscientiously grow herbs, lettuce and chilies. Sustainable technology changed the lives of this Oaxacan woman and much of her community. What he is most grateful for, he says, is the time saved. “It changed our lives. We’re thinking about: water sanitation processes,” he says.
There is never enough time for Pérez. This 55-year-old woman is a single mother of two young people and mayor of the municipality of Zaragoza, in the Mexican municipality of Santa María Yucuhiti, in the state of Oaxaca. 130 families live there, almost all of whom depend on coffee and other crops. Life in rural areas was not always easy. The house, the upbringing, the work… “Nobody looks at the landscape,” he says. And he corrects: “Almost no one.” Those who did so were the group Meeting Space of Native Cultures, founded by Tzinnia Carranza López to explore the traditions and ancestors of nine indigenous peoples such as the Chontales of Tabasco, Mixtecs and Zapotecs of the Isthmus and to connect others.
Although the project is considered a market or Flea markets where you could buy and sell local and small products, Carranza gradually realized that this was not enough; that we had to get to the root of the problems facing food producers. And the knot where it all came together had a lot to do with warming and its impact on crops and the daily lives of Mexicans. So they decided to create an organization that would provide advice on improving crop production, lead watershed restoration, set up dry toilets and even restore mangroves. “The hydrometeorological impacts increasingly affected the lives of communities. “We started working on local containment and adaptation based on what they need,” says the Mexican.
An energy-saving oven built with the support of the NGO Espacio de Encuentro de la Culturas Originarias.EECO
Dry bathrooms, cisterns to store water, backyard gardens or “saving ovens,” as Doña Elia calls them. Ecotechniques, all these tools designed for the efficient use of natural and material resources, are the salvation of those who have been watching the wolf of climate change for years. “Our philosophy is that information becomes knowledge,” adds Carranza. “Everything we do is participatory and shared responsibility between the beneficiaries and us.”
This initiative and the NGO’s efforts to create new and useful capacities between food producers and rural residents have led to them winning the Local Adaptation Award organized by the Global Center for Adaptation (GCA). During their time at COP 28 in Dubai, the jury highlighted the concept of work and respect for communities. First, a diagnosis is made and, based on this, initiatives are implemented to reduce the vulnerability of the population, explains Carranza. “We make technological innovations, but at a local level and adapted to the conditions and materials of the place,” he adds. “With the training they receive, they don’t need outside technologies.”
This organization was selected among 500 candidates and will receive 15,000 euros to invest in future activities. “We look forward to following the winners’ journey over the next year and beyond. We want to see how they use the Adaptation Fund’s funds and sponsorship opportunities to further develop and expand their work,” Professor Patrick Verkooijen, executive director of the Global Adaptation Centre, said in a statement.
One in four Latin Americans has no water
The convenience of turning on the faucet and letting water run out, having more than one fire in the kitchen, not having to worry about collecting firewood for cooking or airing the smokehouse afterwards is not commonplace in much of Latin America. On the continent, one in four people do not have adequate access to drinking water and 431 million (7 in 10) do not have safely managed sanitation.
Residents of Santa María Yucuhiti pose next to a newly built energy saving stove.EECO
Ongoing consultation was the key to the success of the project. Ms Elia says they have provided both the raw materials and the money. “And whenever we have a problem, they help us. It changes the entire community, we want the project to continue. There is still a lot more to improve,” he admits. The first thing that comes to my mind is the need to pour gray water and not black water into the river. About 40 families live on the banks, and each pours untreated water from the shower, sink and kitchen. “We can’t do that to the animals that rely on water or to our neighbors downstairs. Thank God we have water, but we cannot abuse or mistreat it.”
To achieve this, the community is running a pilot plan that involves treating waste water in three processes. A first that removes the fats, another barrel that recycles the waste and a last that filters and purifies the water using gravel, sand, horsetail and papyrus. “At the moment we are testing it, but I hope it works and we can apply it. We can do so many things well…” he concludes.