Cont. from front page,

The community of Atotonilco is one of the sources of the pollution that endangers the Laja. Atotonilco’s well-known shrine is a center of devotion and pilgrimage for about 66,000 worshippers each year.

Sewage from the shrine—almost 2 million liters a year—is discharged directly into the Laja River.

Members of civic associations such as Save the Laja and Fluviales de Vida are concerned about the future of the ecosystem and the communities along the Laja basin and are striving to protect the Laja. Fluviales de Vida, for example, donated money toward the construction of a gray water treatment plant at the shrine of Atotonilco.

The Laja River

A tributary of the Lerma River, the Laja originates in the mountains in northwestern Guanajuato. As it flows south, the river and its tributaries—San Marcos, San Gabriel, La Venta and Rancho Viejo—traverse the municipalities of San Felipe, San Diego de la Unión, San Luis de la Paz, San José Iturbide, Doctor Mora, Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende. According to information provided by the National Water Commission, the Laja basin has an area of 4,981 square kilometers, and it is the only natural vent of Presa Allende, so all the excess water of the Presa discharges to the Laja. Past Presa Allende, the Laja runs through Commonfort, Celaya, Cortazar, Villagrán and Salamanca, where it joins the Lerma. In San Miguel there are more than 50 rural communities along the Laja including Atotonilco, La Cieneguita, San Miguelito, Montecillo de Nieto and Cruz del Palmar.

The Save the Laja website describes the river as “a vital corridor of green essential for migratory and local wildlife and essential for the survival of local communities.” Plant species such as oak and pine trees and a range of bushes and prickly pears, as well as birds such as pelicans, herons and ducks, all can be found along the river’s banks.

The Laja basin is also an area of cultural diversity: several old haciendas, chapels, churches and archeological sites are located along the river.

Bob Kelly, president of Save the Laja, said that it is important to clean the Laja from Atotonilco to Presa Allende. According to authorities, San Miguel has water for only 20 more years, and the Presa could provide an alternative source of potable water. “We help Fluviales de Vida with their work on this issue, and we will continue to help them with anything they need. There is so much to do. Currently we are showing communities along the San Marcos River, a tributary of the Laja, how to extract sand and gravel in a way that avoids erosion. The fact that the gray water treatment plant is working properly is a good first step,” said Kelly.

Atotonilco

Atotonilco, a rural community of about 500 inhabitants in the western part of the municipality, is located off the road to Dolores Hidalgo. It was from Atotonilco’s famous shrine that Father Miguel Hidalgo carried an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe on the insurgents’ ride toward San Miguel at the birth of the War of Independence. The numerous religious paintings and sculptures located within the shrine are under constant maintenance and restoration by the INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History) and by the civic group Adopt an Art Work. Along with San Miguel, the shrine is included in the nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage list, currently under consideration. Atotonilco has recently been under public scrutiny because of the refusal of itinerant vendors who sell religious objects at the entrance of the shrine to be relocated by the local government.

The shrine, founded by Father Luis Felipe Neri de Alfaro in 1748, is a place of faith and devotion for people from many parts of Mexico. Thousands of people come week after week to the sanctuary on pilgrimages and for spiritual retreats. According to Father Gumercindo Cortes, currently in charge of the retreat center at the shrine, spiritual retreats to the sanctuary began on July 12, 1765. At the beginning, the retreats took place three weeks a year, then increased to five weeks. “Currently we hold spiritual retreats 33 weeks a year,” said Father Gumercindo. “In the lowest season about 800 people arrive each week, and in the highest, which is Holy Week and during the summer months, we host up to 3,000 people. It would be an average of about 2,000 people a week.” The retreats usually begin on Sunday night, with a mass, and they end the following Sunday morning.

When Father Gumercindo arrived at Atotonilco seven years ago to take charge of the retreat center, which can hold 3,000 worshippers, he noticed that all the sewage from the building discharged into the Laja River.

“I have always been interested in ecological issues, and I began to worry about the sewage emptying into the river,” said the priest. “There is no sewer system in the community as a whole, so all the waste water discharges into the river, but most of it comes from the retreat center.”

Father Gumercindo contacted Leobardo Ramírez, a biologist who is an expert on water treatment plants, and with his help he asked the local government for a water treatment plant for the community. “We wanted a water treatment plant not only for Atotonilco but for all the communities in the area,” said Father Gumercindo. “With the last administration—local as well as state—we made a lot of advances, but since the new mayor took office the issue has not moved forward. We have not had any discussions with him.”

This summer, a gray water treatment plant was completed at the shrine of Atotonilco, a year after construction began, at a cost of around 300,000 pesos. The plant, which recycles water for use in restrooms and irrigation, is used exclusively by the retreat center; its capacity is inadequate for the needs of the greater community. Father Gumercindo noted that “most of the money for the plant came from our own resources: alms from the people who come for spiritual retreats, support from the brotherhoods in the shrine and from special fund-raising events we organize. The civic association Fluviales de Vida also donated 28,000 pesos for the project.”

Father Gumercindo said that he and Ramírez will keep working to make the water treatment plant a reality. “It is urgent to accomplish this. I do not know how or when, but it will be done,” he said.

Biologist Ramírez said that a preliminary proposal for a sewage treatment plant has been put forth to the State Water Commission of Guanajuato (CEAG). “This is a general pre-project proposal for any kind of water treatment plant, either chemical or biological, or a wetland. This pre-project will cost 140,000 pesos. The CEAG will analyze which kind of plant best fits the needs of Atotonilco,” said Ramírez.

Ramírez mentioned that another project has been proposed by Francisco Peyret, head of the Tourism and Economic Development Department in coordination with UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico), based on technology developed in the Czech Republic.

The new technology will be tested first at a dysfunctional water treatment plant in Fraccionamiento El Nigromante, and then, if successful, will be installed in Atotonilco. “Another technology we are bringing from the Czech Republic is a portable water purifier. With these machines we would be able to provide potable water to communities which lack of this service,” said Peyret. These machines cost approximately 300,000 pesos.

Fluviales de Vida

Fluviales de Vida A.C. is a civic association whose mission is to foment awareness of and care for the natural and cultural environment among those who inhabit the Laja River basin between Presa Allende and Cerro del Jovero.

Its main purpose is to improve their quality of life and promote local cultural traditions while maintaining a balance with the ecosystem.

Don Gustavo Spinolo, Fluviales de Vida’s founder and current president, has helped Montecillo de Nieto, the rural community where his hotel, Casa de Aves, is located, in several ways. He employs 20 residents from Montecillo de Nieto and nearby Rancho Nuevo. With the support of local health authorities, he brought medical care to the community. “Last summer, with the collaboration of Audubon and PEASMA, we organized summer courses for the children in Montecillo de Nieto,” said Don Gustavo. “For 15 days, children came to Rancho Los Fresnos, where they planted trees, grew vegetables and took car of chickens and goats. It is a way to teach children to take car of plants and animals.”

Don Gustavo intends to keep raising funds and working toward a water treatment plant for Atotonilco. Meanwhile, Fluviales de Vida is engaged with several other environmental projects. According to Arturo Morales, one of the main projects of Fluviales de Vida is a tourist corridor but with a sustainable development for all the communities in the area, which means that they are teaching the communities to make their own way of living, taking advantage from the developed projects.

Make a DIFerence, support a new home
By Atención staff


Mi Casa DIFerente

(My DIFferent home) tour Wed, Oct 17, 9am DIF offices, calles San Antonio Abad, corner Insurgentes Free

Cena Mexicana Benefit for Mi Casa DIFerente (My DIFferent home) Fri, Oct 26, 6pm Bellas Artes Hernàndez Macías 75 300 pesos

One government agency charged with allaying the suffering of the disenfranchised of San Miguel is the Family Services Department (DIF). By law and by tradition, the First Lady of the city acts as president of the DIF board. For the past year, Patricia Gutiérrez Rebollo, Mayor Jesús Correa’s wife, has held this post, and she says she is “very thankful to her husband for having given her this opportunity.”

On September 19, González Rebollo gave her first annual report of activities at DIF; on October 3, she repeated her presentation in English for the foreign community. Mi Casa DIFerente (My DIFerent home) helps families who live in extreme poverty and whose houses are built of unsafe and inadequate materials. “We have benefited eight communities with this program, and the foreign community has greatly supported us, for which we are very thankful,” said Guitiérrez, who explained that DIF provides the materials and the beneficiaries build their houses themselves. “We help them, but we also ask them to collaborate. The main material with which these houses are built is love.”

“We have a lot of projects, but also a lot of needs, mainly economic. But with God’s help and the support of the citizens, including the foreign community, we will keep helping those who need it,” said the First Lady. The program requires that recipients contribute labor operating under the philosophy that participation is part of the solution. In the past year, construction materials were supplied to 85 families.

Now the opportunity exists to become more directly involved with the Family Services housing program. On Wednesday, October 17 the agency hosts a tour of the homes targeted for reconstruction for the next year as well as some of the new homes. On Friday 26 October a benefit dinner will be held to help support the Mi Casa DIFerente program for 2008. At the dinner guests will enjoy a Mexican dinner and view a presentation of the program which for US$9,000 provides a family a new home.

Rapist of expat woman arrested
By Jesús Ibarra

Fabián Adolfo Tapia Vázquez, an ex-police officer with a history of behavioral problems, was arrested for the rape of an expat woman on Friday, October 5. Public Security Department head Daniel Trujillo said in a press release that Tapia Vázquez followed his victim to her house, sprayed Mace in her face when she opened the door, and threatened her with a knife. He stole her purse after the attack.

A neighbor reported the crime to the police immediately and a patrol found the man in La Cucaracha, a nearby bar. The victim identified her attacker. At the time of arrest, Tapia Vázquez had a knife and a Mace bottle with him.

Trujillo announced that Tapia Vázquez, a former police officer, had been expelled from the force in December 2006 for several incidents. In 1999, he was reprimanded for sleeping on duty and lying to his superiors. He relapsed in 2003, for neglect of duty, lack of respect for his superiors and violating internal rules. Tapia was again reprimanded in 2004 for being on duty under the influence of alcohol, for civil disturbances and lack of respect for female staff. He was finally expelled in 2006 for stealing.


Safety tips

*Take cabs at night when leaving bars or restaurants in Centro

*Don’t walk through Parque Juárez at night alone.

*Walk with a friend if at all possible.

*Walk near the curb and avoid passing close to shrubbery, dark doorways and other places of concealment.

* Many rapes are “acquaintance rapes.” Trust your feelings.

*Be observant of things around you. If someone is following you, go to the nearest house or store.

*Keep emergency numbers handy in your home, wallet and vehicle.