November/December 1985 RAIN Page 21 This man's neighbors were instantly interested—they wanted a pump just like this! Not only was the pump easy to understand, but so were its economics. The cost of the materials that needed to be bought was only slightly more than the cost of a bucket. The pump would pay for itself in just over six months. People started coming to CITA, asking for pumps. But CITA is primarily a design facility, and couldn't just start making pumps for everyone in the village. However, the villagers were not about to give up. Somebody brought up the issue of the pumps at a meeting of the village Defense Committee, the CDS. After a discussion, the CDS decided to do a house-to- house survey to find out how many people would be interested in some kind of a pump project. Thirty interested families were located. These families proceeded to form what was essentially a buying cooperative, and bought in bulk the materials to build the pumps. Then they set up a production collective, and started making pumps! Also, they started changing the design—everyone seemed to have an idea about how it could be built "a little better." Most of the design changes were small ones, to allow a family to use a specific piece of scrap they had available. But a significant change was made in the height and angle of the handle. People wanted the younger children to be able to use the pump, so that older children and adults could be freed for other tasks. This was a design problem overlooked by the technician who had originally put the pump together. Not living in the village, he simply hadn't thought of the need for a child-operated pump. Today, these pumps can be seen in many yards in Santa Cruz. Their proud owners are more than willing to tell a passer-by about the pump's advantages and history. They probably won't let you go until you've tried your hand at it, to see how easy a task raising water has become. This project probably would not have taken off as it did without the level of self-organization the people have. The CDS provided the forum for the information gathering and decision-making necessary to get the project off the ground. The readiness of the people of Santa Cruz to take the initiative in this project is one of the most important results of the Sandinista Revolution —people have learned they have the power to change their own lives. Today, as the attacks of the U.S.-backed contras intensify, Nicaraguans have need of all of their faith in themselves, and in their ability to triumph, in the long run, over forces that have kept them poor and powerless. The war is taking more and more of the scarce resources necessary for development. The Nicaraguan defense budget, a mere seven percent of the total budget in 1980, has climbed to almost 50 percent this year. The current situation of CITA provides a sad example of what this war means to development in Nicaragua. I returned to CITA in March of 1985, six months after my original visit. At first, after walking up the dirt road from the highway, I could find no one at the center. I wandered around the farm, checking out several projects. A newly completed methane digestor made me especially curious. Its full gas holder told me that it had been producing gas. But, when I finally rounded up someone to talk to, I was told that it wasn't producing any longer. Why not? "Lack of primary material." The neighboring latrines, where the 180 CITA workers were to have deposited that primary material, stood empty. I learned there were now almost no workers at the center. Most of CITA's employees had been mobilized to build osentfl- mientos, which are new homes for the 180,000 peasants who have had to leave their homes in the war zones, the areas where the contra attacks are worst. CITA's workers, along with people from other ministries, some of the mass organizations, and trade unions, are all part of a massive construction effort. The urgency of the situation of the displaced people, and the constant drain of the war on the economy, have made the construction of the asentamientos one of the only big development projects in Nicaragua today. Some of CITA's workers are using the alternative building techniques developed at the center in the last five years. But most of them are simply doing whatever is needed most—carrying bricks and mortar, organizing a crew, digging latrines, and so on. For now, almost all of the research and development work at CITA is on hold. The special capacity the center has developed must go unused until the time when there no longer are people fleeing their homes in terror of the contras. Mira Brown, founder of the Nicaragua Appropriate Technology Project (NICAT), has been to Nicaragua twice in the last year. She visited appropriate technology projects and gathered lists of materials needed, while also working as a bike mechanic, and studying Spanish. (For more information on NICAT, see Access below.) Workers at CITA installing the vanes ofa wind turbine (Photo by Mira Brown)
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