In front of the church of San José Chalmita lives 87-year-old Angela Arias with half a dozen children, all grandchildren and great-grandchildren, they, like the rest of the inhabitants of this community, have lacked drinking water for more than 6 months.
Two 220-liter drums store the water that they will have to administer for a week, relatives, acquaintances or the delegates themselves provide Ángela’s family with the drums regularly, however, the water for consumption must be carried from a nearby well.
In this community located more than 20 kilometers from the municipal seat of Tenancingo, the Covid-19 has not yet arrived, 6.4 kilometers of dirt road places them in an advantageous situation to avoid constant contact with the potentially contagious outside.
For Francisco, 68, who lives in a less favored situation than Angela, the virus that has caused the death of almost 150 thousand Mexicans is a distant concern, in his house of rudimentary construction the constant washing of hands is a luxury that is not can give.
Face masks, masks, antibacterial gel and other common items in the cities are rare to observe in this community, however, the possibility of contracting the virus is not zero, Francisco’s son visits the Tenancingo health center every week due to a kidney problem
“Before there was a doctor,” says a neighbor, currently this community lacks any health service, if its residents require attention they have to travel the 45 minutes that separate them from the municipal seat for 150 pesos, if they are lucky to find one of the Neighbors who have a taxi, the units do not have the appropriate measures to avoid contagion either.
In a house located on the main avenue of this community, a new water tank is presumed on its roof, in full view of all due to the mountainous relief of the area, in front of it it reads on a cardboard “In this house there is no drinking water.”
Recently a councilwoman granted water tanks with subsidies to some residents of this region, residents and delegates have denounced the electoral use that is intended to be given to the issue of water supply, “council members have come to tell us that they help us in exchange for the vote,” he said. José Medina, member of the San José Chalmita Water Committee.
For Angela’s family, water is just one of their problems, her 8-year-old great-granddaughter Yamileth has not taken classes for months, “before a teacher taught us, but no longer,” she says, the complexity of the area makes it difficult to access the internet.
With the pandemic, the backwardness of San José Chalmita has been accentuated, young people, like Francisco’s son, have had to return from their work areas to the town of their parents.
According to public information in the reports of activities in this community, 900 thousand pesos have been invested in hydraulic paving (more than double what they owe to the CFE) so far this administration, this despite the fact that only a fraction of the community owns a car.
During a press conference offered last Wednesday, the members of the Water Committee affirmed that they submitted a request to pay the debt jointly with the city council, “it is a matter foreign to the municipality,” they responded from the social communication office to this medium.
“Yesterday they came to paint the court,” says Yamileth about the work carried out on the basketball courts in front of his house by municipal authorities.
For José Medina, requesting support from other municipalities such as Zumpahuacán or Malinalco in exchange for participations is a close possibility, for him support, such as water tanks and painting work on the basketball court, are absurd in the face of the problem that face the community.
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