1.4. Construction Stages

Now, how this whole process the community participation has been approached one is, they talked about approaching through the social organizations, the communities, the local communities through their own networks so, because the Red Cross personnel will be coming from somewhere else who may or may not be familiar with the local communities and that is where the Adesco which is a kind of community organizations. Become a kind of interface between the local communities and the various NGOs coming and working in it. In that process, what happens is communities establish a trust on these agencies which can actually negotiate and may create an interface between both the groups. So finally, after having a thorough analysis of the 14 communities in San Vicente they have selected 9 communities within that 14, for the reconstruction process.

This chunk discusses how community participation is essential in the construction process. The process begins with establishing communication between the Red Cross and local communities through social organizations, like Adesco. These organizations help bridge the gap between NGOs and communities by fostering trust. After analyzing 14 communities in the San Vicente area, 9 were chosen for reconstruction based on their needs and readiness for the project.

Think of it like organizing a community picnic. You need people in the neighborhood who know everyone and can remind them about the picnic, just as Adesco does for the construction project. Once everyone discusses their preferences and needs, you decide which park to use based on where most people live and can easily gather.

Mainly, they have covered in the two major municipalities, one is a Tecoluca and Verapaz, within the department of San Vicente and each community includes El Arco, Llano Grande, El Puente, Santa Cruz de Paraiso, San Pedro, Sand Jose de Borjas, Nuevo Oriente, San Antonio Jiboa, San Isidro so, these are all concluding about 582 houses.

This chunk specifies the municipalities where the construction project is taking place—Tecoluca and Verapaz, both in the San Vicente department. Eight specific communities are mentioned, where a total of 582 houses are planned for construction. This shows the scope of the project and the communities involved.

Imagine you are building a series of houses in two neighborhoods of a city. You would first choose the neighborhoods based on where people need houses the most, just like choosing Tecoluca and Verapaz for this project, ensuring your efforts meet the greatest community needs.

Now, the all issue to do with the land tenure so, the people who were already a legal owners of the land or had a land ownership documents so that, these particular communities have been processed and these communities have received help from the town hall and were provided with the professional service of lawyer which brought down the cost of the process. But, there were also some families whose houses are located on a land that belonged to a railway company because you know, you have the revenue land, you have the railway land or in some cases you have the mining authorities land, so but in this case the people who are residing on the railway land so or to other private individuals.

In this chunk, the discussion revolves around land tenure, which is the legal right to own and occupy the land. Communities with proper ownership documents received assistance in processing their titles, which involved professional legal help to reduce costs. Some families were unfortunately excluded from the reconstruction project because they lived on land owned by private entities, like a railway company.

Think about renting a house versus owning it. If you own your house, you can remodel it as you wish (like the communities with ownership documents). But if you're renting (or living on someone else's land), you might have to leave or follow specific rules set by the landlord (like the families on railway land). This distinction significantly impacts the reconstruction project.

And, how it is implemented as I said to you, it is a participatory design methodology the communities have collectively prepared a house design so a think tank process has went to the bottom level interactions and what they did was to get a real scale understanding so, they made about the outlines with just two lines of blocks you know, that this is going to be your space so you have this is your room and this is the veranda this is another room.

This chunk explains the participatory design methodology, where community members worked together to create house designs. By interacting at the grassroots level, they gained a tangible understanding of the space needed. The design process involved marking out spaces with simple outlines, so everyone could visualize how their homes would be laid out.

Picture designing your own bedroom. You might use tape to mark where your bed and desk will go, helping you see how the room will look. This method is very similar to how communities visualize their future homes in the construction stages.

So, as I discussed with you about 3 stages stage one which is a partial construction so here, the communities who are these stakeholders. The communities they also provided some kind of informal the unskilled labour at this process and the local builders because for a group of the some of the local builders were hired by the contractors and the construction supervisors for every group of 30 so, you have one supervisor who is looking at it.

This section introduces the three stages of construction. The first stage is partial construction, where communities contribute informal labor alongside hired local builders. Each group of 30 households has a construction supervisor overseeing the work, ensuring that everything runs smoothly and efficiently.

Think of building a treehouse with your friends—one person may have experience and leads the effort, but everyone contributes in some way, whether through carrying wood or helping design it. That's similar to how communities are involved in the construction process with supervision and collaboration.

Then in stage two, this is where the completion by owners so, communities also have provided so, in the earlier stage the materials were provided because these concrete blocks were not available locally so the agencies have provided the concrete blocks but in here the communities as per their feasibilities as per their available resources they have developed they brought the doors and windows.

In the second stage of construction, owners contribute more actively to the completion of their homes. Previously provided materials like concrete blocks are now complemented with doors and windows that families obtain based on their needs. This stage emphasizes local input and resourcefulness in finishing the houses.

Imagine making a scrapbook. At first, you might have some basic materials from your friends, but later, you find special stickers and designs that you add yourself. This highlights how community members add their personal touches to their homes just as they would personalize a scrapbook.

On the stage 3, the service completion of it, the water supply and sanitation. So here, they installed a sink with two taps, a system of removing grey water connected, a system in each houses for the excreta disposal and there has been also some workshops which has been conducted for the community the training and you know interactions so the community needs how are these identified.

The third stage focuses on completing essential services like water supply and sanitation in the homes. New installations such as sinks and grey water disposal systems are added to improve living conditions. Additionally, workshops are conducted to ensure the community understands and can maintain these facilities.

Consider setting up a new kitchen. After building it, you need to add plumbing for water and a way to dispose of waste. Just as you learn to use your kitchen appliances, communities receive training to understand how to utilize their new water and sanitation systems effectively.

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