Two Ways to Clean Water
Queremos agua! Queremos maís!
Multinacionales, fuera del pais!
(We want water! We want corn!
Multinationals, leave this country!)
These and other spirited, rhythmic chants filled the air, as perhaps a thousand people marched through cordoned-off streets; all converged upon the plaza located between the state of Santander headquarters and the national building, in downtown Bucaramanga.
Organized by the Committee for Defense of Water and the Santurban Paramo, the theme was “Save water, save life,” emblazoned on white T-shirts in blue and green. Alianza Paz is an alliance of 6 local groups protesting gold mining. “Our gold is our water,” they say.
The 146,000-hectare Santurban paramo, a high-altitude cloud forest filled with springs, feeds nine rivers providing water for over 3 million people. Multinational mining companies are using 40 tons a day of cyanide and a similar amount of explosives to extract gold. Mining companies have denied local people information or the right to participate in decisions. 22 titles have been granted, about half Canadian and half United Arab Emirates.
All along the march route, I was amazed to see people slapping up large posters and spray-painting slogans on walls, although some shopkeepers gave disapproving looks. It reminded me of many marches in Boston and San Francisco, in which we radicals would be out postering at 3am the night before the march, with our buckets of wheat paste and brushes; it was and probably still is illegal in the US.
My day started with catching the 7am bus to San Gil, to await the chartered bus to Bucaramanga. Salvador, an elderly man many called “Profe,” a former teacher, had a large daypack out of which he regaled fellow passengers with strawberries, grapes, and mandarins. He is one of the kindest, most helpful and supportive, cheerful Colombians I’ve ever met! He suggested we exchange phone numbers just to not lose one another at such a large march; he took me right under his wing, proffering an elbow to gently guide me on and off the bus; he helped me navigate my uncertainties, and even offered me a ride home from San Gil!
Other colorful characters on the 4-hour bus ride: Julian, of Un Grito por el Agua (A Cry for the Water), is just the sort of skinny, bearded, long-haired, cigarette-smoking political youth I would have expected. He was wearing his “Anti-COP 16” T-shirt. There was Thomas, a white-bearded German who has lived in Colombia for 30 years. Rosalba and her husband Arturo from San Gil, in their 60s, were obviously of a leftist bent, and they insisted I must come to their home sometime to talk more.
Our section of the march began at the UIS (Universidad Industrial de Santander), so after a big lunch, we went to the university gate. I admired the fashion statements of the young women students.
The march was so spirited that sometimes people leaped up and down! A couple of trucks with loudspeakers played music at times, and we chanted and danced our slogans. I marched with Salvador, Thomas, Rosalba and Arturo, taking turns holding up a big oilcloth banner. The day was hot, but after an hour or so of marching, welcome raindrops began to fall, at first lightly, while the sun still shone. But soon, we were holding the oilcloth banner overhead to protect ourselves from a brief downpour!
After getting home at midnight, the next morning was another water event…
EM-Clay Balls
Alejandra Medina and her husband Felipe created “Pasos de Agua” (Steps of Water), for children including their own four kids to learn about the Barichara stream and the water cycle. A few weeks ago she gave a little talk to our Unidos por el Agua group about the walks the children have taken along the stream, the tests they’ve conducted on the water, and their desire to see it flow clean again. I ‘d recently shared with her a “recipe” for making clay balls infused with Effective Microorganisms (EM) for cleaning rivers and streams.
On Saturday, there was an opportunity to make these clay balls with a group of children, including some members of Pasos de Agua, as part of a weekend science camp at a country school just out of town.
Alejandra had brought clay, wheat bran to add dry bulk and food for the microbes, and a liter of EM solution. She also had some “Mountain Microorganisms” growing in plastic cups filled with cooked rice and placed in the forest. I don’t know much about these native microbes, but have read that they are excellent for helping cultivate crops. However, there have been no studies on their efficacy for cleaning contaminated water.
We told the children about the 80 species of beneficial microbes in EMs, including good old lactobacilli (which ferment yogurt), photosynthetic bacteria, yeasts, and fungi, and how they out-compete pathogens to such a degree that they can even clean sewage. The Japanese (where scientist Teruo Higa formulated EMs) have used the microbes to help clean over 150 rivers by tossing in clay balls infused with EMs every 6 months. Some tests showed 90% reductions in pathogens such as E Coli. Lake Titicaca in Peru had problems with bad odors and algal blooms, which were resolved with EMs.
We asked the children to think about their intention of cleaning the stream, as they formed the balls.
Then we worked together in teams, mixing the ingredients, adding one part of EM liquid to 10 parts of dry material and forming small balls. Everyone had dirty hands! The next step: let the clay balls dry for a few days.
I’m hopeful that we can act like scientists and bring some of the kids to test water samples before, and a week after tossing in the EM balls!