Just Water Allocation in the Dulcepamba Watershed
Current Reflections - La Banda
The small farming community of Santa Rosa de Cerritos is located on a flat outcropping on the western slopes of the Andes in the Dulcepamba Watershed in central Ecuador. Cerritos (which means little hills) is one of the over 100 campesino and indigenous communities we have supported in obtaining their water rights in the face of opposition by the politically and economically powerful hydroelectric company, Hidrotambo S.A., as well as by even larger and more powerful mining companies more recently.
Cerritos is a very well-organized and united community, maintaining its indigenous traditional ways of managing land, community services, and decision-making collectively.
The process of forming the community’s water board and legalizing its water rights with the Ecuadorian water authority was a multiple years-long, arduous process, during which the
October 17, 2016, 8:50 PM in a pizza restaurant in Guaranda, the capital city of Bolívar Province- Rachel Conrad and the leadership of the Santa Rosa de Cerritos water board reviewing yet another set of documents that the government water authority required of them after attempting to register their organization with the government for the fourth time.
government authority continually invented new requirements for additional documents and new formats and procedures. Additionally, the hydro company lawyer accosted community leaders during administrative hearings, accusing them of applying for exorbitant water rights with the sole purpose of harming the hydroelectric project several kilometers downstream. All these challenges delayed the process and exhausted the community’s time and resources, as they struggled to secure access to one of their most basic needs.
Panos Karan, concert pianist and conductor
The vision for a musical tradition
But despite all of these challenges, community organization and resolve were strengthened. After we had finally succeeded in obtaining their water rights and forming and registering their community water board, community leaders proposed another project and asked for our support: They wanted to form a community brass and winds band that would play traditional music during festivals and celebrations in their and other Dulcepamba Watershed communities. The idea was to form a music school where young people could strengthen local community and cultural traditions, and eventually pass them down through teaching the next generation.
Forming bands and music schools is completely out of the Dulcepamba Projects’ wheelhouse, but supporting and empowering Dulcepamba Watershed communities is important to us, so we searched for support, wrote applications, and found a small non-profit organization called Keys of Change that was willing to help. Keys of Change is led by Panos Karan, a Greek concert pianist and conductor, who has been supporting the formation and training of community orchestras and bands since 2011.
During the height of the pandemic lockdown, the people of Cerritos, a community that barely has cellphone service and often doesn’t have road access during the rainy season, installed satellite internet so that their children could keep up with their schoolwork and learn music. Panos employed some of the members of the music groups his organization has supported in rural Mexico and Peru for the past 10 years to begin rhythm and music reading lessons over Zoom in Cerritos.
Maribel V. teaching clarinet lessons in Santa Rosa de Cerritos, Ecuador from Oaxaca, Mexico
The slopes of the Dulcepamba Watershed fill with the sounds of clarinets, trumpets, flutes, and saxophones
Panos has raised money little by little. As travel has opened back up, he has been able to start purchasing instruments and accessories for the students in the band, which we have brought from the U.S. and delivered to the community. They now have 4 trumpets, 2 flutes, 6 clarinets, 3 saxophones, and several percussion instruments. And, the Cerritos band members are receiving individual and group lessons on a weekly basis from their Mexican and Peruvian teachers (a few of whom were in their shoes not so long ago).
"La Banda" - The first class of the Santa Rosa de Cerritos music school
Stalin Cayambe practicing in his home with Ariosto Cayambe, president of the community water board, observing
The community brings Keys of Change visitors and Dulcepamba Project team members to the Cerritos Waterfall between rehearsals.
In early November 2021, Panos and two of the music teachers, Renzo Carranza and Daniel Vallejo, visited Santa Rosa de Cerritos from Greece and Peru, respectively. Panos, Renzo, and Daniel dazzled the aspiring musicians with their professional music performances, while the Cerritos community members dazzled the visitors with their stunning waterfall, delicious community-grown food, and their dedication to maintaining and bettering their community through projects such as the community water system, the Day of the Dead traditional celebrations, and the budding music school.
After a week's visit, Renzo spent another week in Cerritos teaching daily music lessons while Panos traveled back to Greece, inspired by his visit to raise more money to buy more instruments for the Cerritos band.
Supporting the growth and improvement of the band
On Sunday, November 14, 2021, Panos completed the full Athens Classic Marathon, which is known to be the most difficult major marathon in the world, and of course, the original marathon! Panos took on this challenge in support of the Cerritos band and music school. He is asking for donations that will directly support the Cerritos music program, which will be matched by every.org during a 24-hour fundraiser on Monday, November 15th.
Renzo Carranza teaches a rhythm class in the community center in Cerritos
Cerritos band practice, trumpet section
Cerritos band practice, flute section
We would like to help Panos and the Cerritos band and music school by collecting donations. Very importantly, your donations will be doubled if you donate on Monday, November 15th!
To give you an idea of what your donation could buy, if we raise just $600 (which will be doubled to $1200), Keys of Change will be able to buy the Cerritos music students 2 more saxophones or 3 more oboes or pay a more advanced music school student from Mexico to give Zoom lessons to Cerritos students twice a week for half a year.
We want to thank all of you who have supported the Dulcepamba Project and the Dulcepamba Watershed communities over the years. Here’s to supporting old cultural traditions through a new generation of community musicians!
- The Dulcepamba Project Team
Cerritos band members with musicians Panos Karan, Renzo Carranza, and Daniel Vallejo, who visited them in their community in early November 2021, from Greece and Peru, respectively.
Panos Karan finished the Athens Classic Marathon on November 14, 2021, to raise funds for the Cerritos music program.