San Pedro Yodoyuxi

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT = COMMUNITY ACTION

San Pedro Yodoyuxi is a dusty village in the state of Oaxaca where less than one hundred families live. One room adobe homes with palm thatch roofs can be seen on the eroded hills that make up the landscape of that community. Two women from San Pedro came to GYTTE's "Tree of Life" Center for a training course. As a direct result of their participation, Vicenta and Esther changed the lives of the families in their village and set in motion a conscience-raising community spirit!

Dry Composting Toilet

The goverment was insisting that the village raise the funds to put in a sewer line that would drain into a nearby canyon. Located in that same canyon was the only clean water source for the village. Although previously indifferent to this idea, these two women now understood the ramifications of such a decision being made by those outside the village. And Vicenta and Esther were now aware of the other alternatives for sanitation.

First they each built a dry composting toilet for their own family. This toilet system uses no water, creates no waste and provides a resource for the future. Next they convinced the local village authority that the dry composting toilet was a real possibility for every village family. He believed in the project and supported their plan. Together they convinced the county authorities of the validity of the project and the goverment distributed separator toilets to any family that would build their own dry composting unit.

In the short period of one year, 48 families built their own unit and put them into use. Later more families decided to adopt this technology. The village water source was saved from contamination and it continues to supply the people and animals of San Pedro with this precious liquid. The possibility of open sewage becoming a source of disease in no longer a threat. Eventually the families will have a vital resource, fertilizer, to put on their crops.

Training events and other development opportunities offered by the GYTTE program make stories like that of San Pedro Yodoyuxi a reality! Lives are changed and villages are transformed!