On the Ecuator

Tuesday May 12, Guayaquil Ecuador

I arrived here late last night, met by Raquel and Marlon of El Observatorio Cuidadano de Servicios Publicos (Citizen Observers of Public Services), the group that is hosting my visit. El Observatorio is a 5 year old organization affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee that provides a voice to citizens of the poorest neighborhoods in Guayaquil. To get their points across, they have used citizen interviews, marches, letters in the press, and meetings with local officials. El Observatorio is headed by Cesar Ramiriz, a dynamic young leader whose success so far has brought him national recognition and a role in national environmental policy work.

Over the past few years, El Observatorio has focused public attention on the poor quality of water and sewer services in the barrios, particularly in the 8 years since a Bechtel subsidiary won the concession (pushed by the World Bank and InterAmerican Development Bank) to privatize the services. El Observatorio and other progressive groups in Ecuador won a big victory in the passage of the 2008 constitution, which essentially forbids the privatization of water and sanitation. The return of responsibility for these services to the City of Guayaquil is underway, but for now the quality of services remains unchanged. It remains to be seen if the City can solve its own difficulties (padded payrolls, corruption, and inattention to poor neighborhoods) in providing water and sewer services.

Our project in these 2 weeks focuses on the quality of waters in the Rio Guayas and adjacent estuaries. El Observatorio wants to begin a remediation program, and my first days here are “fact-finding” through meetings with officials of various ministries and private organizations: the Navy, Provincial Health Ministry, regional development agency, and trash collection agencies are on the schedule so far. Many other ministries have responsibility for some aspect of this work, but El Observatorio staff don’t have contacts there or in some cases such as the mayor’s office, wouldn’t be welcome.

An important benefit of my presence is that it opens the door of many of these offices, and it may encourage officials to be more open with information and cooperation that by rights ought to be available to all Ecuadorian with or without a foreigner in tow. It’s possible that this kind of meeting is needed in order to establish personal relationships and mutual confidence. My presence also raises a personal challenge: how to provide lessons from my experience without being seen as the outside expert with answers to all questions. I’m having to resist my hosts on this point as well as the officials with whom we meet. I’m also trying to resist the urge of my linear personality to drive forward on what I thought would be the project goal: developing a proposal for funding for watershed restoration. So far, there’s been no discussion of that. Ben reminds me that American work in other countries often founders on our need to meet our own goals, not fit into how things work here.

In meetings so far, there’s agreement that plenty is known about the major problems – domestic sewage, industrial and agricultural wastewater, solid waste, and uncontrolled stormwater – but less agreement on how technical people and citizens can access and use this information to take action. We’ve talked about joint projects with El Observatorio bringing its constituency to table, for example a pilot project in one of the barrio to provide environmental education and document the impact of resulting changes. For a group like the Observatorio, which played a role in bringing down Bechtel, a pilot project like this must seem like a step backwards.
Although all parties express enthusiasm about small steps, I sense a deep frustration over the lack of political will and attention brought to these issues. The political differences between the national, provincial and local officials, overlapping areas of authority, and the compulsion to hoard the power that comes from having information that others don’t have are not unique to Ecuador. What does seem different is the inability of citizen groups to get information and the disconnect between environmental laws (plenty) and their enforcement (not much).
Ultimately, my task is to stayed focused on what I can provide with integrity and resist what is beyond my ability.

Claire