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Unfortunately, such harmony of interest between the strong and the weak does
not always exist. Here is another example of an attempt by villagers to create their
own water system:
In the mountains of western Mexico, a village of 850 people decided to
put in its own piped water supply. After considerable pressure from outside
change agents, the richer landholders finally agreed that each family in the
village should contribute to the costs in proportion to its wealth. Then one of
the landholders, who is also cacique (headman), volunteered to be treasurer
for the water program. Soon he took complete control. He arranged for
water to be piped into the homes of the few big landholders before the
public water supply was extended to the poorest parts of town. Then the
cacique began to charge so much for the use of public taps that the poor
could not afford to pay. So he turned off The public taps. The result was that
the water system, built largely with the labor of the poor, was controlled and
used exclusively by the rich.
Unfortunately, situations like this exist in many parts of the world. Too often
the strong within a village or community offer to help with development
projects, and then take complete control or turn the benefits to their own
advantage.
The lesson from such examples is clear:
Any program that would help the weak gain power
must carefully consider how much help to accept
from the strong, and under what conditions.