House Improvement Committees

House Improvement Committees (HICs) were the functional units where plans and priorities for housing improvements were decided and where all participatory activities were coordinated. HICs consisted of a president and secretary who were responsible for organizing work groups of five to six villagers. HICs coordinated tasks with members of the community. These groups were assigned different tasks and were supervised by a master craftsman who taught members basic carpentry, about laying building foundations, tile making, and plastering. Local materials and personnel were used whenever possible. HICs and craftsmen supervised and coordinated the repair and/or construction of houses. They worked between the months of May and September, when agricultural work is least demanding and community members are most available. However, fiestas, popular during this time, delayed work for weeks at a time. Because of their success in Chuquisaca, HICs were adopted and modified as functional village units for other pilot projects in the departments of Cochabamba and Tarija (Ault et al. 1992:42, SOH/CCH 1994).[52]

Villagers worked to compensate for roughly half the cost of a house improvement ($75.00 per house) and provided supplies worth $18.75; and PBCM contributed supplies, fumigation, education, and supervision to the amount of $114.00. Each improved house cost $208.00, with villagers providing 45 percent and the project the remaining 55 percent.[53]Not counting free labor, the project improved a house for $114.00 and its total budget was $45,614 for 400 houses.[54]

As an evaluation, HIC failed to adapt to Andean labor and economic practices. Earlier, certain economic exchange principles of Andeans were discussed, such as ayni (labor debt), mita (community debt), and turqasiña (resource debt) that can be used to facilitate housing improvement. Ayni and turqasiña constitute a complicated system of exchange relationships that are socially embedded within familial and community relationships. Aynis are inherited and are considered more valuable than money, especially during harvest times and periods of hyperinflation. Thus, for example, if a roofer’s family was deeply indebted to other commoners who had taken care of his or her harvest, then the roofer got a chance to return the work obligation by doing roofing for the project. Although ayni implies exchanging like‑work, HIC has been able to negotiate with both parties alternative work assignments. The president and secretary of the committee literally keep the books concerning ayni and employ it to accomplish necessary work.

Pilot project models need to fit the projects into the political and economic systems of the community in order to become replicated models. It is perhaps a misnomer to refer to them as pilot projects; a more appropriate title might be isolated projects.