John Calaway: A New Resident Making a Big Difference
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A Profile in Giving
John Calaway
John Calaway had a long and successful career in the environmental and energy sectors as well as being an established artist. He recently became a San Miguel resident and shortly thereafter a Caminos de Agua supporter. Below is a dialogue between John and Caminos about our work and why he was so attracted to it.
"To be frank… your work just connected with me. You have a strong plan and just fundamentally know what you're doing. When I see that, it’s a clear message for me to get involved."
– John Calaway
John, can you tell us a little bit about what brought you to San Miguel and how long you've been here?
Actually, I've been coming to San Miguel for many years. My mother spent her summers here for, something like, 40 years. She just loves it here and it spilled over to me. So, I arrived in town at the beginning of May, thinking I was just coming down to spend a couple of months relaxing and taking a bit of a break. And, when I got down here, and took a long hard look around I said to myself: “You know, you've been thinking about leaving Houston for a long time, for environmental, political, and other reasons” and it just hit me that this is the place for me. So, I just made the decision! I put my house up there on the market, bought a house here, and started remodeling it. So much for that relaxing vacation I was gonna take. But, I got to say, I’m feeling really good about it
What were you doing in your career prior to moving to San Miguel?
Where I made my living was in renewable energy. I was one of the co-founders of Pattern Energy Group, a global wind and solar energy development company. It was a really fantastic way to make a living, and I was doing something I felt really good about. I'm also a working artist - a sculptor and a painter, creating and showing pretty regularly. One of the first things I did in San Miguel was set up an art studio here. I haven't started painting yet, but I'm going to soon.
What made you want to start looking into working with NGOs so quickly after coming down to San Miguel?
So here I am, fully entrenched now, which is amazing. As I settled in, one of the things that I’ve always done and wanted to do here for sure is to kind of look around and talk to people and learn who are some of the organizations that were doing really interesting work - environmentally, socially, and in education. When I started asking around, I was told several times by different people about Caminos de Agua and that you guys were really doing some important and badly needed work. I've always had a great interest in natural resources, and that naturally led to a lot of interest in water. And I had been previously heavily involved with a successful water project in Guatemala. So, when I got down here, I looked around and saw how dry it really is here. I started focusing my inquiries around water resources and issues - that's when your name really popped up. To be frank with you, your work just connected with me. You have a strong plan and just fundamentally know what you're doing. When I see that, it’s a clear message for me to get involved.
Can just tell us a little bit about your first introduction to Caminos de Agua?
I met your technical leader [Allie Alvarez] at that big 10th anniversary gala in October. I really enjoyed talking to her from a technical point of view. I've always been very big on mapping, statistics, and science. We got into a really good conversation about how you're keeping up with mapping the water crisis. She's very impressive, I mean, who expects to meet someone of that caliber down here in San Miguel working for a water NGO? That kind of opened the door, and then I listened to [executive director, Dylan Terrell’s] presentation and got to meet with him. Those things, combined with what I learned when I was asking around, is what took it from talk to action.
Photos: Allie Alvarez, Technology Director of Caminos de Agua, showing people the first Groundwater Treatment System (GTS) in Los Ricos
What is it that caused you to go from “this is a really wonderful place” to “wow, I'd like to make a difference here”?
Well, after all, isn’t that part of why we’re all here? I always try to make a difference wherever I am. It's not always something very glamorous, but I've always felt like just doing a few things every year makes me feel more connected to people and to my community. I don't think it's really all that complicated. It's just what I've always done, and I knew coming here that I’d end up getting involved. Just because I’m retired doesn’t mean that I’m going to be sitting around on my patio.
This GTS (Groundwater Treatment System) project we got going now together is really terrific. I just know it’s going to make a huge difference delivering clean water on a whole community level, and we’re just at the very beginning stages of what it will do. I plan to watch it very closely. Once we can really get it going, I’d like to encourage others to get behind it so we can get out to bigger towns and maybe cities.
Can you say a little bit more about what draws you to the GTS project, specifically?
Look, I heard a lot of good things about what you’re doing, but being able to take contaminated groundwater and make it healthy; it sounds like just the most fundamental thing. But it’s not so simple to execute here in the high desert, on a realistic budget, but you guys are doing it. Also, the most impressive thing is to see how you have gotten the people in the community to actually run it and maintain it.
Photos: (Top) A group of children from the community of Los Ricos posing in front of the GTS. (Bottom) Rosario – GTS beneficiary and co-operator of the system – in front of a group of supporters who recently visited our experimental field in Los Ricos and got to see the GTS and the team in action.
When you went out into the field, in the community of Los Ricos, to see GTS in operation, what were your reactions?
The women from the community running the system were just so impressive. They were smiling ear to ear, in effect saying, “look at what we’re doing here. We’re running this and producing clean water for our whole community. We have it under control, and we’re taking charge of our future”. You’ve obviously created a process that’s not difficult to manage and doing a really good job at educating and training. It’s no wonder they feel so empowered. That was really a good day, and it was a great return on my investment.
With your background in environmental issues and having fresh eyes on what we’re doing with GTS, how do you think we should be proceeding?
You guys have all the pieces now. You’ve developed a technology that deals with complex issues and works in your environment. And, it’s cost effective. You know how to work with the people and get them to really own it, keep it running, and to take care of it. The whole thing will evolve more, but what you have to do now is get more installations in place, get more experience with the technology in action, and just make continuous improvements as it rolls out. That’s why you got my donation. Let’s get this process going faster.
Photo: John Calaway (in white) walking together with other supporters and staff of Caminos de Agua at Los Ricos.
