RC Metro Kalibo
For most of us, it is incomprehensible to know that in spite of advances in modern living, there are still a substantial number of households that lack access to basic sanitary conveniences.
Hence, it is no wonder why the Rotary Club of Metro Kalibo chose to respond to the global call for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) initiatives and launched its Project Toilet that provides water tank, toilet and water pumps in villages in Buruanga and Tangalan in Aklan province. This effort is supplemented by awareness and education campaign in target communities.
In Aklan alone, more than 7,000 households still use open pits for toilets as shown in the 2019-2020 data from the Association of Municipal Health Officers in the Philippines.
The club teamed up with the local chapter of the Philippine Red Cross in assessing the needs of the target communities in the province.
Volunteer community worker Arje Andrade, also a member of the Aklan State University Red Cross Youth and a pre-med student from Dongon West, Numancia town assisted the club in the turn over of toilet bowls to two initial beneficiaries from Sitio Katibyugan and Barangay Tabangka. He was joined by PRC chapter administrator Mary Joe Galeon and club secretary Megs Lunn, representing life-changing president Loida Enero.
With the current Covid-19 pandemic, sanitation and good hygiene is very important, president Loida stressed.
The club’s initiative is also aligned with goals of the Philippine Health Agenda that includes eliminating open defecation by 2022.
The Department of Health, through its Zero Open Defecation Program, utilizes the approaches that includes a range of behaviors such as stopping open defecation practices; ensuring that everyone uses a sanitary toilet, washes hands properly, handles food and water in a hygienic manner; and disposing animal and domestic waste safely to create a clean and safe environment.
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