GANDARA, Samar- Lack of toilet among houses of this town is blamed why diseases due to poor hygiene are so common.
But thanks to the assistance of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through its Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Service (Kalahi-CIDSS), this problem is now being addressed.
Among the recipients of the Kalahi-CIDSS program is Barangay Tagnao, located along the national highway but is close to Gandara River.
Of the 273 households in the village, 138 households have no sanitary toilets, village chairman Virgilio Oliva said.
The barangay council had passed an ordinance prohibiting for the disposal of any kind of garbage at their village, the barangay chairman said.
The family of Catherine Manozo is one of the beneficiaries of the sanitary toilet project under Kalahi-CIDSS.
Manozo said that they are willing to share their toilet to families who do not have one.
“We’ve experienced not having a toilet. It’s very embarrassing to knock on someone’s door at night to ask permission if we can use their toilet,” she said.
With a toilet of their own, aside from guaranteeing hygiene, possible sexual exploitation among women could be avoided, Manozo added.
Gandara has 17 villages implementing Kalahi-CIDSS program.
Eleven 11 barangays are prioritizing water, sanitation and hygiene or WASH program, Juliet Abaratigue, DSWD area coordinator, said.
Abaratigue said that part of the program is the implementation of the zero open defecation or ZOD.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
