UNICEF empowers residents to rehabilitate WASH facilities in Dinagat Islands
UNICEF with the support of Republic of Korea continues to work with partners to provide access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities.
Alona Eviota was already getting up at four each morning and trekking 30 minutes to the nearest spring to get water from when she was seven. Her tiny arms carried buckets just so her family could have drinking water for the day.
Twenty five years later, Alona’s own children no longer need to haul buckets as the local government has laid pipes from the spring straight into taps in the town center. Still, she doesn’t rest easy.
“The water gets really murky during the rainy season. After Typhoon Odette, my three year old drank water straight from the tap and immediately had constant vomiting and diarrhea. She had to be confined in a hospital for three days.”
To be safe, Alona and most residents in Barangay Maatas in Cagdianao municipality often end up forking up to ₱1,000 for bottled water every week – a steep price for a town of fisherfolk and carpenters.
Now, residents can get as much water as they need, after UNICEF and implementing partner Samaritan’s Purse installed a filter water tank in the barangay as part of the WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) response in the Dinagat Islands. The tank produces 5,000 liters of clean, drinking water a day and serves 260 families in the barangay.
“The water gets really murky during the rainy season. After Typhoon Odette, my three year old drank water straight from the tap and immediately had constant vomiting and diarrhea. She had to be confined in a hospital for three days.”
“Previous emergency responses were limited to distributing smaller units in one bucket per family, and those were often abandoned once the filters needed replacing. We wanted to design a more sustainable system that the entire community can take ownership of,” states Jose Ampuyas, Samaritan’s Purse WASH Coordinator and Specialist.
“Aside from the filters, which are affordable and only need replacing every 10 years, all the other parts are readily available at hardware stores. We’ve also trained the municipal sanitary inspector so they themselves can conduct the water quality testing every three months,” he added.
To fund the maintenance of the water tank, their barangay charges a flat rate of ₱30 per family every week. The minimal fee helps ensure that the filter water tank produces clean and safe drinking water for a long period of time.
“Previous emergency responses were limited to distributing smaller units in one bucket per family, and those were often abandoned once the filters needed replacing. We wanted to design a more sustainable system that the entire community can take ownership of.”
Sanitation Repair Kits
UNICEF also distributed Sanitation Repair Kits to over 1,000 households in the Dinagat Islands whose toilets were destroyed by Typhoon Odette.
“Prior to Odette, our town was making headway in accomplishing the national government’s ‘Zero Open Defecation Policy’ – over 90% of households already had toilets,” says Lori Fee Palma, the Cagdianao Sanitation Inspector. “But when the typhoon came, septic tanks overflowed, toilets crumbled, and entire bathrooms washed away. We were back to zero.”
Sanitary facilities are of utmost importance after a natural disaster, as they prevent the spread of disease in an already vulnerable population. Each Sanitation Repair Kit contains corrugated metal sheet, cement board, lumber, and other materials families can use to repair toilets to their own specifications.
“Prior to Odette, our town was making headway in accomplishing the national government’s ‘Zero Open Defecation Policy’ – over 90% of households already had toilets, but when the typhoon came, septic tanks overflowed, toilets crumbled, and entire bathrooms washed away. We were back to zero.”
“When the typhoon ravaged our home, we had to use whatever little money we had to even get a roof over our heads. It would’ve taken us years before we could get to our comfort room,” says mother of five Jessa Zapate, one of the beneficiaries of the Sanitation Repair Kit.
“We never thought in our wildest dreams that we would be able to rebuild our comfort room, especially with materials as nice and sturdy as this. This has really brought back our confidence.”
Through the support of Republic of Korea, UNICEF continues to work with partners in ensuring affected families have access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities. These interventions help protect them from waterborne and life-threatening diseases as they recover from the impact of the typhoon. #
