By Dominic I. Sanchez
ZAMBOANGA
CITY, May 02, (PIA) - - Dodong Cabillo shares his experience as a Kapit-Bisig
Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Service (Kalahi-CIDSS) volunteer during a convergence caravan held in Ipil,
Zamboanga Sibugay held recently.
He shared how his community has realized two very
important sub-projects that directly address the needs of the community.
“Kalahi-CIDSS has helped us
solve two very insistent problems in our community – the absence of potable
water, and a dilapidated school building,” he said in Cebuano.
“The water problem has been around for ages. It was very clear that people in our community suffered terribly from this. It was normal to hear,” he said.
“The water problem has been around for ages. It was very clear that people in our community suffered terribly from this. It was normal to hear,” he said.
Stories about people
constantly vomiting, and getting diarrhea – some have grown really sick. This
was because poverty prevented them from having access to safe drinking water.
Instead, they were forced to live with having to drink water from crude wells
-- that they dug up themselves. However, when someone goes thirsty, quenching
that thirst becomes the most urgent thing for that person to do, knowing that
the water is far from safe.
Soon after the Department
of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) implemented its very first sub-project
through Kalahi-CIDSS, it was as if the diseases have left the community. Nobody
ever got sick again.
Other sub-project was a two-classroom school building.
“If you saw our school before, you wouldn’t actually recognize that some of the structures were actually the classrooms. The parents were the ones who built these, which were makeshift classrooms made of sawali, which is a very weak lumber. In the rainy seasons, the ground would become muddy. Our children would come home with muddied bags and uniforms. However, this was normal to us then, “ Dodong narrated in his local dialect.
“Only when Kalahi-CIDSS came did we realize that part of our roles as parents to ensure that our children got the facilities that they deserved. Before, it seemed that the situation with our classroom buildings made of sawali was a reality that had to be accepted. However, Kalahi helped us realize that the situation was not totally hopeless,” he shared.
Dodng said that the lessons they learned from the Kalahi trainings gave way for their new school building to be erected. “It is simply beautiful. We never thought that we, as community volunteers could build something so sturdy. The funds came from the government, but we handled it quite well. It’s amazing how much you can achieve with only limited resources, if you put your heart and mind into it,” he said with pride.
The school building has two wash rooms for the children. The parents and the teachers have grown to truly love the school building project so much that every year, they made sure to improve the infrastructure, make it even more beautiful. “In fact, we are entering the school building in the best school facility contest at the municipal level, and we are optimistic that we will win,’ Dong said.
“I remember before when, it seemed like these simple dreams were to remain just that – dreams. It seemed impossible to go beyond sickness because of the bad water, or for our children to get the classrooms and education that they deserved. It felt like people from the government were too far to hear what we needed,” Dodong recalled.
“However, Kalahi-CIDSS bridged that gap. We were made active parts of the government – we had an experience unlike anything we have encountered before,” he said.
“Kalahi-CIDSS had opened up an opportunity for us to be heard, and we know we will never be the same apathetic people anymore,” he emphasized.
“For now, by believing that the project is ours, we know we will take good care of it. Because as long as we are concerned, we need the projects, and the projects need us,” He concluded (JPA/DIS/DSWD 9/PIA9-ZBST)
Other sub-project was a two-classroom school building.
“If you saw our school before, you wouldn’t actually recognize that some of the structures were actually the classrooms. The parents were the ones who built these, which were makeshift classrooms made of sawali, which is a very weak lumber. In the rainy seasons, the ground would become muddy. Our children would come home with muddied bags and uniforms. However, this was normal to us then, “ Dodong narrated in his local dialect.
“Only when Kalahi-CIDSS came did we realize that part of our roles as parents to ensure that our children got the facilities that they deserved. Before, it seemed that the situation with our classroom buildings made of sawali was a reality that had to be accepted. However, Kalahi helped us realize that the situation was not totally hopeless,” he shared.
Dodng said that the lessons they learned from the Kalahi trainings gave way for their new school building to be erected. “It is simply beautiful. We never thought that we, as community volunteers could build something so sturdy. The funds came from the government, but we handled it quite well. It’s amazing how much you can achieve with only limited resources, if you put your heart and mind into it,” he said with pride.
The school building has two wash rooms for the children. The parents and the teachers have grown to truly love the school building project so much that every year, they made sure to improve the infrastructure, make it even more beautiful. “In fact, we are entering the school building in the best school facility contest at the municipal level, and we are optimistic that we will win,’ Dong said.
“I remember before when, it seemed like these simple dreams were to remain just that – dreams. It seemed impossible to go beyond sickness because of the bad water, or for our children to get the classrooms and education that they deserved. It felt like people from the government were too far to hear what we needed,” Dodong recalled.
“However, Kalahi-CIDSS bridged that gap. We were made active parts of the government – we had an experience unlike anything we have encountered before,” he said.
“Kalahi-CIDSS had opened up an opportunity for us to be heard, and we know we will never be the same apathetic people anymore,” he emphasized.
“For now, by believing that the project is ours, we know we will take good care of it. Because as long as we are concerned, we need the projects, and the projects need us,” He concluded (JPA/DIS/DSWD 9/PIA9-ZBST)
