Cost : $6,800 Benifeciaries : 152 Housholds
May I use your comfort room?” one student missionary once requested a Mangyan housewife in Quinomay village, township of Mansalay, on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines.
“We don’t have a comfort room but we do have a comfort area,” answered the housewife.
“Where is it?” the student desperately asked.
“Right there,” the woman instinctively pointed to the nearby field where Cogongrass and some fruit trees abound providing some privacy.
In Quinomay, adults and children alike were literally in the nature’s midst when answering the call of nature. They used the surrounding fields and the nearby river to dispose their wastes.
They had been informed that this primitive method of human waste disposal is a public health hazard as it causes the contamination of the soil, air and water. The village itself saw hundreds of deaths over the years due to the contaminated elements.
The indigenous villagers, however, have no financial capability to build sanitary latrines for themselves. In fact, only 6 out of 152 households in the community have toilets.
“Decent toilet is a necessity to consider not only for the sake of comfort but of public health issue,” stated Pastor Arnel Gabin, president of the South Central Luzon Conference (SCLC), in the project proposal submitted to Advent SHARE Ministries (ASM).
“Toilet is a vital aspect in public health to stop the spread of diseases that are always detrimental to the local population. Provision of a toilet to every household is a significant need to address,” he continued.
In August, 2012 ASM sent an amount of $6,800 to SCLC to purchase toilet bowls, bags of cement, steel rods and other necessary materials for the construction of 100 toilets. The beneficiaries provided the labor under food-for-work scheme and other locally available materials.