Brgy. Tagnao is one of the 34 barangays in Gandara, Samar infected with Schistosomiasis. Said disease is caused by parasitic worms due to exposure to infested water.

According to the Local Government Unit of Gandara, Schistosomiasis is prevalent in the municipality due to  poor sanitation and lack of basic toilet facilities.

“Matagal na naming problema ang diarrhea at schisto dito sa Gandara. Noong una, marami ang namamatay dito dahil walang palikuran ang mga kabahayan [Diarrhea and Schistosomiasis are two of the leading health problems here in Gandara. Many people died here because of poor sanitation and lack of comfort rooms]“, Tagnao Brgy. Chairperson Virgilio Oliva disclosed.

With Kalahi-CIDSS’ Community-Driven Development approach, residents of Tagnao proposed  the implementation of their WASH (Wash, Sanitation and Hygiene) project in order to achieve Zero Open Defecation (ZOD) and eventually eradicate local cases of diarrhea and Schistosomiasis in their community.

“The absence of basic sanitation facilities is a threat to people’s health. The residents proposed the construction of latrines to be provided to households with no toilets in order to prevent the contamination of human waste to their food and water thereby fighting these deadly diseases”, Juliet Abarratigue, Kalahi-CIDSS Gandara Area Coordinator, explained.

The 1.8 million community-led project with the LGU counterpart of 124,000 pesos enabled each of the 138 households to have its own sanitary toilet.

Through DSWD’s convergence strategy, other core programs such as Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and Sustainable Livelihood Program collaborated with Kalahi-CIDSS through family development sessions and barangay assemblies in order to raise awareness and provide proper education on improved sanitation and ZOD.

“Responsibilidad namin na alagaan ang aming CR at panatilihin naming malinis ang kapaligiran [The operations and maintenance of these latrines is our main responsibility. We will ensure the cleanliness in our barangay]“, said  Sanny Casalhay, Kalahi-CIDSS volunteer.

Municipal data shows 26 out of 69 barangays in Gandara were already provided with 2, 400 units of latrines through DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS in cooperation with the LGU of Gandara.

As of today, 4, 273 units of sanitary toilets or latrines were already constructed and turned-over to 22 municipalities across the region under the Kalahi-CIDSS NCDDP (National Community-Driven Development) funding.