The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Kalahi-CIDSS (Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan–Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services) program has already released a total of PHP 20, 702, 106.90 from the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)  grant to fund sub-projects in 32 barangays across seven municipalities in Eastern Visayas.

Out of 32 DFAT sub-projects in the region, 22 are on-going Construction of Day Care Centers while 10 sub-projects are construction of Classroom Units for Elementary Schools in the municipalities of Alangalang and Burauen in Leyte, San Sebastian in Samar, and Bobon, Catarman, Laoang, and San Roque in the Province of Northern Samar.

The total DFAT Grant allocated to Region VIII amounts to PHP 33, 099, 881.75 which will be released directly to barangays through their community accounts for sub-project implementation.

Said funding is part of the 12 million Australian Dollars (PHP 487M) additional national grant to the Philippines to support the construction of approximately 468 classrooms and day care centers nationwide in areas covered by Kalahi-CIDSS. This is the second phase of the Australian government support to the country using the Community-Driven Development or CDD approach being used by the Kalahi-CIDSS program for almost 12 years of its implementation.

Aside from the objective of improving the access to early learning and child care in communities where there is an increasing demand for classrooms and day care centers, due to Pantawid  Pamilyang Pilipino Program expansion and DepEd’s K-12 implementation, the grant is also a provision of support for a broader Yolanda rehabilitation efforts where 25% of the total national grant will be allocated to support the construction of classrooms and daycare centers in Yolanda-affected areas.

Using Community-Driven Development approach, procurement and construction of day care centers and classrooms are managed and done by the community members themselves where women and Indigenous People are engaged to participate in the whole development process including construction labor, a type of wok believed and practiced to be dominated by male.

“Akos gihap namon ito! [We can also do it]”, said Geraldine Lucio, 46, Brgy. Brgy. Pawa’s Project Implementation Team Chairperson in Burauen, Leyte. Geraldine is presently doing masonry works for the construction of Day Care Center with a DFAT grant worth PHP 883, 399.00 in the said community.

Targeted to be completed this December 2015, Kalahi-CIDSS’ DFAT sub-projects will benefit 2, 652 households in the region who are mostly Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries or the poorest of the poor in the region.