Toilets are a necessity and a clean one is essential for people’s health.
For 21-year-old Sohairah Abdulbadi, she had to walk for about 200 meters and wait in line just to go to the toilet.
Abdulbadi stays in an evacuation center beside the public market of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, and the nearest toilet is at Masjid Dimaukom, also known as the Pink Mosque.
“It is difficult for me because of my condition,” said Abdulbadi, putting her hand on her belly. She was pregnant with her first child. “The line is always long. So many people were using the toilet.”
On March, 2021, armed conflict broke out between government soldiers and members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). Abdulbadi and her family had to leave their home in Kitango village, about three kilometers away from the municipal hall of Datu Saudi Ampatuan.
At the peak of the recent incident in Maguindanao, the evacuation center sheltered 669 families.
In response to the needs of the evacuees, United Nations, United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), together with its implementing partner, Mindanao Organization for Social and Economic Progress (MOSEP), built six latrines in the evacuation center.
From the makeshift house where Abdulbadi is staying, the nearest latrine is about 30 meters away, and she doesn’t have to fall in line, especially on days when the armed conflict subsides and some evacuees return to their homes temporarily.
“We are thankful to Unicef for giving us some of our urgent needs,” says Abdulbadi. Unicef provided each family with a hygiene and dignity kit, which included a pail, a dipper, soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, sanitary pads, and other household items.
Rohanna Salik, the head of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, praises Unicef for the quick response.
“The evacuees arrived here on March 18. Unicef validated the information on March 19, and then partner organizations including the BARMM -MSSD (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao-Ministry of Social Services and Development) and the local government distributed the hygiene and dignity kits on March 20,” Salik said.
Zero open defecation
Under its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program, Unicef had been working with MOSEP in Maguindanao even before the recent armed conflict.
“We’ve been supporting the province’s zero open defecation program,” said Rasul Abdullah, Unicef’s WASH officer.
“We provided trainings to all rural sanitary inspectors in the province of Maguindanao, and each month, we provide honorarium for 10 of them and mobilization support for 26 others so that they can reach even remote villages,” she added.
The construction of latrines in the evacuation center augmented the zero open defecation program.
“When the evacuees flocked here, the lack of toilets was a serious problem,” recalled Musib Gulo, the rural sanitary inspector of Datu Saudi Ampatuan.
“Some evacuees were forced to use plastic bags, so their excrement was not disposed of properly. The latrines are a big help,” he said adding that the latrines are emergency-type.”
The six squatting pit latrines are built in pairs, one for men and one for women, and distributed in the evacuation center.
Access to clean water
Unicef and MOSEP also ensured that the drinking water of the evacuees is clean and safe.
“We gave them jerrycans and water purification tablets. The water is rationed by the municipal government every morning. It looks clean, but it’s not treated, and some of the evacuees got sick,” said Zalave Dinas, MOSEP’s WASH technical expert.
To ensure that the evacuees use the tablets properly, MOSEP, with 11 hygiene promoters, gathered the women in the municipal gymnasium and gave a demonstration.
“They go tent to tent and teach the families how to use the tablets. They also teach hygiene practices, such as proper garbage disposal and handwashing,” Dinas said.
MOSEP staff regularly monitor the quality of the water, both in the tents and at the source.
“We’re in the third round now of taking samples. We bring the samples to Cotabato City and check them for E. coli, which can cause diarrhea,” Dinas added.