In the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda, one of the critical needs that surfaced was safe water for the affected persons. When Mr. Jan Daniel, country director of Water Missions International (WMI), communicated his organization’s interest to partner with Goducate in providing safe water to the typhoon-affected households in Western Visayas, this opened the door to more effective community development partnership.
On Jan 17, Goducate and WMI representatives signed the Memorandum of Agreement that defines the strategic relationship between the two organizations. Not only will Goducate monitor the operations of the 17 Living Water Treatment Systems (LWTS) that WMI has installed in Panay and Negros Occidental, but it will also be responsible for transferring the LWTS to more needy communities after the disaster-response period. In addition, the Goducate-trained CDWs will be deployed to areas with LWTS to help the community attain holistic and sustainable development.
Most of the households in Western Visayas are still reliant on untreated spring, rain, or surface water and from personally made dug-outs and tube wells. Results from WMI water analyses showed traces of impurities and presence of the bacterium E coli in some samples taken from community wells and other common drinking sources.
Each LWTS can process untreated water into safe drinking water at the rate of up to 3,000 liters per hour. The system has three big filters for clean water processing and a chlorinator that is able to neutralize any microbial presence in water.
WMI’s headquarters is in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. It operates 10 country programs in South America, Africa, and Asia and has served 49 different countries on 5 different continents. Through the Goducate-WMI partnership, more people suffering from water-borne diseases in rural Philippines will soon have access to clean and safe water.
