Southeast Asia Newsletter - November 2017
Water.org Cambodia Team Hosts WaterCredit Exchange Visit from Ethiopia
The Water.org Cambodia team and its WaterCredit MFI partners hosted an exchange visit for Water.org’s Ethiopian partners in September 2017 to help promote cross-sharing of successes and lessons learned throughout their WaterCredit program implementation. Cambodia’s WaterCredit program launched in 2015 and has already shown strong results and impact in the country, providing the newer Ethiopian partners a good model to learn from.
The four-day visit consisted of visits to the headquarter and branch locations of Vision Fund Cambodia and SAMIC, where the management and WASH teams shared experiences using various toolkits including marketing materials. Key topics covered included effective program design, water supply and sanitation (WSS) loan policy and procedures, demand triggering, hygiene education, supply chain, and local authority engagement. Ethiopian partners also interviewed clients to further understand WSS facility usage and clients’ experiences. In return, Cambodian team learned from Ethiopian partners about WSS and microfinance sector landscape in Ethiopia. The visit was full of exchange – both technical and cultural – and was deemed a success by all participants.
Contributed by Water.org, Cambodia
ASKI partners with Philippines’ Department of Social Welfare and Development to provide WASH Education to 4Ps Beneficiaries
The Philippines’ Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is implementing the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), a human development program focused on investing in the health and education of poor Filipino households. Water.org partner ASKI is collaborating with some of DSWD’s city and municipal offices to introduce the WASH program and provide WASH education at the community level targeting the program beneficiaries of 4Ps.
To date, local DSWD offices in Cabanatuan City, Talavera, and Nampicuan in the Nueva Ecija province have permitted ASKI to join the general assembly meetings of 4Ps beneficiaries in their respective communities. They believe that the WASH program will be of great help to 4Ps beneficiaries by educating the beneficiaries and catering the pressing needs of households and communities on safe drinking water and proper sanitation. According to their representatives, access to safe water and proper sanitation is one of the indicators of poverty alleviation set by DSWD.
Armed with Water.org’s comics, ASKI’s WASH team educated a total of 12,521 4Ps beneficiaries from the aforementioned communities.
Cabanatuan City – 6,031 people reached – August 1 - 8, 2017
Talavera, Nueva Ecija – 5,700 people reached – September 5 - 13, 2017
Nampicuan, Nueva Ecija – 790 people reached – September 6 & 13, 2017
ASKI is using cartoons like the one pictured on the left to help educate 4Ps beneficiaries on the importance of safe water and proper sanitation. The cartoons are provided in Tagalog, as well other local languages.
Contributed by Ann Carl Bailey, Water.org Philippines
