Having access to a toilet improves children’s health and lives
“We just endure it until the morning,” Evelyn Del Valle laughs sheepishly as she recalls what life was like without a toilet at home.
“I’m afraid that I might see something in the dark,” said Juvelyn, one of Evelyn’s daughters. This is why they would rather wait and hold it in until daylight comes, she explained.
For the longest time, Evelyn and her family had to defecate in the open. Trying to make ends meet with their limited income, Evelyn and her husband prioritized sending their three girls to school and getting by day to day instead of building a toilet.
On an empty lot across their house in Barangay San Isidro in Bobon, Northern Samar, Evelyn dug a hole and placed an empty water container in it as a makeshift toilet for herfamily. Although it was an improvement from having to defecate in the open, it was still challenging for them to go there at night. When a house was built on the lot, they had to go back to defecating on a field.
The Del Valles are just one of the millions of families in the Philippines who do not have a proper toilet in their homes.
UNICEF has been working with the Philippine government and partner organizations to end the practice of open defecation in the country. Through the Zero Open Defecation program, communities with no or limited access to toilets work towards increasing access to toilets and improving hygiene practices among their residents.
Children in communities where open defecation is still practiced face higher risk of contracting diarrhea, getting infected with intestinal worms and developing environmental enteropathy, a condition that makes them more prone to infections and makes their digestive system less-efficient in absorbing nutrients.
These contribute to chronic undernutrition or stunting in young children. Stunting, where children are short for their age, causes irreversible physical and cognitive damage. This affects 161 million children worldwide and 37,500 million children under five years old in the Philippines.
In early 2017, Evelyn’s youngest daughter Threcia was diagnosed with malnutrition by Ceasar Cenera, a health worker who visited their home as part of the local government’s initiative to address the increasing number of malnourished children in the area. Ceasar advised Evelyn to bring Threcia to see a doctor at the health center, where they learned how significantly connected health is to proper sanitation and hygiene.
Ceasar’s regular visits to the Del Valle household helped reinforce the importance of having a toilet and practicing good hygiene habits. Through his recommendation, Evelyn and her family received a toilet from a sanitation marketing training session.
The day Evelyn’s family received a toilet was unforgettable not just for them, but for their community as well. “Everyone volunteered to help us build our toilet.” she said. The toilet now serves as a model unit in their community for their neighbors to follow.
Jurelyn is happy that they now have a toilet of their own, and that they don’t have to wait until the morning to be able use the toilet. “I don’t have to hold it in anymore,” she said, with a big smile on her face.
For more information about UNICEF’s work in the Philippines, visit www.unicef.ph.
