DSWD’s KALAHI-CIDSS encourages volunteer-driven projects in Cebu

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU Province – The Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has encouraged people at the barangay levels to undertake volunteer-driven projects, going through the process from project identification, work planning and construction and owning them as products of community participation.

In August this year, two barangays in San Fernando, Camotes Island and Alcoy town both in Cebu Province received the completed isolation facility projects though the KALAHI-CIDSS funded projects.

San Francisco, one of the four municipalities in the islands of Camotes and considered a Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Area (GIDA) in the northern part of Cebu, implemented its KALAHI-CIDSS by pooling volunteers to work on a project intended to respond to the pandemic and other needs in their communities. 

Residents of Barangays Southern Poblacion and Northern Poblacion in San Francisco town with mayor Alfredo Arquillano, Jr. received the Isolation Facility during the turnover ceremony on August 31.

 Arquillano said, with these completed facilities from KALAHI-CIDSS, he ensured that health measures are in place as the town reopens and ready to welcome visitors and tourists.  

“We are truly grateful for these projects here in San Francisco, even though we are now in the new normal, but this does not mean that the pandemic is gone. But this project that we received will help us in this challenge,” he added.

According to Arquillano, the barangay residents themselves volunteered to identify and come up with an isolation facility to help them prepare for when COVID-19 cases will rise again. These facilities are completed with amenities, supplies, and equipment with a combined value of P17.1M, funded through the program’s grant and the counterpart contribution of LGU San Francisco.

In the similar developments, eight barangays in Alcoy town, Cebu, decided to also come up with a municipal isolation facility with amenities and medical supplies worth P11M to fill the gap in public health by allocating resources through community grants and augmenting local response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is useful for rural health personnel in providing basic services to grassroots communities.

KALAHI-CIDSS volunteers’ testimonies

Leonisa Anciano, volunteer in Barangay Northern Poblacion, San Franciso, Camotes said during the turnover ceremony that she labored without any compensation but hoped to see development in her community. She said that being a KALAHI volunteer is difficult, especially because she is a daycare worker, but that didn’t stop her from completing the project.

One of the program’s long-time partners, Melvin Formentera, shared also his experience during the turnover ceremony in which he helped build a classroom that has now become an elementary school.

“Since KALAHI-CIDSS came to our town, it has brought a lot of change—roads were paved, and the primary school back then is now an elementary school. All these were done because of us volunteers,” Formentera added.

In Alcoy town, Josette Torreon, a volunteer for the Project Implementation Team (PIT), shared her experience with KALAHI-CIDSS that transformed the way she thinks of the program. She bared that the project was not spared by challenges, especially during the time when Typhoon Odette hit the southern part of Cebu, where Alcoy was one of the badly-hit areas.

Among the many challenges they faced was the limited supply of materials in the market since hardware supplies are mostly sought after for rebuilding, as well as logistics. “This project stood here in Alcoy because of KALAHI-CIDSS through the program’s genuine assistance to the people. But most of all, we were given a turn to voice our concerns and make known the needs of our community,” Torreon said.

With the learning experience they have received from KALAHI-CIDSS, the local government unit of Alcoy vowed to fund the operations and maintenance of the completed project so that more people can benefit from it.

Both members of the community and officials pledged their commitment to maintain and keep their project functional with barangay health workers (BHWs) and barangay ‘tanods’ that will man the facility at all times.

San Francisco, Camotes KALAHI-CIDSS volunteers also expressed the inspiration they have imbibed to ordinary people in the communities who wants to be counted to become part of development and change. 

Indeed, the KALAHI-CIDSS program bridges the collaborative efforts of the various levels of government bureaucracy and the communities for more focused projects.  The program also created a platform where people can take part in community development with projects as their products of participation. (Photos: DSWD7 FB/KALAHI-CIDSS)