Rotary?s P1.2 million water project gives hope to deaf mutes

ROTARY INT?L PUTS UP P1.2 M WATER PROJECT FOR DEAF MUTES: It was a school unlike any other that I have previously seen—located in the middle of nowhere, accessible only through a dirt road which only a mechanized tractor can negotiate, without any electricity whatsoever and, what is worst, it was without any water system for its 300 or so constituents although it is standing just a few kilometers away from a world-famous mountain lake resort. It is as if the whole world has completely forgotten that, on top of an unnamed mountain in Cavinti, Laguna (just 10 kilometers away from Lake Caliraya Resort in Caliraya, Laguna and only about a hundred or so kilometers away south of Metro Manila), the DEAF School for the deaf and the mute, although owned by a private foundation, is doing a great service to humanity by providing elementary, high school and college education to those who cannot talk or hear, from all over the Philippines yet.Up until a year ago, that is, when Rotary International, through its Past President Pepe Punzalan of the Rotary Club of Sta. Cruz, Laguna, took notice, by accident, of this sorry state of affairs for the school?s 220 students, 20 faculty members and about 25 management and administrative staff, and life started changing for the better for all of them.On Saturday, June 12, 2010, while the Philippines was celebrating its 112th year of independence, Rotarians from Australia (Batemans Bay), Intramuros, Manila and Sta. Cruz, Laguna, completed this change for the better by turning over a brand-new P1.2 million solar-powered water system, liberating as it were the deaf and the mute from a water-starved life pock-marked by a daily two-hour ritual of fetching water from unsafe sources. ?INTERNATIONAL H20 COLLABORATION? FOR CLEAN AND POTABLE WATER SUPPLY WORLDWIDE: This is a triumph, first and foremost, of Rotary International?s unrelenting desire, expressed through its multi-million dollar potable water supply projects worldwide designed to provide clean and safe drinking water to the poor and the deprived from all parts of the globe.Started in 2009 or thereabouts, this project was called ?International H2O Collaboration?. This came about through the joint efforts of Rotary International, of its charity arm, the Rotary Foundation, and the US Agency for International Development.In a media announcement in May 2009, Past RI President Bill Boyd said: ??We intend these projects to be models for future projects with strategic partners and in this way to enhance our contribution to world understanding, goodwill, and peace.? Boyd is the chair of the ?International H20 Collaboration?.Lyne Abanilla, the current South Pacific Regional Director of RI for Public Relations and a past District 3810 governor and three time chairman of RI?s Zone 7 (Philippines and Indonesia) PR Team, on the other hand explained that ?International H2O Collaboration is dedicated to implementing long-term, sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene projects in the developing world. ? NEW HOPE DAWNS FOR THE DEAF AND THE MUTE WITH SAFE AND POTABLE WATER: The turn-over of the spankingly-new water system at the DEAF School last Saturday turned out to be one big emotional affair, with all of the school?s students and staff in full attendance. Everyone but everyone expressed their full gratitude to the Rotarians who made sure that they would be given clean and safe water.Director Salvador Cuare, the top guy running DEAF School after its founder went into retirement at age 84, said a renewed sense of hope appears to have descended on the studentry and the staff with the installation of the new water system, especially because it did away with the daily two-hour fetching of water among its students, who said they could now devote more time to studying.The sense of drinking safe and potable water, not anymore water from the wells and springs whose water may even be contaminated, has made everyone visibly happy and light-hearted, Cuare added.Well, for all of these, they have the Rotary International to thank, and, also, the Rotary Clubs of Batemans Bay, Australia, Intramuros, Manila and Sta. Cruz, Laguna, and Visionary Presidents Art Platon and Mila Lamb and their respective members who acted selflessly to lead the way in giving Rotary?s service above self.

Via Zamboanga Times