“Water is life.”

Rotary Club (RC) of Dipolog President Edna “Beng” Capili-Chan recently made such pronouncement in highlighting the RC Dipolog’s recent project which would benefit over 300 households in two mountain villages in Zamboanga del Norte.

The beneficiary communities will have access to clean, potable water as the Rotary Club of Dipolog City and the USAID funded-Alliance for Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) Program launch the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Project on January 29 at the Provincial Capitol grounds in Dipolog City.

Community-based water systems are to be constructed each in Barangay San Antonio in the municipality of Sergio Osme?a and Barangay Panampalay in Roxas.

“The provision of safe and potable water is among the key concerns and theme of many Rotary projects worldwide. It is therefore with great pride that our Rotary Club here in Dipolog will implement this water project in collaboration with Rotary International, USAID and local government units,” Beng Chan said. “We believe that this project will have a deep and meaningful impact to the beneficiary communities.”

Among those expected to grace the groundbreaking ceremony are Zanorte Governor Rolando E. Yebes, representatives from the USAID and the AMORE Program, and Dipolog Rotary officials headed by their President Edna Chan.

Falling under the broader USAID-Rotary International Water Alliance Program, the WASH project not only promises to bring safe, potable water from the mountain source down to the communities at least 100 meters below through the construction of a water system, but aims to educate community members on proper sanitation and hygiene as well. The WASH project engages the community’s active participation in the community-based water system’s operation and maintenance for long-term sustainability and impact.

AMORE is a rural electrification program that since 2002 has energized over 14,000 households in over 400 barangays in rural Mindanao using renewable energy sources such as solar and microhydro. And as demonstration of high-value social application of renewable energy technology, the AMORE Program has also constructed potable water systems. To date, ten potable water systems have been constructed benefiting over 5,000 households across Mindanao.

Presently, barangay residents have to endure long hours of walk to the low-lying barangay centers where water access points are located to fetch water. Sourced from the pristine mountains that nestle the barangays, water passes through rundown pipes from an old uncompleted water system in the case of Barangay San Antonio, and from low-volume, low-lying intermittent springs in the case of Barangay Panampalay. While most residents do not really complain about the lack of more accessible water source having known no other way, some community members admit to falling ill with diarrhea and stomach pains, albeit, not really recognizing that such may have been caused by infected water.

The municipalities of Roxas and Sergio Osme?a are two municipalities in Zamboanga del Norte considered “waterless,” having less than 50 percent of households with reliable access to clean, potable water. The Rotary Club of Dipolog and the AMORE Program hope that the WASH project to be piloted in barangays in these municipalities could be replicated and benefit thousands more households in the province.

The Philippines is one of the three pilot countries for the USAID-RI Water Alliance, the others being Ghana and the Dominican Republic.

The Rotary Club of Dipolog, formally organized on Dec. 6, 1950 by the Rotary Clubs of Zamboanga and Dumaguete, has a long list of activities and programs to act out its selfless motto of “service above self.” Aside from physical projects such as the current WASH Project and others such as its skating rink project at the Plaza Magsaysay which won the RC of Dipolog the Significant Achievement Award in the late 70s, the Children’s Playground Equipment at the Dipolog Pilot Demonstration School, and most recently the renovation of the computer laboratory for future computer education in the Upper Dicayas Integrated School (UDIS) on July 6 of last year; the club also boasts of service projects including the Share–A–Book Program where the club gathered more than 15 tons of books from Rotary Clubs in the United States of America and Australia and distribute such to 20 barangay elementary  and secondary schools in the city of Dipolog and some barangays in the province, the Share-A-Skill Program, and the most recent service program of “Bringing Information Technology (I.T.) Literacy” to UDIS last year. The club also features the Rotary Exchange Program, which has a history of hosting students from Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico and the US and sending Dipolognon students as ambassadors of goodwill to countries as far as Australia, Japan, Canada and the US. In fact, to attest to such program are three former exchange students hosted by RC Dipolog and who are now active Rotarians – Atty. Albert T. Concha Jr, Engr Richard “Mao” Concha, and Dr. Gerald “Gerry” Concha. Another program beneficiary was former Australian exchange student and now active Rotarian Alan Terret, whom the club hosted in 1972 and has been coming back to Dipolog almost every year to help the club with its numerous projects, one of which is the Share-a-Book Program.

Another project of the club is the Rotary youth activity done every September of each year. It is an intensive training program for community youth leaders.  Young people from different high schools in the city are chosen for their leadership potentials, to attend an all-expenses-paid training to learn leadership skills and to learn those skills through practice

Officially adopted by the Rotary Club of Dipolog since 1981 during the time of then-president Atty. Alberto P. Concha Sr., this youth activity features top high school students in the city and will allow them to step into the shoes of provincial government officials for one week every September since 1981.

“This annual activity is one of the most significant programs of the Rotary service as students will act as public servants from governor down to board members to provincial government office officials. The impact spreads further as the program influences other young people. This program clearly demonstrates the Rotary’s respect and concern for our youth,” Rotarian, Engr. Richard Concha said. (with additional report from Tyrone Jay V. Samson)