Sanitary toilet bowl gift brings recipient to tears

Hyacinth Espin, her husband and their three year-old son recently transferred to a “bahay kubo” in Brgy. Alalasan, Lapuz, Iloilo. It’s a one-room shanty made of bamboo slabs, but the couple is happy to have a place they could call their own.

However, it lacks a basic component of a home, which is the bathroom and a sanitary toilet. With Espin’s meager income and that of her husband who is a trisikad driver, it would take time for them to complete what they need.

“Our area is called a ‘waterworld’ because we live on top of a body of water, with garbage floating around,” Espin said.

“We take a bath in our kitchen. The water just goes through the floor made of bamboo. Thus, when I take a bath, I have to wear clothing,” she added.

Thus, Espin was teary-eyed upon receiving a sanitary toilet bowl from businessman and philantrophist Rommel Ynion recently.

“Kinahanglan gid ini namon (We really need this),” she said.

She shared that with the toilet bowl, life would be easier for the family.

“Kinahanglan pa namon abi magkadto sa balay sang akon ugangan para makagamit CR (If nature calls, we had to walk to my in-laws’ house to use the comfort room),” she said.

“One time, I was cooking something when my son told me he had to use the comfort room. So I had to stop what I was doing in order to accompany him,” she said.

“This is an early Christmas gift,” she said.

LACK OF TOILETS

Ynion recently gave out sanitary toilet bowls to poor communities in Jaro.

According to his team’s survey in Brgy. San Isidro and Brgy. Tabuc Suba Ilaya, Jaro, there are 200 residents there who do not have toilets. They just defecate on a hole at their backyard.

Their “comfort” woes have been answered when Ynion gave them toilets.

Ynion is set to give more to other poor families in Iloilo City, he said.

According to the United Nations, there are approximately 2.5 billion people or more than 40 percent of the world’s population who do not have access to toilets. Most of them are low-income earning families.

In the Philippines, there are 26 million Filipinos who do not have access to sanitary toilets. Of this number, 7.4 million are defecating in open pits according to the UN.

Lack of sanitary toilets increase the residents’ risk of getting diseases.* (Kathy Villalon, Dec. 26 The News Today)