Elementary school receives new handwashing, water tank facilities from World Vision’s Global 6k Run for Water
BATANGAS --- Santa Maria Elementary School recently received its new handwashing and water tank facilities from World Vision’s Global 6k Run for Water. Held last 2021, the Global 6k Run for Water is a running and walking fundraising event and advocacy to install additional WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene ) in schools and communities. Sta. Maria Elementary School is one of World Vision’s partner schools for the Global 6k Run for Water. The school received handwashing with 10 faucets and a new water tank which will benefit around 270 students. “The school also serves as an evacuation centre whenever there’s a calamity, like the recent Taal Volcano eruption. When families take shelter in this school, access to clean water becomes challenging. We hope that with these new handwashing and water tank, the school would be able to provide better access to water for both families and students,” Michael Macabasag, World Vision Program Officer, said during the turnover ceremony. A 2020 joint report from World Health Organization and UNICEF showed that “…43 per cent of schools around the world lacked access to basic handwashing with soap and water in 2019 – a key condition for schools to be able to operate safely in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.” This translates to around 800 million children worldwide having no basic handwashing facilities in their schools putting them at risk of COVID-19 and other diseases. In some countries, easy access to water is another problem. World Vision’s Global 6k Run for Water advocates for better water access to communities where people, especially women and children, have to walk six kilometres to get water for their families.