No More Running in the Dark
Nothing filled Karen with more dread than waking up in the night to have to use the bathroom.
While for most this is a minor inconvenience, for Karen and other girls in rural villages in the Philippines, it is a dangerous, shame-filled journey.
“Having our own bathroom just outside our home is a good thing since I don’t need to run through the sugarcane fields anymore.”
- Karen
On the sugarcane plantation where Karen and her family live, there are no bathrooms for the workers. So an evening trip to the bathroom meant stepping out into the shadowy fields and trying to find a secluded place to go.
But sometimes, that simple trip was interrupted by drunk men who would harass young girls. Even without that danger, girls were often embarrassed by these late-night trips, and would try to hold it until morning, leading to medical issues.
“Not having a private toilet is very debasing as you can imagine,” says Arlene Cuberos, a child development worker at the Compassion center Karen attends. “It’s also very dangerous since young girls need to go even in the dark of night.”
Half of the families Arlene and the staff minister to at the Emmanuel Baptist Church Child Development Center work at sugarcane plantations. Arlene is intimately familiar with the needs of these families – and how bathrooms are high on that list.
“I know the struggles they are facing, and most urgent is the lack of a toilet,” says Arlene. “For this reason our church decided to build toilets and an efficient sewage system for our beneficiaries, with Compassion’s help.”
Through the support of partners like you to the WaSH Program, the center was able to construct toilets for 35 families, including Karen’s, at eight plantations.
Karen still cries when she thinks about those dark, fearful excursions to use the bathroom.
“I am very happy about having this new toilet,” says Karen. “Having our own bathroom just outside our home is a good thing since I don’t need to run through the sugarcane fields anymore. My legs used to get cut from the plants when I ran outside. It was also very scary.”
Arlene is thrilled at how the new bathrooms have been received by the families. She and the staff are even working on new proposals for additional bathrooms.
“I should say the biggest benefit here is that the beneficiaries have regained their dignity, especially the young girls.”