Better water makes a community healthier.

          Water is a basic need and according to the United Nations access to it is also a human right. It is an essential part of daily life and in maintaining good health. Safe water is utilized by humans through sanitation, food production, and hydration. Unsafe drinking water can lead to so many serious health conditions and even death. Every year many people, most especially children, suffer from dehydration and electrolyte imbalances caused by diarrheal diseases. It might be an easily preventable problem, but still many people are seriously affected by this especially those living in poverty-stricken communities where water is considered a luxury. In these areas, water sources are usually communal or public and there is no purification method used for drinking water.

            In Barangay Maras, households get their drinking water from groundwater sources which are communal and have not undergone bacteriological testing for potability. Most of the people living near the highway pump the water from bore holes which dry out during summer and become muddy during heavy rains. Some are connected to the piped spring water system established by the Local Officials but the water is rationed and limited. In the areas far from the main road, drinking water is taken from an open dug well or a protected spring. Purok Waling-Waling is the only purok that has no water source of its own and people would walk in distances even as far as 200 meters through dense grasslands and narrow roads just to get water.  In terms of water storage and purification, the residents utilize covered containers, which most of them clean regularly, but not all purify their drinking water. The cases of diarrhea and gastroenteritis also ranked 3rd among the leading causes of Morbidity in the barangay from July 2018 to July 2019. With the help of the community people, unsafe drinking water was identified as one of the priority problems in the barangay.

            In line with the vision and mission of the school, Team Maras aims to empower and mobilize the community to be able to manage these problems by changing their negative practices and utilize available resources. Strategies include information campaigns on proper water sanitation practices as well as the different diarrheal diseases, policy identification and implementation, and assessment and improvement of water sources. To ascertain sustainability, the people will be actively involved all throughout the planning and implementation of the project to instill the sense of ownership and cooperation in them. The local leaders must also be empowered so that they will be motivated to guide the people effectively and provide independent decisions in managing the projects.