Nienke Faber-van Lokven and Tatiana Pershukova, representatives of Normec, visited Balamban and Carcar from November 7-8, 2023. Normec is one of the donors of the Water for Life Foundation that has specifically subsidized 6 public schools, 2,818 low-income families and a public hospital to give access to sustainable water from both Balamban Water District (BWD) and Carcar Water District (CWD).
BWD and CWD are 2 of the 7 partner water districts of VEI of the PEWUP project: Performance Enhancement of the Water Utilities in the Philippines. One of the objectives of the partnership is to give access to low-income families including the improvement of water connections of public institutions like schools and hospitals.
Nienke and Tatiana were warmly welcomed by BWD and CWD personnel led by General Managers Dante Navarro and Atty Edward Remo respective updates about the projects were presented. An ocular visit to selected project areas where a short dialogue with the household beneficiaries followed. Most of the beneficiaries who attended were mothers who shared the importance of water for their day-to-day lives. Access to water was a great challenge as water was not readily available right at their homes. They have to fetch water from their neighbors or from unreliable sources for quite a distance. Others have to wake up early in the morning to fall in line. These families remain unconnected to the water districts because they cannot afford the connection fee. Moreover, they cannot afford the cost of the service line connections.
Through Water for Life, Normec was able to learn about their stories and benevolently reach out to the beneficiaries. Nienke and Tatiana were impressed with the impact of this water supply project on the beneficiary families and schools. The visit was worthwhile as it presented them with a realistic experience of the project. It made them aware of the value of clean water and the role of Normec in safeguarding lives through access to clean water.
BWD, CWD, PEWUP, and the beneficiaries of Balamban and Carcar are forever thankful to Normec for their generous heart.
