Safeguard, Manila Water Foundation, and the Department of Education’s joint project, SAFE Wash in Schools, continues to help schools reopen safely by constructing more handwashing facilities across the country. Last May 25, 2022, a total of 10 schools in Cebu were awarded with handwashing facilities and hand hygiene products from Safeguard to expand the support outside of Metro Manila.
The list of beneficiaries includes Cantumog National High School Cantumog Elementary School, Liloan Central School, Tayud Elementary School, Nangka National High School, Tayud National High School, City Central Elementary School, Cebu City National Science High School, Abellana National High School, and City Central Elementary School.
A Big Win For Hygiene Rating
In February 24, Safeguard declared a PHP 70 million-donation for the construction of COVID-safe foot pedal facilities and provision of Safeguard soaps in these schools. Anna Legarda Loscon, Communications Leader of P&G Philippines, formally announced the project’s milestone with the aim of helping these schools meet the DepEd Wash in Schools (WinS) hand hygiene ratings.
WinS is DepEd’s three-star rating system for evaluating public schools’ over-all hygiene and sanitation. With handwashing as a big factor for WinS, Safeguard expanded the project by studying the WinS Program dashboard and working with their partner communities to identify the schools and areas that needed help the most.
Working Hand-in-Hand for Safety
The beneficiaries of the program extended their heartfelt gratitude to P&G Safeguard and Manila Water Foundation for the donation.
Ms. Maricon Maniego, Principal of City Central Elementary School, expressed, “Your donation comes as a blessing because it will help us ensure the safety, well-being and protection of our children, especially the ES is already starting welcoming back people to limited face-to-face classes.”
This was echoed by another beneficiary, Ms. Rosemarie Forzado, Principal of Cantumog Elementary School, who said, “May your tribe multiply among men and women of goodwill. Hoping for a continued support to our school children and the community as well.”
With the project’s goal of uplifting the hand hygiene rating of schools nationwide, brand’s Communications Leader, Jeune San Juan, reiterated, “It has always been our vision to safeguard the health of the nation. By helping ensure health and hygiene in schools, we are building safe habits that will last for generations to come. By partnering with DepEd and Manila Water Foundation, we are not only safeguarding our students and school staff, but also the future of the nation.”
Extending the SAFE Wash Movement
On top of donations, Safeguard is also providing products and soaps in all these schools as aligned with the SAFE Wash movement that was started in 2020. In the next months, Safeguard plans to complete more schools for a SAFE-wash ready school opening.
To complement the deployment of facilities, educational module and instructional materials developed with DepEd will be provided. The handwashing tutorial and educational materials, plus monthly/bimonthly school monitoring by representatives, ensures that the work will not stop after handover of the facilities.
As San Juan mentioned, “Ultimately, the goal is to uplift the hand hygiene rating of schools nationwide, starting with key cities where spread of diseases is more prevalent.”