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The Water, Agroforestry, Nutrition and Development
Foundation, Inc.
is
formerly the Local Empowerment Foundation or (LEF).
WAND Foundation, Inc. provides social development
initiatives with emphasis on biodiversity, environment and
agricultural sector, rural entrepreneurship, peace-building
and gender and development. The WAND, Inc. has grown out of
a pool of community development workers in Northern and
North Central Mindanao truly concerned about the direct link
between severe poverty, local resource mismanagement and the
absence of lasting peace.
The vision of the WAND is “ empowering local
communities so that they are able to contribute fully to the
life of the community and live dignified lives.”

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IN PASSING
You
said I am irrational
destroying the library
in my head
But we wasted time
philosophizing
while a woman screamed
a child died
Libraries contain words—millions—
But can they pay
for a small piece of buko pie
or a pocket of sulfa?
ELMER V. SAYRE, Ph.D
Published in
Ani Volume 1, Number 3, September 1987. page 76
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WAND Foundation Successfully
Showcased Ecosan-based Initiative During the 5th National
Organic Agriculture Conference
The
WAND Foundation was invited to attend in the 5th National
Organic Conference held in Davao City on October 15-16, 2008.
The lead organizers of the conference were the Department of
Agriculture and the Go Organic Mindanao (GOM).
The GOM “ is a broad coalition of
organic agriculture practitioners and advocates from the ranks
of farmers, NGOs, people’s organizations and church-based
groups in Mindanao sharing the vision of making the island a
leading producer of organic agriculture products while
preserving its biodiversity, ensuring food security and
providing safe and healthy food at the household level and
promoting consumer-producer dialogue and market linkages.”
There were several technical
sessions during the 2-day event; a. government policies,
threats and opportunities in organic agriculture, b. technical
issues and operational standards in organic agriculture, c.
engaging the market, linkages and networking with consumers,
and, d. alternative farming system and agro-ecologic
agriculture.
Our presentation/showcase entitled “ Closing the Loop Between
Sanitation, Food Security
and
Upland Resource Management” was a goodness-of-fit to the theme
expounded during the conference.
Our showcase attracted so much
attention because it is the first time for most of the
attendees to realize that human excreta can indeed be used as
organic fertilizer.
During the conference we displayed
our “vermi-ecosan organic soil amendment” and urine
fertilizer.
The vermi-ecosan organic soil
amendment is already a product of our small vermi-composting
plant in Libertad, Misamis Oriental while the urine fertilizer
is really urine by one of our presenters diluted in water
which demonstrates that urine can immediately be used for the
plants!
One of our partners who supported our attendance to the
conference, Arnold Vandenbroeck, the Country Representative of
Broederlijk Delen – Belgium has this to say;
““It was good to see that the WAND
booth
attracted good attention from the
participants. For some participants I talked with it was their
first time to learn about ecosan toilets. So all in all WAND
did good promotion work, also about planting trees
and environmental care
in general.”
Mr. Vandenbroeck will visit the
WAND project areas on October 27-30 to see progress in the
field and possibly to write something about WAND in their
website.
The
Broederlijk Delen-Belgium with co-financing from the Belgian
Government, through DGOS (Directoraat Generaal voor
Ontwikkelingssamenwerking - General Directorate for
Development Cooperation) is funding our “Potable Water,
Agroforestry, Nutrition and Development (WAND) Project for the
Higaonon Tribal Communities and Other Upland Farmers in
Northern Mindanao.”
A component of the project for
this years’ implementation is the establishment and
commissioning of 16 communal ecosan toilets in upland
communities in Manticao and Initao, Misamis Oriental.
During
the Conference we were able to introduce also the “Arborloo-type”
of ecosan toilet and show areas where it is currently being
implemented;
Illustration copied from Peter Morgan “Toilets That Make
Compost: Low-cost, sanitary toilets that produce valuable
compost for crops in an African context. Aquamor:
Harare,
Zimbabwe,
2007
Arborloo implemented by the WAND Foundation:
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Name of
Cooperator
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Address
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# users
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WAND Demo Area
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Lubluban,
Libertad, Misamis Oriental
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8
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Gonzalo Loyola
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Gimaylan,
Libertad, Misamis Oriental
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7
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Leticia
Calixtro
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Bana-ao,
Initao, Misamis Oriental
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6
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Daisy Reyes
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Bana-ao,
Initao, Misamis Oriental
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5
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Evelyn Maki
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Bana-ao,
Initao, Misamis Oriental
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4
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Leonor Cruz
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Bana-ao,
Initao, Misamis Oriental
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5
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Eric Calixtro
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Bana-ao,
Initao, Misamis Oriental
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6
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Loida Luntayao
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Bana-ao,
Initao, Misamis Oriental
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4
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Rosalina
Yongwas
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Bana-ao,
Initao, Misamis Oriental
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3
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Myrna Balaba
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Bana-ao,
Initao, Misamis Oriental
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5
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Tirso Kanaugan
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Bana-ao,
Initao, Misamis Oriental
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6
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Rosalie
Cagalawan
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Bana-ao,
Initao, Misamis Oriental
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4
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Bernie
Barbanida
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Gimaylan,
Libertad, Misamis Oriental
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4
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Submitted
by Cora Zayas Sayre, WAND Foundation Executive Director
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