Maranaw villagers benefit from World Bank projects

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines  ----  Thanks to a concrete river wall they built the “bayanihan way,”  Maranaw villagers in Barangay Sundig in Taraka town no longer worry  that their  houses would be washed away by rampaging floodwaters during rainy days.

The villagers had also built a laundry shed,  as a component of the river wall project,  where Maranaw women can now wash clothes and bath their children safely.

The project was completed recently by the villagers, barangay officials, and their local government unit.

“We are very thankful to the benefactors of this project,” Mokindi, a mother of four, said in Filipino.

The river wall, whose construction involved dozens of Maranaw families that belong to a people’s organization in Barangay Sundig, was bankrolled by the World Bank, through the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Social Fund Project (ASFP).

The ASFP is the conduit of World Bank for its projects in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in mainland Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

The river wall’s construction was one of a number of  “community-driven” World Bank-assisted projects of ASFP in remote areas in the autonomous region.

A 50-year-old farmer named, Lucman, who is identified with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said the participation of different Maranaw families in the construction of the river wall and the laundry shed fostered better relations among the local folks.

“It also made us realize that it is easier for us to achieve peace and progress in our barangay if we work as a team to achieve our common development goals,” Lucman  said in  the Maranaw vernacular. - John Unson