Caraga- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Caraga, through the community volunteers trained by the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan- Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) program, recently completed twenty-two (22) classrooms amounting to Php18.6-M from the grant provided by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

These sub-projects are put up in the six (6) municipalities of the region namely Bayabas, Del Carmen, Hinatuan, Sta. Monica, Pilar, and Jabonga.

Assistant Regional Director for Operations Mita G. Lim in a statement said that these educational infrastructures achieved 100% completion ahead of time against the target date, February this year.

“Even in December 2014 those were almost complete; however, due to the bad weather condition, some transactions were hampered that they were only finished in the early days of this month,” Lim added.

These classrooms are to be used by day care pupils as well as elementary pupils and high school students.

It is expected that around 3, 370 households, of whom 1, 645 are Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, will benefit from these social infrastructures.

Australian DFAT is one of the modalities handled by the Kalahi-CIDSS program, one of the poverty-alleviation programs of the DSWD. This development intervention from the Australian government purposes to finance classrooms and day care centers to help poor children meet the requirements of the supply side of the Pantawid Pamilya program.  Also, it aims to provide support to the Kalahi-CIDSS project for the broader Yolanda reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. ###(Social Marketing Unit)