RAFI seeks more partners in handwashing campaign

CEBU, Philippines —  The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., (RAFI) is looking for companies and partner organizations to expand its campaign to fight the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The campaign dubbed #HUNAW, which is a collaborative effort with the Cebu City local government unit and Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD), aims to provide hand-washing facilities in high traffic areas in Cebu.

The family foundation of the family line of Don Ramon Aboitiz spearheaded the campaign and hopes to attract more companies, or individuals to join the project as a way of helping the government slowdown the spread of the deadly virus.

As the number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines increases every day, Cebu City has been placed under community quarantine since March 16 as a preemptive measure to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) advises that the two most basic ways to prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus, which is mainly transmitted from person to person, are maintaining social distance and proper handwashing.

This means that transportation hubs and other places where frontliners and people who go out to buy essentials converge may be particularly susceptible to transmission of the virus.

Unfortunately, many of these venues lack adequate handwashing facilities, RAFI in a statement said.

Thus, with the #HUNAW campaign, RAFI aims to provide such facilities and raise awareness of the importance of proper handwashing through deployment of portable sinks called “Hunawan Stations” at bus terminals, parking lots, jeepney stops, and other places where people convene around the city.

Another area of concern is densely populated informal settlements, so #HUNAW will also be deploying a roving “Hunawan Truck” with a sink facility and loudspeakers to the city’s underserved areas.

A prototype Hunawan Station is currently installed outside the RAFI building in Brgy. Tinago for a trial run.

The #HUNAW campaign is set for an initial run of one month starting on March 26th.

RAFI continues to conduct further site assessments to identify additional areas to set up Hunawan Stations and deploy the Hunawan Truck.