โThe situation was really heavy for us, with COVID and then especially after the typhoons because we lost our house. We were worried about where to get money for our daily needs,โ says Dominga Lora, whose family was one of the households in Barangay Danao, Baras, Catanduanes that were severely affected byย #TyphoonRolly.
Her husband earns a living by fishing, while Dominga sells the fish, and sometimes gets laundry and cleaning jobs from neighbors. The consecutive typhoons damaged their home completely, but according to her, Typhoon Rolly made the biggest impact. Fortunately, with assistance from both the local government and financial support from their eldest child, they managed to rebuild their home little by little.
Not only that, the typhoon also affected the communityโs water supply. For two weeks they had to get drinking water from the nearest creak which was a 30 minute to an hourโs walk from their area.
Aside from rebuilding their home, one of her concerns for the family is making sure their everyday supplies are sufficient, especially since she wants to make sure her family is safe from diseases likeย #COVID19.
โThere are no COVID cases here in our area, but of course we take precaution because we never know who might be coming in and out of our barangay that may turn out to be sick. We wear masks and we are careful, especially now that thereโs a new type of COVID,โ she said. To address this, Domingaโs family was one of the 156 households in Danao who received hygiene kits last January 13, 2021 through our ๐ง๐๐ฝ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฅ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ.
โWeโre grateful for the assistance that we received. Because of our situation, itโs hard to buy these items on our own so we will take care and use them for sure.โ According to her, the kits are a big help for her four youngest children who regularly wash their hands.
The ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ง๐๐ฝ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐น๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ is funded byย USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistanceย and is implemented byย Action Against Hunger Philippinesย andย CARE Philippines.