“The 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,” says Dominga Lora, whose family was one of the households in Barangay Danao, Baras, Catanduanes that were severely affected by #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 community’s water supply. For two weeks they had to get drinking water from the nearest creak which was a 30 minute to an hour’s 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 like #COVID19.
“There 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 there’s a new type of COVID,” she said. To address this, Dominga’s family was one of the 156 households in Danao who received hygiene kits last January 13, 2021 through our 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲.
“We’re grateful for the assistance that we received. Because of our situation, it’s hard to buy these items on our own so we will take care and use them for sure.” According to her, the kits are a big help for her four youngest children who regularly wash their hands.
The 𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗹𝗯𝗮𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 is funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and is implemented by Action Against Hunger Philippines and CARE Philippines.