Save the Children Philippines Ambassador actress Ria Atayde (R) with one of the 2,440 children (L) beneficiaries affected by typhoons in Catanduanes. (Save The Children Philippines)
Save the Children Philippines and its ambassador, actress Ria Atayde, led a six-month recovery effort that helped thousands of children and families affected by typhoons Quinta, Rolly and Ulysses in Catanduanes.
The children’s nonprofit distributed 3,300 household kits, 3,300 hygiene and water kits, and 2,440 education kits to some 16,500 beneficiaries — 2,440 of them children — in the municipalities of Virac and San Andres, Catanduanes.
Donations came from the Hong Kong government, and Save the Children Hong Kong, which allowed Save the Children Philippines to produce non-food items for the affected families.
“Our six-month recovery program for the typhoon victims in Catanduanes is a testament of our commitment that when crisis strikes and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave,” said Albert Muyot, chief executive officer of Save the Children Philippines, said in a statement.
Atayde and the Save the Children Philippines humanitarian response team also donated lifesaving essentials and learning kits to people in Barangay Comagaycay, San Andres, Catanduanes.
“I was able to see how the kits we distributed can help them in rebuilding their lives,” Atayde said.
Atayde visited families who received support from Save the Children through a multi-purpose cash assistance program, and teachers from Comagaycay Elementary School.
The Bicol Region was struckby three consecutive typhoons in October and November. The typhoons left an estimated $869 million in agricultural and infrastructure damage in the region. J.V.V.Yap