Ando Island, a village in the Philippines, has been through two devastating storms in the last year. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the worst ever, struck last year. Just this week, Typhoon Hagupit (Ruby) brought more high winds and torrential rain.
On Tuesday, some help came their way. A boat arrived from the Department of Social Welfare and Development with relief supplies. There were 205 family food packs distributed.
Inside each one was rice, coffee/cereal drink, noodles, sardines and corned beef. And a bit of hope. Wilfredo Castillo, the Barangay Councilor of Ando Island said,
We are happy because we received relief goods. This is a great help to us here in the island.”
Typhoon Hagupit is finally gone from the Philippines. What’s left is reconstruction and uncertainty for those who suffered damage. Almost 50,000 homes were either destroyed or partially damaged by the storm. Fisherman and farmers have sustained damage to their livelihoods.
There is much work to be done in recovering. For now, the effort is on making sure emergency relief gets to storm victims.
Ando Island is part of the city of Borongan. The Philippines government says 12,891 food packs have been distributed to all 61 villages in the city.
Aid agencies will help storm-hit areas rebuild. Catholic Relief Services has set up a relief fund to aid storm victims.
Read the full article at Examiner.
Author William Lambers 