MARAWI CITY – Operation Blessing Philippines, Inc. (OB) continues with its humanitarian programs even after the President declared the liberation of the city from the ISIS-affiliated Maute Terror Group on October 17, 2017.
OB Disaster Response Team has been serving the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Maria Cristina, Balo-I, Lanao Del Norte for 150 days and will keep attending to the people while waiting for the clearance from the military and the government.
300 displaced families were being fed each day for 5 days in June and July while healthy lunches are being provided to more than 80 IDP students starting August, which will last on November. These students are from Maria Cristina makeessay.com essays-buy.com Elementary School.
A child-friendly space was set up at Maria Cristina covered court, Balo-I, Lanao Del Norte with the help of local volunteers and church partners in the area. This is where children undergo psychosocial activities to help them express their feelings and reduce their trauma and adults get free counseling to ease their anxieties.
OB also organized medical missions in other evacuation sites in Lanao Del Norte such as in Delabayan, Pantar West, and Ubaldo Laya.
On the livelihood projects, 2 families received a start-up capital for small-scale businesses. Upcoming projects include sewing and hollow blocks making. These are to support the socio-economic development of the affected families as they stay in the relocation areas.
Gifts-in-kind, donated by different organizations and individuals from all over the country, are ready to be distributed to the evacuees.
With the goal to “promote sustainable peace by addressing the root causes of violent conflict and supporting indigenous capacities for peace and management and conflict resolution of the United Nations,” peace-building workshops are currently being conducted and attended by 15 mothers and 15 young people who were affected by the horrors of the war.
In connection, OB is coordinating with the local government units and other government agencies to hold more peace-building workshops and educate more IDPs.
On the other hand, OB also reaches out to the soldiers deployed in Marawi City and in nearby areas through distributing soldier care kits that can help boost their morale and improve their health condition.
More than 350,000 residents and the whole Philippines celebrated the President’s announcement of Marawi liberation but this end from the terror of war is just the beginning of the most difficult part – the rehabilitation of Marawi City.
There are currently no water lines, electricity, and standing structures in the city and the rehabilitation will need to take several months or even years. The surroundings need sanitation from the diseases and the bodies that were killed in action.
Operation Blessing is still in the thick of disaster response efforts gearing toward recovery and rehabilitation. It takes huge work. The rebuilding of people’s lives is very challenging.
We cannot do this without you and your support. Will you partner with us in rebuilding Marawi and its people?
To know more about how we can work together in rebuilding the lives of people from Marawi, please go to www.obphil.com, follow our FB page, Twitter, and Instagram. #OperationBlessMarawi #BangonMarawi