Geraldine Cabrera can still vividly recall the extreme fear she felt when the Taal Volcano spewed a massive cloud of ash and caused a series of earthquakes in Batangas and its nearby areas, last January 12.
“When the tremblings of the ground intensified, I felt really scared. I feared for my children’s safety. Once the local officials forced us to evacuate from our home in Brgy. San Nicolas, we had no choice but to leave. We have not returned since then. I just heard that our barangay is still covered with ashes,” cried Geraldine.
Geraldine, together with her husband and 3 little kids, fled their home and sought a safer ground in a temporary shelter in Brgy. Muzon, Alitagtag.
Her husband works as a janitor in a nearby hospital, whose income hardly meets their needs in a disaster like this.
They had no other choice. They had to leave their house, root crops and everything else behind.
That’s why it’s a huge relief for them when Operation Blessing Foundation Philippines distributed much-needed sleeping mats, blankets, and hygiene kits consisting of toothbrush, toothpaste, soaps, and shampoos, on January 16.
During the team’s disaster relief operations, around 400 families in Brgy. Conception, Muzon I and Muzon II in the Municipality of Alitagtag received relief packs. Meanwhile, our church partner in Batangas prayed for the evacuees to help alleviate their suffering and spark hope, strength, and comfort amidst this catastrophe.
With this, Geraldine and all the other evacuees are grateful for the simple yet valuable aid they received.
“Thank you. If not because of the people who help us get by, I don’t know what would’ve happened to us because we had nothing left,” Geraldine shared.
Geraldine and all the evacuees’ condition in the temporary shelters exposes them to great risk – especially the vulnerable ones such as children, elders and those who are sick, thus, leaving them worried and restless.
Likewise, rebuilding their destroyed homes and lost livelihoods translates to a much longer time they will need to rise from the ashes, recuperate and go on with their daily lives.
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Operation Blessing Foundation Philippines has been extending aid and support to the affected individuals because of the Taal Volcano Eruption in Batangas since the eruption. Disaster response efforts have been mobilized to help thousands of displaced families.
Please continue to support our cause. You can bring relief to thousands of families now in evacuation centers by partnering with us. To know more, visit https://operationblessing.ph/donate-now/.
For more inquiries, please call us at (+632) 8663-4701, (+632) 8663-4710 or 0939-921-5543.