Anita, a young mother, shared the hardships they are going through following Super Typhoon Karding

Super Typhoon Karding (international name Noru) made its first landfall as a Category 4 storm in Polillo Island in the evening of September 26, 2022. With sustained winds of 195 km/h and gustiness of 240 km/h, ST Karding is one of the strongest typhoons to have formed and made landfall in the country this year. It left billions worth of damages to agriculture and infrastructures.

In these trying times, women and girls often suffer twice as their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs are often neglected. Basic services for SRH are often non-existent during these times as community facilities such as health centers are destroyed. Even in normal times, having decent access to SRH services is often difficult, especially in remote areas. What’s even worse, in the aftermath of an emergency, communities particularly in far-flung areas have little to no access to water and soap. These conditions worsen the situation of the affected communities.

Anita, a 20-year-old young mother, told us that they only received help days after the typhoon ravaged their village. What they received was literally good for two to three days. After this, no more help arrived. Furthermore, the services provided were not sensitive to the needs of women and girls in the community.
Anita says that the provision of the dignity kit, which contained bath soap, laundry soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, alcohol, sanitary pads, vitamin C, baby diapers, and baby bottle cleaner, has been timely — another equally important need which they do not have to worry about while they are still prioritizing the repair of their house.
The young mother happily told us that they really appreciate the hygiene kits they received. “My son now has a diaper,” she smiles. Anita’s husband works as a laborer. All that he earns is spent on their food, and most of the time, it is not enough for them.

Anita’s house was only made of wood and situated near the coastlines, therefore it was easily destroyed during the onslaught of typhoon Karding. With the constant increase in prices of goods, Anita’s family struggles to make both ends meet. “Our situation is difficult now — if we are already struggling with food, what about our other needs?” she added jokingly.

With the support of World Jewish Relief (WJR), CDRC ensures that both the babies and their mothers are not left behind in these difficult times. CDRC provided emergency food assistance and dignity kits to mothers, soon-to-be mothers, women and girls in disaster-stricken communities of Polillo Island. The intervention hopes to alleviate the sufferings of every mother in the community while bearing or taking care of their child, especially in Karding’s aftermath.