World Vision Development Foundation (WVDF) today provides
16,800 kilos of vegetables to the residents of Quezon City, Malabon City,
Manila City and Cagayan de Oro City, four of the hard-hit cities under enhanced
community quarantine (ECQ) due to the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019
(COVID-19) pandemic.
In collaboration with Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc.
(PSFI), the child-focused organization packed and distributed fresh vegetable
packs containing okra, sayote, cabbage scorpio, wombok, potatoes, squash,
eggplant, onion, garlic, tomatoes, bitter gourd, string beans, carrots and
chili pepper to 5,750 households and 60 frontliners in Quezon City, Malabon
City, Manila City and Cagayan de Oro City.
PSFI’s Ani Para sa Bayani (translated Harvest for Heroes)
project aims to help struggling small farmers sell their produce and to also
ensure that frontliners and the vulnerable communities have access to
nutritious foods.
"Nutrients in vegetables could help strengthen our
body's immune system to fight diseases including COVID-19. Eat a lot of fruits
and vegetables," shared Carleneth San Valentin, World Vision's technical
manager for health.
San Valentin explains that while we continue to implement
interventions on COVID-19, programmes that address undernutrition and
malnutrition especially among children under-5 years old in the country,
whether nutrition specific or nutrition sensitive, need to continue.
Nanay Nerissa, a mother of two from Malabon City shares
that since the implementation of the extended community quarantine, his husband
is not able to drive his pedicab and even get extra work and earn a living
because they cannot go out. She adds “Umaasa kami ngayon sa paminsang minsang
kita dito sa ulingan. Mahirap din para sa dalawang anak ko na bata pa, 10 at
five years old dahil kung walang kita, sa relief lang kami umaasa.” (We are currently relying on the irregular
income from selling charcoal. It is especially difficult for my two young
children, 10 and five years old, while we do not have a stable source of
income, we rely on relief goods.)
Her 10-year old son Ric, who is a World Vision sponsored
child says he misses going to school but since classes are suspended, he
sometimes helps his mother repack charcoal aside from cooking rice and cleaning
the house.
PSFI Executive Director Sebastian Quiniones Jr. says,
"This pandemic is allowing all to show the best of humanity, especially
during this season of Lent where we are commanded to love one another. We at
PSFI have always believed in the power of unity and collaboration, and this
successful partnership with World Vision and Filipino farmers has manifested
that." While the collaboration begins by supporting farmers in Luzon and
assisting vulnerable communities in Metro Manila and Cagayan de Oro City, the
organizations hope to extend their collaboration to other areas in need of
assistance.
"Thanks to Pilipinas Shell Foundation for partnering
with us in sending much needed help to families especially their children
affected by COVID-19. We pray that God will continue to bless you even more as
you generously give back to our communities," World Vision national
director Rommel V. Fuerte said.
As of today, World Vision has provided 458 personal
protective equipment (PPE) kits catering to 2,140 frontliners. It also helped
install nine (13) tents to be used as isolation and triage areas for COVID-19
referral hospitals in Metro Manila, Misaims Oriental, Pangsinan and Bicol
Region and two (2) huge mobile storage units each with an area of 320 sq meters
for the Quezon City Risk Reduction and Management Council and Office of the
Civil Defence. At least 2,000 families have also received sanitation kits that
include bath soaps, alcohol, toothbrushes for children and adults, toothpaste,
face mask and mouthwash. World Vision has also reached over 1.4 million people
nationwide on awareness raising on COVID-19 including infection prevention and
control (IPC) measures.
In a recent advisory, the Department of Interior and Local
Government (DILG) gave the go signal to local governments to use a portion of
their development fund to address the threat of the pandemic, which includes
the provision of food assistance and relief goods for affected households.
Meanwhile to slow down the spread of COVID-19, the
Philippine government has extended the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine
to May 15, 2020.
About World Vision
World
Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated
to working with children, their families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.
Inspired by its Christian faith and values, it is dedicated to working with the
world’s most vulnerable people. It serves and collaborates with all people
regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender.
https://www.worldvision.org.ph
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