A beneficiary gladly carries the goods home
Two hundred seventeen households (217) in Barangay Allaguia and Apatan, Pinukpuk, Kalinga received food assistance on November 8 and 9, 2023. The goods were delivered and distributed by personnel of the Timpuyog dagiti Mannalon ti Kalinga (TMK) and Cordillera Disaster Response and Development Services (CorDisRDS).
CorDisRDS staff sharing the background of the emergency assistance
Each beneficiary received 25 kilos of rice, sugar, cooking oil, salt, dried fish, mungbean, and sardines. According to women beneficiaries, the contents of the relief ensures food availability for their family for a few weeks while recovering from the effects of the disaster. Moreover, aside from students’ food supply, they said, it will also help them provide for the things needed at school because instead of buying food, they will spend it for other school expenses.
Furthermore, the activity link for the emergency assistance was an opportunity to clear some pathways and repair wooden bridges in the community.
Beneficiaries collective repairs the wooden footbridge
The Northern portion of Pinukpuk in Kalinga Province was among the municipalities affected when Typhoon Egay hit the Cordillera Region in July 2023. A few days after the disaster, a team from CorDisRDS and TMK went to monitor for damage, needs, and capacities assessment (DNCA) in barangay Allaguia and Apatan, Pinukpuk. The monitoring results showed the extent of damage brought about by the typhoon and the community’s priority needs.
Particularly in Allaguia, the typhoon damaged the rice crops in their flowering stage. A beneficiary shared that they harvested four sacks of rice from their usual yield of 30 cavans due to the typhoon. This significant decrease in harvest was also experienced by most of the beneficiaries served. Their supposed harvest should have been the source of food and income for a few months.
Not minding the weight of the relief, she smiles for a photo
The assistance is timely and appropriate according to the beneficiaries because of the damages incurred by the community on their livelihood. According to one of the beneficiaries, they worked for somebody in exchange for rice and other crops after the disaster. Also, it is usually during these months that some families have to buy rice.