UP Visayas sent donations from the UPdanay Donation Drive to Cagayan Valley Disaster Relief Center (CVDRC) last October 2021 to assist in the relief efforts for the affected communities of Typhoon Maring in Cagayan and Tuguegarao. UPdanay facilitated the transfer of P50,000.00 to CVDRC with the approval of Chancellor Clement C. Camposano. Below is the narrative of how the mount was spent and used to aid the affected communities.
NARRATIVE for Typhoon Maring (Kompasu) and Covid-19 Relief Operation
Preparation of items
Purchasing and repacking goods for 80 families in Barangay Naggasican Santiago City and 150 families in Centro 11 Tuguegarao City took three days. Due to the many restrictions and increased prices of commodities in Tuguegarao City, 90% of purchasing and repacking had to be done in the province of Isabela. These were accomplished through the efforts of the staff and volunteers of Cagayan Valley Disaster Response and Lambak Cagayan Mission Center.
Social preparation
The imposition of a two-month city-wide lockdown in Tuguegarao City following the stringent directive of the national government restricted the mobility and interaction of people even within their communities. Even Santiago City was riddled with restrictions. Given that the usual mode of distributing relief goods was no longer possible, CVDRC grouped and scheduled the beneficiaries.
Community leaders put together the families with contiguous houses in the same cluster. A day before the actual distribution of relief goods, CVDRC gave claim stubs to the community leaders, who gave them to the beneficiaries' family representatives. These stubs were presented on the day of relief distribution to validate the identity of the beneficiaries.
Educational Discussion and Relief Operations
A week before distributing relief goods, CVDRC conducted a social investigation in the area. Results of this investigation were used as a guide for the discussions tackled by the beneficiaries. The issue of Covid 19, disaster preparedness, livelihood, as well as health and sanitation were the main points of discussion. Leaflets and visual aids on COVID-19 were utilized.
CVDRC staff and volunteers stressed the importance of disaster preparedness. They also talked about how COVID-19 can be contagious but not necessarily deadly for most people. However, they further stress that senior citizens and people with comorbidities are much more vulnerable.
