Second Time Around

Mt. Kanlaon in Negros Island erupted on June 3, 2024 and NVC Foundation provided emergency assistance to families seeking shelter at various evacuation centers. After it was safe for these families to return to their homes, NVC helped some of them get back on their feet by providing agricultural assistance. By November, some of the crops planted after the June eruption were ready to harvest. Unfortunately, the volcano began to show signs of activity again causing the farmers in the area to worry about their crops. In November, Nanay Gloria (below) and her husband Tatay Dodoy rushed to harvest their peanuts, paying workers extra, as they were afraid the volcano would erupt and bury their crops in ashes or lahar. The couple were among those who had been assisted by NVC after the June eruption.

Jucery (below) and his wife Maritess were also among those assisted by NVC earlier in the year. The couple was able to do an early harvest of 2 sacks of cabbage at the start of December and were set to harvest 28 more sacks on December 20. Unfortunately, because of the eruption on December 9, they had to abandon their crops and rush to an evacuation center.

NVC Foundation’s Grocery “Store”

In addition to essentials such as Mingo Meals, clean drinking water and face masks, NVC brought a lot of grocery items to evacuation centers. Instead of re-packing these goods for distribution, NVC used its “grocery store” system. The team left the goods in their original wholesale packs and families were allowed to pick out (for free) the items they needed and brands that they preferred. For instance, instead of including a diaper in a bag per family “just in case”, only families with babies went to the section with diapers. Not only did this make operations more efficient as time was not wasted re-packing, but it allowed evacuees to feel empowered.

Families were given guidelines for their shopping such as how many items per category they could pick out. All the “shoppers” were very disciplined and polite.

Holiday Blues

By mid-December, it looked like families would not be able to go home for Christmas. Worse still, it looked like they would have to ring in the new year at evacuation centers too. Everyone from children to adults was feeling the stress of having to leave their homes behind. Children and some adults had been traumatized by having to flee for their safety. Adults were dealing with uncertainty as they had to leave their sources of livelihood behind and worried about how to provide for their families.

To bring some holiday cheer to these families, NVC organized and threw parties at several evacuation centers. Initially, these were meant to be children’s parties, but the adults begged to join in on the fun. Eventually, the organizing teams began planning the parties so that everyone from the young ones to the young once could participate and have fun.

Emergency Relief Continues

It’s been more than a month since NVC started its emergency relief operations in response to the December 9, 2024 eruption of Mt. Kanlaon. Below is the latest summary of how all the donations for this cause have been used. We pray that it will soon be safe enough for families to return to their homes and get back to normal. Please message us if you’d like to help!