RAFI Extends Help to Ermita Fire Victims

More than 480 children from the families affected by a fire incident that hit Sitio Bato, Barangay Ermita, Cebu City on April 20 received relief goods from Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) last Aug. 17 at the barangay’s gymnasium.

Children are the most vulnerable and affected sector in times of calamities or disasters. Aside from the psycho-emotional trauma, children also suffer anxiety caused by the loss of things important to them, such as clothes and school supplies.

Providing relief goods for children is different from regular relief assistance because their needs are more specific. But many of what the fire victims received were for adults. Children found it difficult to find items that suited them.

In response to this, the Dolores Aboitiz Children’s Fund (DACF) and the Education Development Unit of RAFI organized a distribution of relief goods for children. The activity was also participated by the alumni of RAFI’s Young Minds Academy, Ermita Gender and Development Office, and the Barangay Ermita tanods.

Parents, such as mother of seven Divina Entera, were delighted to see their children opening their packs of relief goods, which included clothes, slippers, hygiene kits, and school supplies. Many of the children were left with nothing after the fire.

It is RAFI’s aim to respond to the needs of children in times of disasters and calamities by providing them what they need to recover and get back to school or day care centers.

For more information about DACF, please contact 418-7234 loc. 512 and look for Jan Montilla, or visit www.rafi.org.ph or www.facebook.com/rafi.org.ph, or follow @rafiorgph on Twitter.