Bohol Province – The worst typhoon to hit the province in recent years that devastated millions worth of infrastructure and agricultural crops. This was the description of Bohol Provincial Disaster and Risk Reduction Management (PDRRM) Action Officer Anthony Damalerio of the super typhoon “Odette” (Rai) that cut across the province Thursday night till Friday dawn.
While other affected households are already in the process of rebuilding their homes after the devastation brought about by Typhoon Odette, lots of families in Bohol are still struggling to cope for a day’s living. Greatly affected are the vulnerable groups e.g. infants, children, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, elderly, differently-abled persons, indigenous peoples, and those with debilitating conditions.
In a situation where it’s in a state of calamity, the health of children and other at-risk population can quickly deteriorate. Hence, the National Nutrition Council Region VII as lead agency of the Regional Nutrition Cluster sent out teams to affected provinces to prevent worsening of the nutrition situation of these vulnerable sectors. Members of the Regional Nutrition Cluster headed to heavily devastated areas ravaged by the super typhoon in the provinces of Bohol, Cebu, and Negros Oriental.
One of the members of the Rapid Nutrition Assessment (RNA) team that provided an initial assessment of the situation in Bohol, Mr. Gabriel Flores who is barely 3 weeks old with NNC 7 described his experience as “tough to process when you start listening in to families and their struggles of the aftermath of Typhoon Odette, but throughout all that I went through, I felt empowered on the need to help them. He opined that with the support of the local governments, it was a steady and smooth flow of conducting RNA and providing nutrition services, and probing for further concerns, as these times really call for teamwork and cooperation.
The opportunity to prevent or give early warning to malnutrition within these communities is part of our willpower for humanitarian efforts in reducing malnutrition and is crucial in building the knowledge, awareness of the importance of nutrition. The assessment of children and careful education of pregnant and lactating mothers on nutrition in emergency (NiEm) is the preparation needed in working to keep good nutrition inside the body, and therefore manages a life-saving intervention to sustain for one’s optimal health and survival.
According to Flores, my visit in Bohol was indeed very productive and would benefit the at-risk individuals. The camaraderie of all who gave effort on NiEm will not go to waste as it’s timely to promote nutrition in time of emergencies to prevent a decline in malnutrition in affected areas. // NO I Gabriel M. Flores, RND
