Send 200 Filipino kids to better daycare centers

COVID-19 and the Philippines: A Year Later and Schools Are Still Closed

More than a year since the Philippines logged its first confirmed COVID-19 case, the effects of the pandemic continue to be felt by Filipinos from all walks of life. Based on recent data, there are now 561,000 confirmed cases of the virus in the country, with testing and vaccination programs remaining to be in need of major fine-tuning and proper implementation. 

Without a doubt, one of the many societal pillars that have been shaken by the pandemic is the education sector. In a country that has faced more than its fair share of man-made and natural challenges over the years, the COVID-19 pandemic is the first to have a profound impact on the Philippines’ education system. Since March 2020, COVID-19 has affected the lives of the country’s 27.2 million students, with classes suddenly halted and with children below 15 years old not allowed to leave their homes due to stringent lockdowns. Schools - including the public daycare centers our project helps and supports - have been closed and traditional face-to-face classes are suspended to curb the spread of the virus and ensure the health and safety of students and teachers. 

Calamity Support for Affected Children in Metro Manila

With public daycare facilities still closed, a portion of the donations for the Daycare Improvement Project had been used to provide immediate relief support for children and families in Metro Manila affected by the spate of typhoons that hit the country in November 2020. 60 affected children from flood-prone areas of Bagong Silangan and Payatas in Quezon City, and the Tanza Communities in the urban fishing city of Navotas received hygiene kits, food supplies consist of rice, noodles, canned goods, and chocolate drinks, medicines and multivitamins, blankets, and sleeping mats.These support were provided on November 2020 and December 2020, much to the gratitude of the children and their parents - most of whom have lost their jobs because of the pandemic and its corresponding lockdowns.          

Hygiene and Health Kits for the Daycare Learners and their Families

Through your donations, the HBI Team has already purchased family hygiene and health kits for the daycare learners and their families. However, travel and assembly restrictions imposed to fight the spread of COVID-19 and its newest strain (which was confirmed in one of the provinces near La Union) continue to make deliveries in the La Union communities tricky and costly. HBI plans to provide these individual packages of support at the soonest possible time once we have secured all necessary health permits needed to enter the project areas.

Apart from this, HBI is also keeping in touch with the public daycare centers to identify their most pressing needs once face-to-face classes resume. While we cannot provide an exact timeline for the reopening of schools in the Philippines, HBI is assuming that face-to-face learning will resume sometime next school year (June 2021 to March 2022). 

Thank you to all our donors

We at HBI would like to fervently thank all the donors of the Daycare Improvement Project for supporting this cause, pandemic or no pandemic. As we try to continue our programs under "the new normal" ushered in by the COVID-19 pandemic, we will continue to strive in safely resuming our work and projects on the field for the benefit of the daycare children. We apologize for delays in our reports and in responding to emails and questions, rest be assured that we will work extra hard to provide all these health and hygiene support to La Union children and community health centers as soon as possible.