"We were not poor."
"At ground zero, we had a store, my children had two motorized rickshaws, my husband was a mechanic."
Sarah Abbas, 42, had a good life with her family living in Marawi City, a bustling city in the Philippines. In an instant that all changed. In mid 2017, pro-ISIS groups violently stormed the city, forcibly displacing 350,000 families.
Everything was destroyed.
Destroyed buildings, businesses and homes
Overlooking what once was Marawi City, now completely destroyed
Unable to go home, Sarah's family is among 66,000 people who have remained displaced for nearly three years. Living in makeshift tents and evacuation centres, the families have faced constant uncertainty with no income opportunities and life threatening food shortages.
“I fear that my children will die of hunger. I can only cry. My children are going hungry because we don’t have jobs.”
That's where a huge warehouse of 30kg rice bags comes in!
A warehouse storing thousands of 30kg bags of rice
Staff and locals work together distributing rice to families, a joyous occasion
World Vision has been helping those in the most need since the devastation. However, in 2019 the food shortage became so critical for everyone that an amazing collaborative effort was actioned to ensure all could survive. Delivering hope in the form of 30kg bags of rice to thousands of displaced families.
A bag of rice is more than just food or survival. For mothers like Sarah a bag of rice gives dignity. That may seem simplistic, but when absolutely everything has been taken from you being able to provide meals for your children has a huge impact. Helping families and children to survive, recover and build for a future.
Smiling children that no doubt know the impact of the rice for their families
Food is more than a meal. It works to bring hope and smiles like this!
