by Claire R. Gigje
MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur (PIA)–Residents of two villages in a town in Lanao del Sur province gracefully welcomed the season of Ramadan this year as they received relief assistance from the Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW)-Philippines.
Through its regular seasonal program, dubbed Ramadhan 2023, the IRW distributed food packs to 600 households in Barangays Bacayawan and Pagalungan in Sultan Dumalondong town.
Each food pack contains 50 kilos of rice, a kilo of native coffee, two liters of vegetable oil, two kilos of brown sugar, 500 grams of mongo, two packs of bihon, two trays of eggs, six cans of sardines, and two pieces of squash.
IRW-Philippines Area Programme Manager Sittie-Jamairah Disomimba said this activity is held simultaneously with other IRW teams operating in various countries across the globe.
“Every year, mayroon kaming tinatarget dito sa Philippines at isa ito [Sultan Dumalondong] sa target (Every year, we have targets here in the Philippines, and this [Sultan Dumalondong] is one of the targets),” she said.
Disomimba detailed that their beneficiaries underwent a process and validation to identify whether they fell below the poverty threshold and see if they were really in need of any aid.
She further explained that they chose the municipality of Sultan Dumalondong as one of their target towns, considering that this is one of those geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas in Lanao del Sur province that has no easy access to markets and groceries, and with its people having no stable income.
Additionally, they identified the constituents of Barangays Bacayawan and Pagalungan as their specific recipients, as these are recognized to be the furthest villages of the covered town.
With the relief caused by their food packs, Disomimba looked forward to having blissful recipients during this year’s month of Ramadan.
“We are hoping that they will have a very good Ramadan 2023. This is just to augment their needs for the month of Ramadan para hindi na sila maghanap ng pang-Ramadan nila (so that they will not already look for something for their Ramadan),” she said.
Disomimba also hoped that they would be able to expand their covered recipients; however, she said this still depends on the resources obtained by their organization. (CRG/PIA-10/Lanao del Sur)
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