It’s 5 a.m. in Barangay San Diego, Tacloban, and a small Handicap International team arrives with a gift for Oscar Balang: a pregnant pig to help him earn money.
Last year, Oscar Balang, who had a leg amputated, lost his ability to earn a living when the world’s strongest typhoon on record, Typhoon Haiyan, roared through the Philippines, destroying his property.
Handicap International, which has been present in the Philippines since 1985, has been hard at work helping people with disabilities and their families since the storm struck. Generous donors have funded fleets of trucks to distribute 1,800 tons of food, 1,390 tents, and other aid.
Donors enabled our rehabilitation experts to provide care, as well as orthopedic materials to local medical centers, and to seek out the community’s most vulnerable individuals, who would otherwise struggle to access basic aid, medical care, and mobility devices.
Today, we are closely involved in reconstruction efforts. We’re repairing or building new homes for more than 1,000 families and helping members of 800 households to regain their financial independence.