Education After Disaster

Cracks on the walls, ropes holding ceilings together—these are only some of the common sights you can see inside classrooms revealing the state of the school’s damages where 12-year-old Hannah goes. 

Before the 6.9 earthquake hit North Cebu on the night of September 30 last year, Hannah and her schoolmates could freely roam around. 

Hannah likes to play volleyball with her friends. Now their plays are limited, and they’re encouraged to always be alert. This makes it difficult for students like her to focus on their studies and extracurricular activities, especially with aftershocks that continue to rock them. 

The school has 15 classrooms for a total of 461 students including Hannah. 8 of these classrooms were damaged and are no longer used for classes. 

251 elementary students are scheduled for morning classes, while the other 210 are high school students scheduled in the afternoon. They take turns using the remaining 7 classrooms. 

In partnership with the Coca Cola Foundation, World Vision conducted Child Friendly Spaces and provided these students with learner’s kits that contain notebooks, pad paper, pens, art materials, and others. 

“Some of the sessions we’ve conducted focused on protection,” said World Vision Child Protection Specialist, Carol Sue. 

“The very essence of these sessions was to provide children with psychosocial support to gradually help them overcome anxiety and fear from disasters, and to give them that sense of security that there are people ready to support them,” she said. 

Sue also mentioned the games being therapeutic where the children got to express themselves and enjoy time together with their classmates. 

“It was also important that the school faculties were very supportive and that the children actively participated,” she added. 

Meanwhile, school teacher Jelyn expressed her joy for the support: “The children are motivated to go to school, and I feel really happy for them. I hope that they continue to learn and reach their dreams despite the earthquake,” she said. 

Over 400 students participated in singing, dancing, drawing, painting, and playing games. 

“I’ve never seen the students had this much fun since the earthquake. We are really thankful. These things help uplift the students’ emotions, giving them hope for the future,” said the school’s principal, Cris Villanueva. 

“I thank them for their support. I had fun through all the activities,” said Hannah. 

Through partnerships and collaborations, World Vision has reached over 15,650 individuals (3,821 families) in Cebu by providing relief and support especially to the affected children and their families.