Fifteen-year-old Monera Salalima bravely returned home when she heard that government soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels are exchanging fires again in her hometown. She did not want to be left behind once her family evacuates.

Monera immediately travelled from Cotabato City (where she worked) to far-flung barangay of Paidu Pulangi in Pikit, North Cotabato in southern Philippines, and was relieved to see her family safe and sound. The turmoil around her, however, was impossible to ignore.

“There were evacuees who asked help from us because they brought nothing with them… Some children got cold and sick during their first few days in the evacuation center,” Monera said.  “My heart just sank.”

As gunshots and cannon fires intensified in early August this year, evacuees started pouring in at Datu Bitol Mangansakan Memorial Elementary School in Paidu Pulangi, where Monera was a graduate. People came in droves, some aboard wooden carts. Others walked for hours to reach the evacuation center.

There were more than 170 evacuated families, mostly Muslims and from nearby barangays. They were crammed in classrooms and makeshift tents. Those that suffered most were the children.

Because of the quick support given by donors and partners, Operation Blessing was able to conduct a supplemental feeding program to ease the children’s hunger and discomfort. With help from the Army, an estimated 700 children evacuees in the Datu Bitol Mangansakan site were fed with hot arroz caldo (chicken porridge) last August 17, 18 and 22.

“The kids seldom have breakfast. Worse, sometimes they only eat once a day,” Monera shared. Still a child herself, she volunteered to help feed the children, with a prayer that easing their hunger could also bring hope into their hearts.

OB was the first to have a feeding program at Paidu Pulangi, where disaster relief is hard to come by due to its remote and unstable location.

After the feeding, the children’s faces lit up one by one.

“The children here enjoyed the arroz caldo and said it was delicious… Thank you for doing this for us!” Monera cheerfully exclaimed.

Pikit is among the towns severely affected by the ongoing peace crisis in Mindanao. When OB visited North Cotabato on the third and fourth weeks of August to assess the situation of internally-displaced persons (IDPs), Pikit has the most number of evacuees at more than 5,000 families.

“An evacuation site is too crowded. Children have weak body defenses and are prone to sickness. We need something that can strengthen their stamina,” said Major Medel Aguilar of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Civil Relations Group.

“Whenever I ask for help, Operation Blessing is always there... and has never turned me down,” said Major Aguilar. The Philippine Army has been a longtime partner of OB in carrying out successful missions in Mindanao.

OB will continue with its nutrition programs, as well as distribution of mats and blankets in evacuation centers, in days to come as part of helping restore normalcy among IDPs in North Cotabato.