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Floods in the Philippines: thanks to HI, Marilyn has access to healthcare and food

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Emergency | Philippines | PUBLISHED ON October 21st 2025
A young woman carries her baby in a shop in the Philippines.

August 2025. Flooding plunged Marilyn's family into hardship. The young woman, mother of six children, received financial assistance, which enabled her to provide for her family. | © Maria Clarissa Liberato / HI

For weeks, the Philippines suffered from rain and flooding. With HI's help, Marilyn was able to provide for her six children.

Typhoons, torrential rain, floods... July was marked by a series of extreme weather events in the Philippines, plunging the archipelago and its inhabitants into disaster. Present in the country since 1985, HI mobilised from the outset to support communities affected by the considerable damage caused by Typhoon Wipha and storms Co-may and Francisco. Marilyn is 34 years old and a member of the Agta community in Porac, in the province of Pampanga in the Philippines. The young woman recounts her daily life and how HI's support has enabled her to cope with the difficulties.

A precarious daily life marked by difficulties

For Marilyn, life with six children was already difficult, and having a child with a disability required even more strength on her part. She confides that "words cannot describe how difficult it is to raise a child with a disability." At two years old, her youngest child cannot walk or even sit up on his own. The young woman describes her daily life as both busy and exhausting. 

"Every day, I have a lot to do. I have to take care of my children's needs, prepare my husband's things, cook, do the laundry, and many other things. Before, I could easily do all these tasks. But now, with my youngest unable to be left alone, my household chores have become much more difficult, especially on days when no one else is there to watch him."

Her husband works as a tree surgeon for landowners and earns around 200 pesos a day  , which Marilyn acknowledges is far from enough to support a family of eight:

"We need money because I want my youngest to be examined by a doctor. I need to know his state of health so that I know how to take care of him properly."

Surviving multiple disasters and empty plates

In the past, Marilyn and her family had already experienced periods when money was so tight that they only ate once a day.   Living like this for a whole month was a completely different ordeal...

During the typhoons and tropical storms of July 2025, Marilyn's family endured weeks of incessant rain. Accustomed to living in the highlands, they knew how to survive on edible roots, but not having any money for weeks to buy rice or other essentials pushed them to their limits. The family's income became uncertain because Marilyn's husband could no longer cross the river to get to work.

"I couldn't believe that life could get any harder. Because of the storms, my husband couldn't work. My children could only eat rice once a day, or sometimes not at all... On those days, we had no choice but to make do with coffee, bananas or roots. The hardest thing was not being able to produce enough milk for my three children, who are still breastfeeding. Some days, they survived by drinking the water used to cook rice," says the young mother.

Marginalised and vulnerable families like Marilyn's are often the least prepared when climate hazards strike... They often lack access to prevention information, are less aware of the risks and are not sufficiently taken into account in humanitarian response plans. With already limited livelihoods and too few resources to meet their basic needs, such as food, water or shelter, the storms only made the situation worse, plunging them further into food insecurity, debt and poor health. In Marilyn's case, even their home offered little protection:

"All our clothes were soaked because our roof had many leaks, and our sleeping area was flooded. We had to prioritise the kitchen, keeping the stove in the driest place so we could prepare meals. But finding dry wood was also a challenge, because everything was wet. There were days when I could only cry out of frustration..."

The rainbow after the storms

As soon as possible, HI mobilised its teams to organise its emergency response. Many families received hygiene kits, drinking water and financial aid to cope with the disaster and meet their most urgent needs. Marilyn is one of the people in , who received support from HI. The young mother received financial assistance and, with tears in her eyes, shared her relief at finally being able to buy rice for her children. More importantly, she now has the means to take her youngest child to hospital for a medical examination.

"Words cannot describe how happy I am right now. When you've been in the dark for so long, you forget what hope feels like. Today, I have found hope again. I can finally make up for the days when I couldn't give my children a proper meal," says Marilyn.

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