As part of World Vision’s typhoon Yolanda 3rd year commemoration, more than 1,000 Yolanda survivors gathered for the CoMSCA Leaders’ Congress held at the Tacloban City Astrodome last November 5, 2016.
Flor Regonaos from Kalipayan, Tacloban City shares, “My husband and I are now able to better support our eight children. We were not just given the things we needed most but we were also taught how to sustain them by being more financially literate.”
Flor started her organic products business after she received P10,000 (est 208 USD) from World Vision. Encouraged by how it is growing, she uses her CoMSCA loans to further expand her product line. Flor is also thankful that aside from a flourishing business, her family now enjoys a safer space after receiving a full housing package.
CoMSCA, or the Community Managed Savings and Credit Association, is a World Vision economic development project model that aims to provide simple savings and loan facilities to communities where access to financial services is difficult.
It’s a simple, transparent and self-managed savings mechanism where members of the community save together, lend their savings to each other and share the profits. Members provide their own savings and credit services at negligible cost, while retaining earnings and investment in their own communities.
The congress focused on the importance of saving for both children and their parents. Vic and Avelyn Garcia of Unleash International, Kevin Mark De Guia of Junior Ipon and Armand Bengco of Colayco Foundation graced the event. In Tacloban City alone, 205 CoMSCA groups with 107,000 members in total are now saving together. The groups have around Php 5.3 million (USD116,000) in current savings.
“We are overjoyed to see where the people of Leyte have come, three years after Yolanda. From delivering life-saving essentials to helping them rebuild, World Vision has been intentional in instilling self-sufficiency to the people it works with,” shares Ajab Macapagat, World Vision Typhoon Haiyan Response Director. “From what we’ve heard and seen during the congress, World Vision will close the Haiyan response with confidence, knowing that the people are taking charge of their recovery. World Vision’s typhoon Haiyan response is now transitioning to development work, ending its emergency response work in Tacloban City but remains active in Leyte through child sponsorship supporting development programs on child protection, health and nutrition, disaster risk reduction and economic development. The response has reached nearly 1.6 M people in the Haiyan corridor in the Visayas region, serving disaster-affected families in 7 provinces during the emergency, recovery and rehabilitation phase.
