Sustainable Initiatives Led by Local Experts

The Center for Social Concern and Action and other DLSU Lasallian Mission offices joined efforts in De La Salle Philippines'  initiative to  help  in the   recovery, reconstruction and  rehabilitation of Marawi City,  a city in the  southern part of the Philippines devastated by the  months of  fire fights  between  a local  armed  group  that  has  engaged in  armed clashes  with  government  troops.  The same  local  group  was  noted  to  have  pledged  allegiance  to the Islamic  State  of  Iraq and  Syria  (ISIS).  The firefights which  broke out  in  Marawi City caused  massive  civilian  displacement  and  rendered  majority,  if  not  all of its population  homeless.

Trained Psychological First Aid personnel  from DLSU  Mission offices joined the local  experts from four other La Salle  schools (De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, DLSU-Manila and Laguna Campuses, DLS-Health Sciences Institute and De La Salle-Dasmarinas) in the implementation  of  the Medical-Psychological First Aid-Relief Mission on September 8, 2017  providing  medical  and  psychological first  aid and relief  services  to a total of 63 home-based evacuee-families from Marawi City.  These households have  temporarily transferred residence with their relatives in Barangay Maharlika, Taguig, Manila.

Also, DLSU-COSCA, in collaboration with the efforts of De La Salle Philippines facilitated a series  of   relief operations for displaced residents  of Marawi  since July 2017 to September 2017.

The  DLSP  team  noted  some  of  the problems  faced  by the  internally displaced persons (IDPs)  of  Marawi city   a) increased  number of  self-settled  sites not  recognized as  evacuation  centers, and b) concerns on basic  services  including access to food, safe water, sanitation, education and health, among others.  The concern  on health was specially observed in the  increasing  cases of stress by  IDPs  while  in  a  state of  displacement, thus  the  initiative  to  undertake  the  September 8 Medical-Psychological First Aid activity.

Sir Leo, Program Manager of  COSCA's  Lasallian Social Development  Program considered the  September  8, 2017 Medical-Psychological First Aid-Relief  activity  as an initial   collaborative  project  of  De La Salle Philippines' main recovery and  rehabilitation  efforts for  Marawi.