Lakapati.org

Every day, 95 children die from malnutrition in the Philippines, according to UNICEF. Before the age of five, 27 out of 1,000 Filipino children die because they did not have enough food to eat.

That means almost 35,000 children a year die from hunger.  From poor nutrition.  Or no nutrition.  That is a fact.  As devastating as that is, that statistic does not begin to describe the pain, the suffering that each of those children would have endured before death.  That statistic does not include the woman or the men who suffer and die because they did not have enough food to eat.

Millions of Filipinos, adults as well as children, are hungry, starving, dying.  Every day.  Every minute of every day.  This is, and has been, an on-going problem.

In addition to a lack of food, many people of the Philippines face additional challenges, including a low immunization rate for children, a lack of clean water, a lack of sanitation facilities.

This country has been blessed with so much – stunning sunsets, breathtaking scenery, beautiful beaches, amazing wildlife, and warm welcoming people who respect and admire the United States of America.  These are people who truly do love their neighbor – and share with and care for each other, even when they have so little.  The Filipino people persevere – even though this island paradise has been devastated by natural disasters repeatedly.

Natural disasters contribute greatly to food shortages.  Earthquakes, typhoons, flooding, even volcanic eruptions are included among these disasters.  In 2020 alone, three major typhoons caused floods, landslides, loss of power, and hundreds of thousands of forced evacuations.

As with the rest of the world, COVID has gravely increased the severity of these problems. Thousands of businesses closed.  Millions lost jobs.  According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network, 30.7 per cent of Filipinos experienced hunger in late 2020.  That means 7.6 million families did not have enough food to eat and an estimated 2.2 million of these families experienced severe hunger.

In any way that we are able, we want to help the Filipino people to live a better life. In addition to food and clean water programs, Lakapati.org will be working towards providing prosthetic limbs for those who need them. We also plan to develop sustainability programs to plan and provide for the future.

Lakapati wants to help in any way, in every way that we can.  We want to help STOP the STARVATION.  We want to help STOP the HUNGER, the SUFFERING, and the DEATHS from lack of food and of clean water.  Please help us to support these children, these families, these warm and loving people.

Lakapati.org