Locally Stranded Individuals (LSI) were those working outside their hometowns but were forced to go back after losing their jobs and livelihoods due to the pandemic. In Lanao del Sur, the vulnerable LSIs were mostly street vendors, construction workers, phone accessories sellers, and factory workers working in metropolitan areas. Some have just started looking for jobs in the city to find better means to provide for their families, only to be sent back because of the pandemic.
Through the Marawi COVID Recovery Project (MCRP), Community and Family Services International (CFSI) has been distributing care packages to vulnerable LSIs who will be coming home to Marawi City or select municipalities of Lanao del Sur and shall be subjected to a 14-day quarantine.
The care package contains medicines, cutleries, food items, disinfectants, and a Meranaw Malong, among others. The package was prepared considering the cultural and gender needs of the LSIs and went under series of consultations with the Integrated Provincial Health Unit (IPHO) Lanao del Sur, Marawi City Health Office (CHO), and Rural Health Units (RHUs) of Marawi City and the Municipalities of Ditsaan-Ramain, Marantao, Piagapo, Butig, Lumbayanague, and Masiu.
In selecting recipients of the care packages, the LSIs were assessed based on income status, external support while on 14-day quarantine, and having household members with special needs. CFSI aims to provide care packages to up to a thousand of LSIs until the end of 2021.
The MCRP is a COVID-19 response and recovery initiative for the people displaced by the armed conflict in Marawi, along with locally stranded individuals affected by the pandemic. It is an additional support of the Australian Government to its ongoing partnership with CFSI through the Marawi Recovery Project. #