We knew about 360 blind children who lived in the path of Super-Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) that struck the central Philippines in November of 2013. After the typhoon, we immediately began contacting the families and identified about 60 to 70 who needed emergency shelter assistance. Many were living under tarpaulins or other shelter made of scrap material

Our first efforts were concentrated on getting these families into safe shelters. After making good progress on that, we started a second project to build permanent, more typhoon-resistant homes far about 20 selected families. Three of the selection criteria are: the level of need, ownership of the land, and parent support for the education of the blind.

We have also completed a project to rebuild or repair the Special Education Centers in 11 of the worst hit schools. These Centers cater to the special needs of students with disabilities and made it possible for the children to be included in regular classes. Because of the level of damage, most schools had to be completely rebuilt

We replaced flattened homes with new concrete hollow blocks homes, our hope is that the roofing will not be lifted off by the winds. The rebuilt Special Education Centers are either one or two classrooms, depending on the number of students with disabilities. The Centers serve as Resource 023 for the students and their trained teachers. They are fully furnished, including the special equipment and materials needed by students with visual impairment.

The Improving Reading Scores of children with Blindness and Low Vision in Early Primary Education project is designed to give visually impaired students in Grades 1 to 3 access to age- and level-appropriate textbooks and reading materials in schools in the Philippines. The project also provided schools with access to technological equipment including magnifying software , braille translator software, braille embosser machines, braille display to read text tactually that is typically displayed on a computer monitor, audio player and portable digital magnifiers. Training for teachers and parents of children with visually impairment showed them how to use the materials to improve reading at school and at home.

The project aims to improve access to these resources for students with a range of vision impairments. Historically, the production of reading materials for visually impaired students has taken place in Manila on a small scale. Due to the distribution and logistical challenges that come with working in a nation with made up of more than 7,000 islands, braille in order to read. Certain low vision students would benefit more from large print resources than braille.

The main purpose of the project is to improve the reading proficiency of children with visual impairment by making reading resources accessible to them.
The project aims to accomplish this by;
   •       providing technology and training to school teachers in order to provide critical learning materials to students with visual impairment. The technology includes a desktop computer, braille translator software and embosser, an electronic braille display, magnifying software to enlarge text, portable digital audio players, and digital magnifiers;
     •       providing reading enhancement materials in accessible formats for children with visual impairment to increase access to a greater variety of reading materials and help the target population read at grade level;
     •        providing training and mentoring to teachers handling children with visual impairment for additional strategies and techniques;
    •        improving family engagement in the children’s reading through home visits and workshops to help them understand how to teach the children at home.