that it was even raining intermittently when they decided to flee. It was very difficult to be
preganant and to be with five other children. She added that she had fever while in the EC and
that she was brought by the camp managers to the hospital, she stayed in the hospital for five
days. It was free. With her upcoming delivery, Samsha worries about the needs of her baby, she
worries also if she’d have enough milk to feed her child. While she was assured that her delivery
would be free, she knows that after deliver she’s be needing baby clothes, and other needs.
She loos forward to the promise of housing, of cash for work. More than ever she and the
other women are looking forward to the end of the conflict, she said “Kahit sinabi n Duterte na
mahirap, sana matapos na maam. Kaysa ganito hirap-hirap, araw araw, gabi-gabi. Putukan,
nakaka trauma”
Norhata, Normina, Jomilla, Balo-I EC
The interview with the women of the Baloi was more like an FGD, where the women
shared their common experiences as IDPs. The women interviewed were also relatives. Norhata
is 20 years old and eight months pregnant, Normina is 24, and Jomilla is 38. Normina’s
husband suffers from gangrene and needs assistance in walking, this made it difficult for them
to evacuate. Asked about their experience in fleeing Marawi City, it becomes apparent that one
of the direct effect of the conflict is the separation of families during flight. The husbands of
Norhata and Normina were tricycle drivers in Rizal Park in Marawi City, on the day the conflict
broke out, the men were working and they saw Isis men on the streets. The men then headed
back to their wives fearing that the conflict would escalate and also heeding the deadline given
by the Maute/Isis –which is five hours. Norhata relayed that unlike the other women who were
in the Baloi EC since June 10, she herself just arrived on the 3rd of Jul, having come from
another EC in Romain. Norhata narrated that when the conflict started, she initially sought
shelter in an evacuation center within the city, but after several days, even said evacuation
center no longer felt safe with the bombing getting nearer and nearer, almost hitting the
gymnasium that they are staying in. She then headed for the EC in Ramain where she stayed
until the end of June, and until she received money from her relatives in Baloi. The other women
narrated that their husbands fetched the and they proceeded to exit Marawi City with their
husbands trike. As they cannot all fit in the tricycle some membes of their family had to walk to
get out of Marawi. One of the concerns of the women is their monthly amortization of the
motorcycle which they obtained in Iligan Cty. Without work and means of income, they would
surely be remiss in her payments. One of them also shared how her family was supposed to
transfer to their new house on the 23rd, when the conflict erupted. She shared that she and her
husband saved to build the house, they have a mini sari sari store in the new house, and when
the conflict erupted, they have just bought supplies in time for Ramadan. It pains her heart to
leave the new house even before they occupied it and to leave as well the supplies they just
bought. Another woman volunteered how her child suffered from trauma because of the firefight
and the bombing, she shared that she often catches her child staring into space, “Nakatulala
lang, pag may naririnig sya na mga putukan, natatakot sya.”
Asked about their needs, the women echoed the answers previously given: cash, tent,
foam ,electric fan, medicines, food and biscuits for children, arinola, thermos, cooking wares etc.
For the pregnant women they also emphasized their need for food other than noodles and
canned goods, they clamor for fish and for chicken and other nutritious food. Finally, on their
message for the President, like others they wanted for the conflict tond, they want employment
55
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