Supporting Young Learners in Volcanic Crisis: Lived Experiences of Child Development Workers

This phenomenological study investigates how Child Development Workers (CDWs) in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, supported young children’s psychosocial recovery during the June 2024 Canlaon volcanic eruption. Grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and Disaster Vulnerability Theory, it examines CDWs’ roles within disrupted ecological systems and heightened vulnerabilities. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with five CDWs and were analyzed thematically. Results show that CDWs provided emotional support through calm self-mastery, physical reassurance, and child-centered activities such as storytelling, games, and play, while simultaneously managing camp operations, relief distribution, and coordination with parents to sustain learning and community events. Participants reported major disruptions, including daycare and school closures, modular learning, absenteeism, and communication breakdowns due to ashfall and evacuations, alongside emotional strain from balancing fear, family responsibilities, and expectations of cheerfulness amid overcrowding, water shortages, and policy gaps (unequal aid, unrepaired daycare centers). CDWs coped through faith-based practices, peer support via informal debriefings and shared duties, and resilience reinforced by children’s visible recovery. Institutional assistance from DSWD, LGU, and NGOs provided essentials, psychosocial activities, trainings, and mobility support. The study argues for localized disaster preparedness, sustained psychosocial capacity-building, and responsive policy reforms that recognize CDWs as frontline actors in early childhood disaster response.