Millions of children in the Philippines are struggling with tragic experiences typhoon Haiyan brought to them when it claimed more than 6,000 lives on striking the islands in early November, according to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

The massive typhoon disrupted the lives of nearly six million children and destroyed the homes of 1.4 million children and their families, UNICEF said Tuesday in a press release.

UNICEF is providing child-friendly tents for Filipino children and mother-baby tents together with trained volunteers to help them process the pain of their experiences in the wake of the great disaster.  

It is also working closely with teachers and administrators to support the challenges of working with kids who have suffered huge loss. The children’s agency has trained 44 police and social workers throughout the affected areas to identify children who have been separated from their families and may be in need of special care.

UNICEF has mobilized experts from all over the world to support the relief efforts in the Philippines, increasing the staff on the ground to over 100 people to coordinate a plan for recovery and to strengthen services for children.

This will include working with the government and partners in supporting back-to-learning efforts, strengthening the child protection system, working on reestablishing and rehabilitating water systems and the cold chain for delivery of safe vaccines, and providing services to children threatened by malnutrition.

The agency earlier helped restore water to the city of Tacloban, which was hit hardest by the typhoon, eight days after it struck, and now aims to assist in supplying safe water to more than 60 communities. The Philippine government re-opened schools in the area on December 2, and principals and educators were already working to help children resume learning even in the absence of books and classrooms.

All over the islands, communities are working together to clean schools; 193 classroom-sized tents have been erected for close to 20,000 students, and over 50,000 children are benefitting from UNICEF school supplies.