TACLOBAN, the Philippines — At a typhoon refugee center on Samar Island in the Philippines, the traumatized children have slowly begun adjusting to their new normal.

As their parents fret about the future, the children devised a minimalist version of dodgeball, pelting each other with sandals in the absence of balls that got swept away with so much else in Typhoon Haiyan. And when foreign aid workers arrive with provisions, the children spend their time loitering nearby — poking them, giggling and asking questions in halting English like “What is your name?”

But despite the signs of resilience, social workers and parents say the children are newly vulnerable — a reality the Philippines will need to deal with as it stumbles through a flawed relief effort that has failed to provide basics like food and medicine fast enough.

After the immediate needs are met, the country will still be left with challenges that include rebuilding schools and helping children, some of them orphaned, recover emotionally.