Positive feedback on CHR's involvement at the SDC

Since early August, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Bacolod City has been providing weekly services to the Social Development Center and the children taken into protective custody. This public organization, introduced in an article last month, has partnered with SDC and HOST-NGO. The CHR aims at raising awareness on children's rights and ensuring that these rights are fully observed within the center.

Following the first two months of this partnership, we have conducted a quick overview of the activities led by Mr. Romeo Baldevarona, CHR supervisor, and Mrs. Gina Alli, investigator and CHR officer. The first sessions have been dedicated to raising awareness on their own rights for every child catered at the SDC. The objective is to inform the children on their right for protection, especially in case of child abuse or exploitation committed by adults. The issue of child labour and child trafficking was also discussed by the CHR members and the children at the SDC. These activities showed to be perfectly adapted to the youth's needs and challenges as many of them have a disadvantaged social background and have been facing such issues. Our young beneficiaries have been carefully listening to the various testimonies and advice, and even shared their own experience with the other participants.

The CHR has also been conducting two sessions on individualized legal support targeting the children in conflict with the law who are dealing with a court case. This activity aims at informing each targeted child on his/her particular situation, rights and duties, so that he/she understands the issues at stake and take the necessary decisions to fulfill his/her own interests. As of today, a dozen young people have been supported thanks to the CHR's useful explanation and advice, in addition to the daily follow-up provided by SDC's social workers.

The coming activities will be dedicated to carry on this awareness project while working on another important topic: staff training on issues related to child-rights protection. Seminars will be held by the CHR members to help SDC's team to offer better services to answer the specific needs of their young beneficiaries and reduce the risk of child abuse.

Profile of our social work trainees at the SDC

Katherine Joyce, Lyka and Sherrish are three students, aged around 20 years old, registered in 3^rd year of social work at the University of UNO-R in Bacolod City. They are currently undergoing a practical internship within the SDC. Involved into the center four half-day sessions per week over a whole semester, they follow the daily life of the most disadvantaged children of Bacolod City. «Our mission aims at assisting the SDC staff to empower the vulnerable children and the children in conflict with the law through case work activities. Our goal is to promote their social functioning as individuals, to instil good values to them, and render other activities, such as educational film showing followed with debates, group dynamics, lectures on self-discipline, etc.».

They shared that they felt a bit nervous at the beginning of their internship though they were fully confident about their mission objectives. «We had already visited the SDC with our teacher and our classmates, and we had the opportunity to exchange with the former trainees and share their experience. That is why we were familiar with this new work environment and we were impatient to start implementing on the field what we learned at the university.»

The young beneficiaries of the SDC are often marginalized due to their fragile social situation (children living and/or working in the streets) or their problems facing the law (young delinquents). The lack of information related to their specific issues often leads to the community members feeling frightened by them. Katherine Joyce, Lika and Sherrish know the children now and they feel empathy and concerns for them. «We try to help them solving their daily issues and improving their vision of life. The main purpose of the SDC is to fulfill the basic needs of the children in order to offer them a better life», they explained. They added that «most of the children at the center lack of support and guidance from their family; some of them are even deprived of it. It is then essential for us to address these needs the best we can, and build a relationship based on trust and honesty with them. In addition, we have to work with the families in order to create or improve the family bonds, which the children need to develop themselves ».

When asked on their motive to study social work, the students explained that they want to help the people in need and empower them, as it is challenging and exciting. They also want to provide good services and programs for the welfare of the communities. The mission of these young and dynamic women at the SDC is a real illustration of the achievements generated by the partnership with UNO-R. 

HOST-NGO team wishes them success and fulfillment in their future professional life!

A new step toward the rehabilitation of the SDC

The rehabilitation of the SDC, which was planned by the city of Bacolod earlier this year, has been ongoing over the past few months. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of SDC's Center Head, the city engineers and Virlanie-Bacolod team, the achievements will help lifting up the living conditions of the children by improving the level of comfort and hygiene within the SDC.

Over the past few weeks, the electrical system has been repaired. Solar panels have been installed to supply part of the daily needs of the center. The comfort rooms have been unclogged and repaired, and new showers are ready to be used. The shower room has been built outside the dormitory building in order to facilitate its monitoring and maintenance. All year long the sun is rising down quite early in the Philippines and the lighting will clearly change the dark and long evenings.

New shower rooms at the SDC

Following these improvements, the safety level has been reinforced within the whole compound and especially in the dormitory. The mission of SDC's house parents during night shifts has been facilitated for the direct benefit of the most vulnerable children. An other direct outcome is the sustainable implementation of the aïkido activity program, led by volunteers from Warriors for Peace, a local NGO.  The sessions are now being held every Thursday evening. The activity room, which is located on the first floor of the dormitory building, has been renovated last May and is now equiped with electricity. It is the perfect environment to hold aikido activities and enable the self-development of each child participating into this program.

SDC's new activity room

This crucial step toward a successful rehabilitation of the SDC follows the ongoing actions which have been implemented by Virlanie-Bacolod team for two years already. Every accomplishment will help the SDC complying with the environmental requirements which apply to the Philippines. 

As a consequence, it will help reaching a higher level of safety and well-being for our disadvantaged children in Bacolod City!

Soon: a documentary showing our projects in the Philippines

From July 8th to 15th, our team warmly welcomed Victorien and Virginie over a week in Bacolod City. Our French friends wished to contribute to our development program to show their interest and consideration to the issues addressed by HOST-NGO in the Philippines. Their visit emphasizes the spirit of our organization, encouraging everyone to join and apply his/her own “TOUCH” by sharing with us passion, knowledge and/or skills.

The mission of Victorien and Virginie aimed at designing a video documentary dedicated to illustrate the projects implemented in the Philippines and promote our activities to the public. HOST-NGO would like to foster the involvement of mew volunteers and also introduce our work environment and our beneficiaries to current and potential partners and donors.

Several shooting sessions were organized throughout Bacolod City and at the Social Development Center, to show the life and issues encountered by the children currently or previously taken in care by  the SDC. This video will present the local environment and constraints, especially the challenges faced by the street children. Meanwhile, it will allow to testify the progress made to help the vulnerable children, mainly thanks to the various actions implemented in collaboration with our local partners. Or course, we also want to share with the public the remaining milestones in a realistic but optimistic way!

Victorien V. is a French young and promising film director. He already proved his talent in two short films made in Burkina Faso, which have both been nominated in 2012 and 2013 Cannes Film Festival (Short Film Corner). His first movie, Living in Tengrela, has received the jury's “Coup de Coeur” in 2012. Virginie, his life partner, works as a first assistant. She shares her artistic fine taste and sensitivity to let this new challenge be a full success, besides her life partner, Victorien.

Our team and beneficiaries would like to give a warm “SALAMAT” (thank you) to Victorien and Virginie for their involvement and generosity. We hope to be able to continue our adventure with their loyal support. HOST-NGO would like to wish them a great journey and the achievement of their respective projects!

Education & learning to build a sustainable future for the youth

9:30am at the SDC: a group of children is heading to the classroom with their individual school pack (notebook, pen and paper). After eating their breakfast, they get ready to participate into the educational program proposed within the frame of the Alternative Learning System (ALS), launched last January at the SDC.

Three half-days a week, the children taken in care by the SDC over a long period of time, have access to specific learning modules: language (Tagalog), mathematics, history, etc. Two teachers assigned by the Department of Education (DepEd), Jayson and Carlito, are preparing the children to take an exam next October. The objective is to ensure the continuity of education for every child, in order to facilitate his/her reintegration into the formal education system upon exiting the SDC, and to ensure his/her future professional success. Some of the young participants will soon be transferred to the Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youth (RRCY), located on Guimaras Island, and run by the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD). They will be able to continue the educational program at the RRCY, and enhance the knowledge gained at the SDC.

In order to maximize their chance to pass the future exam, the SDC local team is organizing study time sessions, three times a week, to complete the ALS program. The house parents are responsible to help the children reviewing the topics taught by the teachers from DepEd. “There are only 14 weeks left before the exam”, Jayson told the children this week, raising their concern on the upcoming challenge. Building a sustainable future is a tricky process for our young beneficiaries, who are now on the way to becoming active and responsible citizens, thanks to the Alternative Learning System at the SDC!

Bacolod City’s legal authorities to care for SDC’s children

Last June, the SDC welcomed Hon. Judge Anita Chua and her staff for a short visit. Judge Chua is one of the three judges who are in charge of handling the court cases of the children in conflict with the law (CICL) at Bacolod City’s Hall of Justice. Since juvenile detention was separated from adult detention a few years ago, Judge Chua has been witnessing the evolution and progress done at the SDC as well as the difficulties encountered. This visit was the opportunity to assess the living conditions of the kids on a daily basis, and the range of services and activities offered to them by the center and by our partners.

Children in conflict with the law usually face the Court every two months for judicial proceedings related to petty crimes. Judge Chua’s initiative to meet with them in their current living environment shows her will to consider them in the early stage of becoming individuals who need guidance, follow-up and support, definitely not a life sentence. Judge Chua acknowledged there the efforts generated by the center to provide the children with activities promoting education and individual development, i.e. a critical prerequisite to the success of their future rehabilitation.

To celebrate her visit, the children organized a welcoming show with the creative support of the three current social worker trainees from UNO-R, one of our main partners. The ‘Music Day’ atmosphere was re-created by the children who entertained the Judge and her staff with a joyful choreographed dance, and who were warmly thanked by the audience for this sweet attention.

There are currently around 10 children in conflict with the law who are waiting for the proceeding of their court case in order to be enrolled into a rehabilitation program. One of our main objectives is to provide these kids with services aiming at starting their rehabilitation process via education, training, listening and guidance, as well as empowerment, right upon their admission at the SDC.

Learning good hygiene & sanitation at SDC

Within the frame of our rehabilitation project conducted at the Social Development Center (SDC) in Bacolod, our team has been devoting increasing time and energy to help the local staff building a safer and healthier environment and a particular focus has been set on nutrition and sanitation. In partnership with the City of Bacolod, toilets and shower rooms are now under construction at the center. Thanks to the support of Fondation Ensemble and HOST-NGO’s fundraising campaigns, the dorms will also soon be renovated and the kitchen should follow. As part of our waste and water management program implemented at the SDC, Annie D., HOST-NGO volunteer specialized in education and childcare, has been conducting a mission of two weeks in June, which emphasized on addressing the children’s hygiene issues and offering training support to the local team around four topics: hygiene & sanitation awareness, education & social development, waste management, as well as team building and training.

 Related to hygiene and sanitation, the overall objective was to encourage a healthy daily behaviour to prevent common diseases (such as food-borne and water-borne diseases). Several activities were organized by our volunteer along with the three UNO-R social workers trainees and the SDC team on that topic. The design of posters, games, drawings, and other recreational activities helped raising the children’s awareness on the importance of personal hygiene and sanitizing. 

To complement this thematic, another set of activities was proposed to the children on issues related to waste management and recycling: what are the different types of waste, how can we collect and dispose of waste, how can we reuse waste, etc. The children designed posters representing the different forms of organic and non-organic waste and the processing and sorting of these waste items. For instance, the children learnt what kind of waste can be transformed as fertilizer and can be used in the garden.

Finally, our HOST-NGO volunteer focused on providing the street children, who are SDC’s most vulnerable children in terms of lack of education and childcare, with educational activities dedicated to promote their individual development. Activities such as origami, drawing and writing, collective games aimed at enhancing their knowledge and social skills while opening their mind and curiosity.

It was overall a great success especially for the street children, often the youngest of the center, who really enjoyed Annie’s daily visits over these past two weeks. She devoted great energy and positive attitude, which was much appreciated by SDC’s staff and our own team!

HOST-NGO wishes to welcome many more committed volunteers, who can involve with us on their own time, sharing their own skills. Feel free to contact our team if you wish to participate into this exciting adventure! contact@host-ngo.org