In any disaster, the children are the ones who suffer the most, especially those below five (5) years of age. This is most evident in armed conflicts, wherein innocent children see violence at its core.
Hence, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) ensures the establishment and operationalization of child-friendly spaces inside the evacuation centers to oversee the welfare of the children.
Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said, “The most vulnerable sector must be protected. The growth and development of children must not suffer amidst the crisis brought about by the recent armed conflict Zamboanga City. DSWD has established child-friendly spaces and temporary day care centers.”
According to Greta Martinez, DSWD FO 9 Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) focal person in JFE Sports Complex, day care services and supplemental feeding, and play therapy are regularly being provided to children.
Inside the JFE Sports complex, DSWD conducts day care service in four established temporary day care centers, with one (1) day care placed per respective zone of the JPE Sports Complex. DSWD partners with the Philippine Red Cross in the operationalization of the day care program, as well as the Supervised Neighborhood Play (SNP) program for children. Martinez added “we also provide the children with supplemental feeding composed of biscuits provided by the World Food Programme (WFP), and milk-chocolate drink after the day care session.”
Two (2) day care sessions per day care centers are conducted daily, with each session attended by a minimum of 50 to as high as 75 children ages 2 to six years old. Two to three volunteer workers under the supervision of the Department facilitate each day care session.
Children are engaged in fun activities such as kiddie games, storytelling, drawing, and coloring. These simple and easy activities aim to help the kids process their experiences and return to normalcy.
In addition, DSWD has also partnered with the Community and Family Services International (CFSI) for the conduct of play therapy with children and set up child-friendly spaces for each of the four zones in the Grandstand. Further, other organizations, which contributed in the provision of day care services program inside the evacuation centers were Katelingban, a church based organization, Bethany school, and the Federation of District I.
Jollibee brings joy to children
At least 50 day care children age 5-below enjoyed the activities prepared by Jollibee. The children eagerly waited for instructions on how to color, and actively participated in all the games prepared by Argie A. Amad, a Jollibee staff who is also staying inside the JFE Sports Complex. Argie’s family left Sta. Barbara for safety.
Argie, 19 years old, emotionally said he wants to give joy to the children, as he knows how it feels to be affected by armed conflict. “Dahil evacuee din ako, alam ko yung kalagayan ng mga bata kaya hindi ako nagdalawang isip na magpasaya sa kanila kahit sa maliit na paraan (I’m one of the evacuees thus, I know the situation of the children. That’s why I didn’t hesitate to do this to make them happy even in a small way),” he added.
Edvic Rute, manager of JFC in Zamboanga City shared that social responsibility has always been the core value of Jollibee Foods Corporation. When the armed conflict started, they started thinking on how they can provide assistance to the affected families. Despite their losses, their paramount task is to be part of rebuilding Zamboanga and providing a sense of normalcy to young children through games and coloring activities.
He emphasized “sa mura nilang edad ay namumulat sila sa mga pangyayaring hindi normal tulad ng kaharasan at pag-aaway (The affected kids were made to see realities in life which are not normal, like violence and armed conflict). It is our social responsibility to help our fellow Zamboanguenos.”
“Gusto naming magpasaya ng mga bata, ang makapagbigay ng konting relief sa kanila mula sa stress. Ang madinig silang tumatawa at makita silang mag-enjoy ay ang aming plano sa pagtulong. Kaya sinama din namin si Jolllibee dito upang mag-enjoy sila (We want to make these children happy and provided relief from the stress brought by the conflict. Our plan of helping is to make children happy. That’s why we brought with us Jollibee mascot so they can have fun with him),” said Rute.
Amidst the scorching heat, the faces of the children lit up with some jumping with excitement as they saw the 6-feet, bright red bee making an entrance inside the child-friendly space. Jollibee spent 30 minutes dancing and playing to the delight of the children. The sounds of chuckling children were infectious and drew smiles from the adults nearby. The kids, who could not contain their excitement, gamely danced with Jollibee.
Various Civil Society Organizations Take Part
Different Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) also take part in assisting the DSWD care for the children. Recently, supplementary feeding was conducted by the partnership of University of Zamboanga (UZ), Tzu-Chi Foundation, and the Negrense Volunteers for Change Foundation.
Dianna Jen Cruz, UZ Communications Director, shared that the 41,000 nutripacks of powdered drinks were sent by the NVC Foundation through the facilitation of Tzu-Chi Foundation, which are enough for 8,200 children ages 1 to 7 years old. The powdered choco and cereal drinks are made from moringa, mongo, rice, and cocoa which provides supplementary nutrients to kids. ###
