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Bahay Tuluyan is a children’s rights organization working to
prevent and respond to the abuse and exploitation of children
News from Bahay Tuluyan
Typhoon Yolanda: picking up the pieces
Super Typhoon Yolanda (international codename Haiyan) struck the
Philippines on 8 November 2013. It was the most powerful storm to
make landfall in recorded history, sustaining winds of more than
300km/h. As of press time the official death toll is more than
5,236 with 1613 still missing and 25,615 injured. 4.01million
people have been displaced. This typhoon closely followed a
magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Cebu and Bohol on 15 October
2013.
Fortunately none of Bahay Tuluyan’s areas of operation were in
the direct path of the typhoon or earthquake and all escaped
without damage. Several of Bahay Tuluyan’s staff members are from
the worst-hit areas however and endured several painful days of
waiting for news from their loved ones before discovering that they
all managed to
survive without injury.
The devastation wreaked by these natural calamities is massive
and its full
December 2013 Change the world. Love children
More inside!
We hope you enjoy this bumper Christmas edition of our
newsletter & have a very
happy Christmas season
- Bahay Tuluyan family
Christmas Edition
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Partnering with local police
Bahay Tuluyan has become known in the Philippines as a strong
advocate against the governments’ practice of ‘rescuing’ street
children that is often tantamount to warrantless arrest and often
results in children being abused, sheltered in inhumane conditions
and even tortured. As a result, it is quite common that children
come running to Bahay Tuluyan to escape their ‘rescuers’. Thus it
happened that Bahay Tuluyan’s social workers were recently called
to the local police station by some desperate children and parents
in the aftermath of a ‘rescue’.
The advocacy efforts of Bahay Tuluyan’s dynamic social workers
eventually resulted in the children being released but, more
importantly, opened a dialogue with the newly appointed chief of
the local police station, Police Superintendent Mannan C. Muarip.
Given a copy of Bahay Tuluyan’s study ‘Sagip or Huli’ which looks
at the practice of rescue in four cities in Metro Manila, Muarip
read the whole study overnight and showed up at Bahay Tuluyan two
days later armed with ideas.
Since then 14 senior police officers have undergone training
about children’s rights with Bahay Tuluyan, several community
dialogues have been conducted to address local issues and a group
of more than 30 police assisted 200 children and staff from Bahay
Tuluyan to start cleaning up the local playground. The local police
station has become a regular participant in Bahay Tuluyan’s
Community Days and are closely coordinating in relation to
children in contact with the law.
Most importantly, this police station has chosen to no longer
participate in indiscriminate rescues but instead to collaborate to
find durable solutions. Unfortunately this is not a system-wide
shift and as this newsletter goes to press more than 50 children
have fled to Bahay Tuluyan’s emergency shelter in Manila to escape
ramped-up ‘rescue’ operations.
Muarip’s proactive and collaborative leadership is a very
welcome development in a community that desperately needs to have
faith in the systems of law, order and protection, particularly at
the street level.
Police playing games with local children during one of Bahay
Tuluyan’s Community Days
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Makabata becomes ChildSafe
Statistics about how many children actually live on the street
in the Philippines are out-of-date, incomplete and often
inaccurate. The vast numbers of ‘street children’, conflicting
definitions about who is a ‘street child’, transient lifestyles of
children on the street and the lack of monitoring mechanisms all
compound to make it very difficult to put a figure to the scale of
the problem.
Bahay Tuluyan is working to make an impact on the problem of
children living or working on the street and therefore knowing how
many children are affected is of great importance.
As a very small NGO, Bahay Tuluyan has limited capacity to
document the problem as a whole but is working on improving the
data available about children and families on the street in its
focus areas. A ‘sleeping rough survey’ which students from
Macquarie University and Kangan Institute have assisted to develop
and implement is providing initial data about people sleeping on
the street around Bahay Tuluyan – more than 150 people in less than
1 square kilometer.
An electronic case management database designed by David &
Adrian Scerri, the first of its kind being used in Manila, is
gradually enabling Bahay Tuluyan’s Mobile Unit team to add to the
information available about children on the street and their needs
and demographics.
Cumulatively these efforts will improve the understanding of an
unquestionably large problem.
ChildSafe is a proactive international child-protection network
established by Friends International in Cambodia and involving key
members of society and the international community, designed to
protect children and youth from all forms of abuse and violence,
reduce child exploitation and trafficking opportunities and report
and refer children in danger to relevant services. On 23 August
2013, Makabata Guesthouse & Café (Bahay Tuluyan’s social
enterprise in Manila) became the first ChildSafe accredited member
in the Philippines. The ChildSafe logo provides a seal of
confidence to travelers that the businesses they are patronising
protect local children. Bahay Tuluyan is working in partnership
with Friends International to develop the ChildSafe network in the
Philippines.
Documenting street based people
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extent is not yet known. With 4 million people displaced, the
ramifications will be felt for many years to come. As the prospects
for recovery look like being very slow, thousands of people are
leaving Leyte and Eastern Samar for major hubs including Cebu and
Manila. While some services are being slowly set up to address this
influx of people, the capacity to cope with such numbers is
limited. Bahay Tuluyan encountered a displaced family on the
streets of Manila in mid November and is fearful that they will not
be the first. It is working to get them into alternative shelter so
that they do not become entrenched into life on the street.
Bahay Tuluyan is not a relief organization and has not been
directly involved in delivering relief aid in affected areas. It
has committed to volunteering at least 500 hours to assisting in
packing relief goods and assisting internally displaced people,
particularly children. Staff, youth and supporters of Bahay Tuluyan
have so far contributed 100 hours to working with government
agencies preparing family food packs to be sent to the
worst-affected areas. Greatly concerned about the added risks for
highly
vulnerable children, it is also coordinating with UNICEF and the
Philippine government in the hope of establishing ‘child-friendly’
spaces and coordinated services in arrival points in Manila.
Bahay Tuluyan is collecting donations to support recovery
efforts focused on protecting the rights of children in the longer
term. These efforts will be designed in collaboration with local
communities and will be implemented in partnership with local
organizations in areas affected by both the typhoon and the
earthquake over the next 6 – 18 months. Donations towards such
recovery efforts are most welcome.
The support and concern that has been shown from all over the
world and the massive mobilization of volunteers and donations from
within the Philippines provides a sense of hope that even this
catastrophe will be overcome. However as a nation comprised of
7,107 islands, the risks of climate change have never felt more
pressing. As for so many global issues, it is the poorest of the
poor who bear the biggest burden.
A destroyed house on the outskirts of Tacloban on Leyte island
(Photo: Eoghan Rice - Trócaire / Caritas taken from Wikipedia)
Typhoon Yolanda: picking up the pieces continued from Page 1
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KidsRights is a Dutch children’s charity organization which
promotes the wellbeing of very vulnerable children across the world
and advocates for the realization of their rights. In 2012 a
Filipino child, Kesz, won the KidsRights International Children’s
Peace Prize for his work with Filipino street children. In support
of Kesz’ work, KidsRight is sponsoring Bahay Tuluyan’s 12 month
project ‘Child to Child Changemakers’ which aims to empower youth
to assist children, especially children on the street.
KidsRights Kangan Institute, Melbourne, Australia, furthered its
partnership with Bahay Tuluyan through sending four student interns
to Bahay Tuluyan during October. The students’ output was very
positive, directly supporting Bahay Tuluyan’s street based and
drop-in services in Manila.
Kangan @ BT
Bahay Tuluyan’s friends in Manila joined its first fundraiser
dinner at Makabata Guesthouse & Cafe on 18 July 2013. The event
was attended by 70 guests, hosted by Bahay Tuluyan youth and raised
P110,000 (approx US$2,500) for our programs and services. Thank
you!
Manila Fundraiser
Ito Supporting Comity
Bahay Tuluyan is happy to announce a new partnership with the
Japan-
based Ito Supporting Comity. Ito Supporting Comity has pledged
to support Bahay Tuluyan’s Social Enterprise
Youth Associateship Program, Sinag Center (emergency and
short-term shelter) and Drop
In Center for 12 months. A signing
ceremony was held on 19 September in Manila,
attend by ISC President Shinrei Ito and entourage.
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New strategic vision +
Bahay Tuluyan’s Board of Trustees and Management Committee
recently met to create its strategic plan for the next four years
(2014 – 2017). Under this plan Bahay Tuluyan aims to expand and
consolidate its work to prevent and respond to the abuse and
exploitation of children. The revised vision, mission and goals for
that strategic plan are: Vision Bahay Tuluyan is committed to
building a world where every child’s rights are respected,
protected and fulfilled. Mission We are a children’s rights
organization working to prevent and respond to abuse and
exploitation of children through the delivery of child-centered
programs and services at the grassroots level and dynamic
collaboration with local and international partners for social
development and change.
Goals 1. At least 90% of children involved in
Bahay Tuluyan programs demonstrate increased resiliency and
decreased vulnerability to abuse and exploitation.
2. At least 75% of adults reached through Bahay Tuluyan’s
programs report that their knowledge and/or skills to protect
children from abuse and exploitation have increased.
3. Bahay Tuluyan is ethical, humane, socially responsible,
culturally-sensitive, and environment-friendly and is able to
self-fund at least 40% of its operational costs.
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Jumpstart Children who have lived on the street or been victims
of abuse and exploitation have very often had interrupted
schooling. Bahay Tuluyan works with children to help them
transition into formal education however this process is often very
difficult. A rigid enrolment process means that children are often
integrated into classes where they are much older than their
classmates. Some16 and 17 year old children who have never been to
school are in grade 1 and 2 where they are 8 – 10 years older than
their classmates. To help these children catch up Bahay Tuluyan has
just launched a pilot ‘Jumpstart’ program where targeted children
will receive intensive support to help improve their educational
outcomes. This pilot project will initially focus on 6 children and
is being generously supported by Glenda McNaught.
Get Involved!
Bahay Tuluyan 2218 Leveriza St, Malate, Manila, 1004,
Philippines www.bahaytuluyan.org / [email protected] / 02 254
0213
Volunteer
Donate
Advocate
Bahay Tuluyan is always looking for enthusiastic volunteers.
Email us to apply.
We welcome your financial or in-kind donations. Donate online,
by check to ‘Bahay Tuluyan’ or by bank deposit:
Get involved in raising awareness about issues affecting
children. Email us to find out more.
Bank%of%the%Philippine%Islands%Harrison%Plaza%branch%Account:%Bahay%Tuluyan%%Account%no:%004943049276%(Savings)%SWIFT%Code:%BOPIPHMM%
Did you know?
Every week Bahay Tuluyan, through its 24 employees:
SERVES more than 2000 meals to children
SHELTERS around 80 children
INVOLVES more than 400 children in its
Drop In Center
