Promotion of children’s rights through advocacy, early childhood and basic education in the communities and two (2)shelters with 24-hour services for children in street situation and center for victims and survivors of child trafficking.
A. AKAY KALINGA CENTER
Akay Kalinga is a residential facility for street children where it provides an alternative home for children who seek refuge after hard work day’s work on the street. Akay Kalinga Center means “to guide and care” of the children on the street and community and duly registered with the Department of Social Welfare and Development as Community-Based with Residential Facility Agency (DSWD-SB-A-0046-2019).
Since its’ inception in 1998, the center provides 24-hours shelter where they can enjoy the amenities like bathing, dining and sleeping facilities. Most of these children are working as vendors, barker of public utility vehicles, taking care of cars and motorcycles on the parking areas, doing odd jobs at the port area and children engaging on begging.
Part of the center’s thrust is molding the minds and potentials of children, by allowing them to participate on various activities and enable them to gain skills, knowledge and good attitudes on the rights of the child as basis for the continued promotion and fulfillment of their rights. Child-led organization is instituted to promote child participation. It also envisions to encourage more children to exercise their rights and enable themselves to be an instrument to create a safe environment for children.
To date, the center can accommodate 25 to 30 children.
PROGRAMS and SERVICES
1. Psycho-social Support and Care
The center’s facility is a 24 hours shelter for children who seek shelter after a hard days’ work on the street. It provides nutritional supplemental feeding trice a day and other basic need such as health care, personal grooming, sports and recreational activities. In addition, there are also Para-legal services, psychological counseling for children and parents, and conducting case studies.
2. Education Component
a. Formal education – This program provides educational assistance to deserving children who signify their interest to enter formal schooling. For the center, it is a challenge to send more children to attend regular school and ensures that they acquire excellent learning and facilitate good attitudes towards studies.
b. Center- based instruction is literacy and short-term skill-based program aims to helping the street obtain practical competencies, as well as instilling values and attitudes needed for responsible and productive leaving. It is also venue for the children to acquire basic literacy as preparatory for those who signify to enter formal school.
c. Street based education (Street Education) is a street based alternative learning for children who seldom go to the center. It undertakes various activities to facilitate good learning and ensure that they will be protected from any atrocities in the street.
3. Socio- Economic Component
The older children are trained in vocation skills. Lectures are conducted on simple micro-economic entrepreneurship. The children are supervised to engage in income generating projects. Assistance is extended on marketing and distribution of products. They are also helped in identifying places for work. Placements in establishments and other business units for employable children are facilitated. In this, special concern is given to their right against exploitative child labor.
B. TANGLAW BUHAY CENTER
DSWD accredited as Residential-Based facility (DSWD-SB-A-2002-2018).A 24-hour shelter with comprehensive programs and services. Specifically, the programed directly addressed the issue of providing a safe shelter exclusively for children victims of human trafficking with restoration programs and services for their fast recovery and rehabilitation preventing them to be further abused or exploited.
For more than 11 years, the center has served 376 children victims of human trafficking who are coming from different parts of Mindanao, Luzon and Visayas. Most of them where referred by the our partners like the Zamboanga City Social Welfare and Development Office, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Women and Children Protection Desk and Center as well as barangay officials.
PROGRAMS and SERVICES
1. Prevention: Children, families and communities are more proactive in protecting children from trafficking. Through the participation of children, youth and community people in school and community education sessions on child trafficking including reducing the demand for commercial sex acts, child sex tourism and online child sexual exploitation and child labour; they will become more aware of the issue and knowledgeable on how to identify and report possible cases in their own schools and communities.
2. Provision: Rescued children have protected from further harm, provided social services support, and equipped to protect themselves from any abuse. Through the provision of comprehensive, child-sensitive and empowering services to survivors, including emergency and referral services, they will be able to protect themselves from further trafficking and have better options in life. This services includes the provision of a 24-hour shelter, psycho-social intervention, education services (formal and non-formal) , community and family reintegration services and independent living.
3. Prosecution: Survivors of child trafficking gain access to justice for their victimization. By assisting survivors of child trafficking in the filing of cases in court, the project is able to ensure that victims are able to access justice for their experience of exploitation. There will also be empowerment activities for children victims such as Court Awareness Program aimed at strengthening the resolve of the victims to prepare them in pursuing their cases in court. Case consultations with legal stakeholders will also be conducted to support and remove the barriers that hamper, delay or cause irregularities in court proceedings.
Advocacy Work – plays essential role in KKI’s work on children. It engages with the influential sectors of society and encouraged to show genuine concern towards the condition of the street children and victims and survivors of trafficking. Awareness, understanding and active support and cooperation are elicited from the policy makers, government organization, civic and religious groups, mass media and the academic institutions. lobbying, intensified information dissemination and conducting seminars on the rights of children on existing laws and international declarations for the care and protection of children are some of the activities.
The presence of the shelter has given KKI the confidence and credibility to do the advocacy work within the locality especially on children. It focuses on the Strengthening of Child Protection Mechanism cum Positive Discipline, Anti-Child Trafficking and Rights of the Child with duty bearers and rights holders. This also creates mechanism to address the Peace Issues and violence in the communities to proactively address the problems with appropriate actions.
KKI is a member organization of Child Rights Network (CRN), Mindanao Action Group for Child Rights and Protection (MAGCRP), Mindanao Children Peace Project (MCPP), Philippine Against Child Trafficking (PACT), Mindanao Coalition of Development NGO Networks (MINCODE), Kahugpungansa Mindanao Inc. (KAMI), Kalitawhan Network, Local Council for the Protection of Children (LCPC), Children’s Rights Coalition Asia and Area Based Standard Networking (ABSNET).