Stairway kids' drawings selected for book about children's rights

Stairway kids (l-r): Marc (13), Ismael (13) and Rey (14)

February 2011

The right to freedom of expression - Article 13, UNCRC

Last November 20, 2010 marked the 21st anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. To mark this important document, Bahay Tuluyan and Pilak, NGOs in Manila working with marginalized children, invited children from all over the Philippines to contribute to a commemorative book about 'what children's rights mean for Filipino children.' They could express their ideas about children's rights and what they mean to them through poetry, song, short story, painting or drawing.

Three entries from Stairway Foundation were amongst the final selection of artworks that were published in a book. The book was presented to President Aquino and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Congratulations, Mark, Ismael, and Rey!

Click here to view their entries

A long way from the streets of Manila

January 2011

A long way from the streets of Manila, a former street child and former client of Stairway returned to give an inspirational talk to those in residence.

Last January, we had a visit from a young man, Samuel Galam, 23, who was a former client of Stairway. Samuel was taken into foster care by a local teacher and her family. Becoming an integrated member of his foster Filipino family, and with financial assistance from a family in Denmark, Samuel continued his studies, graduated from high school and went on to study marine engineering at a local vocational school in Calapan. Upon completion of his studies, Samuel was hired on a ship and has traveled extensively to many ports around the world. Home for a short vacation, we invited Samuel to give an inspirational talk about his life to the children in residence. It was a very positive and enlightening experience to hear from one who had been there. Samuel is definitely a long way from the streets of Manila!

Stairway launches Child Friendly Spaces project

The Child Friendly Spaces project January 2011

For the past 6 years, Stairway has been into active collaboration with the Philippine National Police through several joint activities aiming to assist the PNP towards being more responsive to the plight of children victims.

The Child Friendly Spaces project was officially launched January 5, 2011 at the National Capital Region Headquarters in the presence of most of the directors of the Metro Manila police districts. The project aims to transform a number of police stations in Metro Manila in order to provide children and women victims a more conducive space to facilitate proper disclosures. This entails redesigning rooms and providing materials such as toys, books, crayons, etc.

Click here to view images

Python versus Cobra

Just days before the New Year rolled in, Stairway kids and staff witnessed an amazing natural phenomenon in Stairway--a Philippine cobra locked in a stranglehold by a python. The Philippine cobra is the world's deadliest snake. They are found on Luzon, Mindoro, Catanduanes and Masbate islands. Its average length is 1,70 m. Populations from Mindoro Island are known to be up to 2 Meter in length (Lutz, M., 2006). Its color is light to medium brown while the young cobra's color is a darker brown.
The venom is a neurotoxin which affects cardiac and respiratory function and can cause neurotoxicity and respiratory paralysis and death in thirty minutes. The bite causes only minimal tissue damage. The Philippine cobra is capable of spitting their venom up to three meters.

Deadly snakes, forced out of their nests by flood waters, have become a serious threat in some areas in the Philippines.

The Philippine Cobra is called "ulupong" in Tagalog.

Click here to watch video.

To learn more about the Philippine cobra click here.

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!

Click here to view images of One Wish.

Click here to read the holiday letter.

New stage lights help to set the mood for the holiday season

After nearly twenty years of working with makeshift lighting, last Dec. 15-17, a brand new lighting system was installed in Stairway’s theatre. Just in time for the New Year, the new stage lights will undoubtedly add a new dimension to our efforts in using the performance and visual arts as a vehicle for promoting children’s rights as well as a tool for transforming the lives of marginalized children and youth.

Children’s rights… at the heart of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

GLIM As a Bajao student from Pampanga beats out a rhythmic tune on his home made drum, he sings about living life under a bridge. One can only marvel at the beauty and the potential that every child possesses. Last December 7-10, staff and students from God’s Love Indigenous Ministry (GLIM) and the International School Manila (ISM), convened in Stairway to join up with Stairway kids and staff for yet another Youth for Change Camp. This year’s theme focused on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and how children’s rights are central to achieving all development goals. Over the two full days, the young people engaged in various sports and creative activities. The camp concluded with an ads campaign to create awareness to the MDGs. It was fitting that the camp concluded on Dec. 10-Human Rights Day.

Click to view images

Human Rights & Sex Trafficking: A Film Forum

RLF Red Leaves Falling was amongst the handful of select films chosen to be screened at the Human Rights & Sex Trafficking film Forum last December 2-5, 2010. The four day forum was hosted by the Boston Initiative to Advance Human Rights at The Brattle Theatre & Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, MA. The Film Forum explored the power of film in effectuating a movement to combat commercial sexual exploitation and modern-day slavery.

Co-sponsors of the festival included Amnesty International USA, Documentary Educational Resources, and the Harvard Kennedy School Carr Center for Human Rights Policy.

Sea turtle eggs relocated

Sea turtle eggs Did you know that it takes decades for a sea turtle to reach sexual maturity? And that after mating at sea, adult female sea turtles generally return to the same beaches where they were hatched to lay eggs? In the ebb of a December night, a female sea turtle hauled herself onto our local beach to find a suitable place to create a nest. Just at the mouth of a culvert that discharges waste water, she deposited around 100 eggs. Stairway contacted the Puerto Galera Department of Environment and Natural Resources. They came out, dug up the eggs and relocated them to a fenced nursery, which Stairway built, to protect them.

Hopefully, in about six weeks to two months (depending on the species of sea turtle) the tiny hatchlings will surface and make their way back to the ocean where they will grow to full maturity. A life span of 80 years is feasible for sea turtles. Following the relocation of the sea turtle eggs, The Department of Environment and Natural Resources gave a half day talk to the Stairway kids and staff about sea turtles and the environment.

To learn more about sea turtles click on the following link:

www.seeturtles.org/1/home.html

Stairway’s second guest house under construction

New Guest House It has been two years since Stairway opened the Yellow Guest House to host guests within Stairway. As programs and trainings expand, so does the need to increase our capacity to host participants for camps, trainings and workshops. In November, we started construction of a new dormitory which will be ready to house children and youth from Denmark, Singapore and Mindoro by early February 2011.