Donate for Kyle’s Walk of the World/664th day of the disappearance of James Balao?

By this protest email we will informe you as well about an initiative to support  the Hand for an Orphan project of the Children’s Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines. The 14 year old Filipino  Kyle, living with his parents in the Netherlands, walked 2009  3 days in „Kyle’s Walk of the World“ to raise a total of 2,035.00 Euros, supporting 6 orphans with their educational and nutritional needs. These orphans are the children of killed or enforced disappeared activist in the Philippines.

This year, the Stichting voor Filippijnse Kinderen gladly took the task of continuing with this initiative and campaign Sad to say, the human rights situation in the Philippines even got worse than it was in 2008. In 2009 alone, CRC was able to document more than a thousand children who had become victims of various human rights violations (majority of whom were internally displaced), while a minimum of 67 children had been orphaned, 62 of whom are minors. Please inform yourself about the situation and protest as well by a donation against such a policy of the ruling power, The human rights violations in the Philippines continue with impunity. For this year alone (based on data collected from 1 January to 30 September), the Children’s Rehabilitation Center (CRC) has documented 75 children killed and 1001 more children victims of other grave human rights violations. CRC, through its psychosocial help activities, provides individual and group therapy sessions to children and families of victims of human rights violations. Regular home visits and center based activities provide venues for the children to process their trauma, give meaning to their experience by putting in the context of human rights and children’s rights and to become advocate of justice and for children’s rights. As a special program, assistance is given to orphans of killings and enforced disappearances, as well as children of detainees and of organizers who are under threat and thus cannot stay with their families. Support is given in the form of educational assistance or scholarships; nutritional assistance especially for malnourished children, and on a case to case basis, medical assistance for children who need regular medication for chronic illnesses and those needing hospitalization.Differently abled children are also provided with special assistance based on their needs.
Through Kyle’s participation in the 93rd Vierdaagse Nijmegen (21-24 July 2009), a total of 2.035,00 Euros (or PhP 139.437,92) was raised and has provided educational (PhP 3000 each child) and nutritional assistance (PhP 4500 per month each child) to six (6) of these orphans from Septemberto December 2009. Around PhP15.000 has been spent on administrative costs for the home visits done during the same period. The beneficiaries are Sugar and Liza Calubad, Karla and Jonjon Gacatura, and Philip and Karlo Sta.Rosa, orphans of the missing Calubads (father and son), the continuously threatened Gacatura couple, and the murdered Pastor Isaias Sta. Rosa respectively. They are part of the 17 orphans from different communities, currently benefiting from the CRC’s Orphan Support Program. Sugar and Liza Calubad “Sugar” Calubad, 5 years old, was referred to CRC in 2006 (when she was just 3 years old) after her father and grandfather were abducted in June of the same year in Quezon province. Liza Calubad is Sugar’s aunt.In that incident, Sugar’s father (Liza’s brother), an electrician and grandfather (Liza’s father), a peasant organizer (and NDFP consultant) in the province were riding a motorcycle and were about to go to their farm when armed men, alleged members of the military, forcibly abducted them. The following day, Nanay Beth (Liza’s mother and Sugar’s grandmother) went to different military camps in search for her husband and son but the military officials denied the allegation and told them that her husband and son were not in their custody.

The remaining members of the family – Sugar, Liza and Nanay Beth and aunt had to move to Manila, also with the help of the human rights group Karapatan, where their search continued. The family permanently left behind everything, including their source of living. Sugar and Liza went through intensive therapy focusing on the process of the losing and searching. Through this they were regularly visited for counseling and became part of the group therapy activities.
Both Sugar and Liza were provided support equivalent to a sack of rice and groceries for monthly nutritional support. To augment the family’s needs, her grandmother volunteered in different offices and also accepted laundry. Sugar can now only vaguely recall the incident and keeps on saying that her “Papa is just working abroad and soon will go home”. She will be graduating in March 2010 at the top of her Nursery class. Liza, on the other hand, has graduated from CRC’s therapy program already but continues to be a beneficiary of its Orphan support program. She is also CRC’s mass leader and serves as spokesperson for the children in press conferences and rallies. She has clearly articulated not only her experience of trauma but also the demands for justice of other children victims of human rights violations. Karla and Jonjon Gacatura
Jonjon, 10 years old and Karla, 8 years old were referred to CRC for assistance in late 2007. The kids’ parents were peasant organizers in Eastern Visayas at the time when Gen.Jovito Palparan and his men were sowing fear in the Region with consecutive extra-judicial killings of leaders and members of peasant organizations.
Concerned about the safety of their children, the couple decided to place them in the care of Mrs. Gacatura’s father in Metro Manila. Just a few months after the children
left, the couple was forced to transfer residence about 2 times already because of constant harassment by the military. They had not been able to visit their children for more than a year now.

Philip and Karlo Sta. Rosa
Philip, a 10 year old boy, was diagnosed with autism and Karlo, 9 years old, is the youngest child in the Sta. Rosa family. They were orphaned at a very young age when their father, Pastor Isaias of the United Methodist Church, was shot dead last August 3, 2007 in Albay, Bicol. They were much affected by the death of their father and had to adjust every time they had to move from one place to another. The family filed a case against the perpetrators but up until now, justice remains elusive. Philip is now attending a special school while Karlo is in grade 2. Both are doing good in school and are gradually recovering from the trauma of their father’s killing. Although CRC has not visited them
during the last 4 months (because they are in Bicol), regular communications from their mother keep them updated on the children’s conditions and their activities in school.
As 2009 approaches its end, we would like to thank once again all who have, in one way or the other, taken part in the success of this fund raising activity, now fondly dubbed as “Walk with Kyle” by the children of CRC. The Philippine government continues its war against the people who seek genuine change, and families continue to be disempowered and disintegrated by killings, enforced disappearances, detention and grave threats. With your support, CRC will strive to sustain and maintain its Orphan
Support Program to ensure that the needs of children of victims of human rights violations are responded to comprehensively. Having this in mind, Kyle committed to participate again in next year’s Vierdaagse Walk and would like to call on other children to join him to gather more sponsors again for the benefit of the CRC’s
Orphan Support Program. Fund raising efforts in relation to next year’s walk (20-23 July 2010) will be coordinated by the Stichting voor Filippijnse Kinderen, of course, still with the support of the Netherlands-Filipino Solidarity Association (NFS).

Written by: Angie M. Gonzales (Chairperson, Stichting voor Filippijnse Kinderen), based on the submitted report of Esmeralda dela Paz (Executive Director, Children’s Rehabilitation Center); 15 December 2009