In commemoration of Peace Month this September 2021, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) features the stories of children and their families affected by the conflict in SPMS Box (Shariff Aguak, Pagatin, Mamasapano, and Shariff Saydona) towns in March 2021, and how UNICEF, through its Mindanao Field Office, helped them.
UNICEF recognizes armed conflict as a grievous assault on child rights. Children are affected by armed violence in different ways as they can be recruited as child soldiers, killed, injured and be deprived of access to basic services, including education and healthcare. Children living in conflict areas in the Philippines are among the most vulnerable.
Through the Tent of Hope in Maguindanao, an exclusive feature for BusinessMirror, we would like to share the story of child evacuees and their families like Sophia Abdulgani who has found the support for their well-being through the Child-Friendly Space (CFS) despite the ongoing conflict in Maguindanao province.
Tent of hope in Maguindanao
With the help of a Child-Friendly Space, a girl copes with life in evacuation center
Sophia Abdulgani, an evacuee, goes to UNICEF’s Child-Friendly Space every day to play and learn with the other children. UNICEF/Louie Pacardo
Sophia Abdulgani, 9, has been living in an evacuation center for almost two months, and her life is more difficult than usual, but she has something to look forward to every morning. “I like going to the tent,” she says, referring to the Child-Friendly Space (CFS) near the makeshift homes of the evacuees, behind the public market of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province.
Established by UNICEF and its implementing partner, Community and Family Services International (CFSI), the CFS caters to children affected by the ongoing conflict between government forces and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
“With the other children, I learn, play and sing in the tent,” says Sophia, adding that singing is her favorite activity. The CFS, about 4 meters wide and 12 meters long, is covered on all sides with white tarpaulin. Even the floor is covered, so children could run barefoot, sit and crawl inside.
“Through CFSs, we aim to support the resilience and well-being of children and young people through community-organized, structured activities conducted in a safe, child-friendly and stimulating environment,” says Sitti Vilma Quin, UNICEF child protection officer. “These activities facilitate restoration of normalcy and certainty in the lives of the children.”
“CFSs also serve as a venue to reach children and provide for multi-sectoral interventions such as protection, nutrition, health, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH),” Quin adds. “We learned how to wash our hands and how to throw our garbage properly,” says Sophia.
Meriam Acob, CFSI project coordinator, says that Sophia is one of the more or less 160 children enrolled in the CFS near the public market of Datu Saudi Ampatuan. “The number of enrollees change every now and then because some families go back to their homes whenever the armed conflict subsides,” Acob explains. According to the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, the evacuation center sheltered 669 households at the height of the conflict.
“We conduct two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon,” Acob adds. “We cater to 40 to 45 children per session. The tent can accommodate more, but we have to observe social distancing due to the pandemic.”
Quin shares that CFSs also serve children displaced by natural calamities, such as floods and earthquakes. “UNICEF has established 18 CFSs in Maguindanao, and currently, 3,333 children are enrolled in them,” she says.
A displaced family
Sophia and her family fled Kitango, a village about three kilometers away from the evacuation center, on March 18. “We heard gunfire, so we left in a hurry on my father’s tricycle,” she recounts. “The families with young children were the first to leave.”
Sophia is the eldest of four siblings. Her father, 31-year-old Mojahid Abdulgani, drives a tricycle owned by another person. “We split the income,” he says. Both men have almost nothing to split these days. Mojahid can’t look for passengers because the tricycle has a problem with its chains, and they don’t have enough money to have it fixed.
The Abdulgani family now relies on the small store tended by Sophia’s mother, 27-year-old Hassana Kindatu. “We also had something like this back in Kitango,” says Hassana. The few goods that she is selling, mostly food, are laid on a makeshift counter and hung from the roof.
She is thankful that she doesn’t have to watch over her children all the time. Fairah, 8, and Hassan, 6, often go with Sophia to the CFS. “Sometimes I go with them and take Hanin with me,” Hassana adds, referring to her 3-year-old child, the youngest of the siblings. Parents are allowed to join the children in the CFS.
CFS volunteer
Norhaiya Abubakar, 28, is one of the volunteers who facilitate psychosocial support sessions in the CFS. She is an evacuee and comes from Kitango herself. “I was selected because I studied education in college,” she shares. “The CFS is similar to a regular classroom in many ways.”
The CFS started operating on April 7, and Abubakar joined the group of volunteers on April 19, after undergoing a two-day seminar conducted by UNICEF and CFSI. The children call her “Ate” (Big Sister).
“I’m happy to be of help to the children,” says Abubakar, also sharing that she did not have such an opportunity before when she was still a child. “When I was 8 or 9, we also had to flee the village. We stayed in a relative’s place. I did not receive the kind of support that I now give to the children here in the CFS.”
Sophia enjoys the activities in the CFS, so much so that she prefers it to the regular school that she used to go to. “It’s more fun here,” she says. But she wants to go back to normal life. “I hope we could go home soon,” she says, tearing up. Standing beside the child, Abubakar puts her hand on Sophia’s back.