CHILDREN'S EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM [updated Sept. 22.2008]

ARCSEA's Children's Empowerment Program looks on children as equal citizens with rights and responsibilities. It works towards changing society's views on children as being the most invisible, weak and vulnerable members of societies. This is the primary program that facilitates the realization of ARCSEA's mission as a non-profit, non-government organization that systematically promotes children's rights and works towards increased children's participation in social transformation in Southeast Asia.

ARCSEA believes that children are important resources of the society and as social actors, they have the power as rights-holders to participate in changing the various socio-cultural, political and economic conditions, programs and policies; challenge political structures and redress the imbalance of power that affects, victimize and oppress children as human beings.

To enable this to happen constructively and effectively, ARCSEA will work with grassroots people's organizations and institutions supporting children, and with children's organizations and groups to increase their participation by providing three essential elements of empowerment:
o An organization or venue for collective social action
o Access to and use of relevant information
o Access to resources (structural, material, human and financial)

PROJECTS
Expressing Children's Voices through the Arts

ARCSEA sees the arts - Theater, Literary, Music, Dance & Body Movements, as well as Visual Arts - as effective venues for children from marginalized sectors to express their views on socially relevant issues. Funded by Art Venture (Singapore), ARCSEA partners with Ugatlahi, a group of community-based artists, Gabriela-Muntinlupa and Samakana. Photographs of the Summer Visual Arts Training Camp held at the Boso-Boso Highlands Resort and Convention Center in Antipolo can be viewed at the Photo Gallery of ARCSEA's website.

Kaya Natin 'To Kids! (Yes We Can, Kids!)

This is a child abuse prevention project through radio broadcasting. Seventy (70) children from 7 urban poor communities and children's organizations compose the first batch of participants as radio drama talents, script writers, program anchors, news reporters, or support group facilitators in their communities. Funded by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, this project is a partnership between ARCSEA and Samakana, Samahan ng Maagang Pagkatuto ng Bata, Salinlahi Alliance for Children's Concerns and KODAO Productions. The program is aired every Saturday, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm, over DWIZ 882 AM. Internet access through audio streaming is possible by clicking on the LISTEN ICON on ARCSEA's homepage (www.childrightssea.org).


Philippine General Hospital Human Milkbank

The UP-PGHMC is a busy tertiary hospital with a perinatology (high-risk obstetrics) service. In fiscal year 2001, there were 8,416 live births in the hospital, approximately 10-15% of whom were premature. One hundred thirteen (113) in every 1000 live births were critically ill. Currently, mothers who deliver at the UP-PGHMC come from the urban poor communities in Manila and other cities and municipalities of the national capital region or Metro Manila as well as outlying provinces. They are discharged around 24-48 hours after delivery. Mothers whose newborns are considered critically ill are not able to visit and breast feed their critically ill babies who are brought to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

The low birth weight preterm infants who usually stay for about 71 days at UP-PGHMC is also sporadically visited by their mothers.

The establishment of a human milk bank in UP-PGHMC fills an urgent need to provide human milk in service of needy neonates and infants and to develop a heightened awareness for breastfeeding as a baby's right to health and human milk as a life-saving and life-enhancing fluid. The human milk bank will process, pasteurize and store human milk that can be utilized by high-risk newborns and infants.



Breast Feeding Advocacy through Lactation Support Groups

16,000 infant deaths a year are attributed to non-breastfeeding. The biggest factor in the declining rate of breastfeeding, is the unabated and indiscriminate targeting of pregnant and lactating mothers by advertisements of milk companies that promote breast milk substitutes. While the Milk Code requires ads to include a standard message that "breast milk is best for babies," this comprises only a second or two of the usual 4-5 minutes long ad. By the time the mother sees the "breast milk is best for babies" message, direct and subliminal messages have combined to work effectively and convince her that "bottle-feeding might be more convenient and beneficial after all." Or, in the case of urban poor women, they are led to believe that because of their poor nutrition, their breast milk supply is also of poor quality.

Clearly, while some efforts have been undertaken, much more need to be done, as we are battling with an all-time low national average breastfeeding rate of 16%. This means an estimated 17 Million women need to be convinced to breastfeed their babies exclusively for the first six (6) months of life. Majority of these women are to be found in urban poor communities, and actually cannot afford to sustain the daily cost of infant formula milk. So, after the damage has been done by advertisements of artificial infant formula to the mother's sense of valuation of breast milk, mothers resort to cost-saving measures on artificial infant formula such as…. drastically diluting the mixture to stretch the time between purchase of powdered milk, introducing alternative milk sources such as evaporated canned milk or condensed milk, or even making their baby drink coffee or "am" (water taken from boiling rice). No wonder that many very young infants of urban poor households easily become malnourished even while at the age of exclusive breastfeeding (age 0 to 6 months).

A key component of the community-based breastfeeding promotion system is the training of lactation support counselors in each target barangay. In the target barangays, there is a need to build a broad constituency of breastfeeding advocates composed of mothers in urban poor communities themselves. To address this alarming situation, ARCSEA, in partnership with organizations of women in urban poor communities, proposes to undertake a project entitled "Strengthening the Lactation Support Program in Urban Poor Communities." The project aims to develop a training program to build the knowledge, skills and attitudes of community health volunteers as lactation support counselors at the community level.

Funded by the Spouses of Heads of Mission Foundation, the project is currently being implemented in Barangay 101, Vitas, Tondo in partnership with Samakana.

Indigenous Community of Dumagats

The first six years of life is the most critical stage of growth and development. At this age, the human brain develops 90% of its weight, the remaining 10% being gained in the next ten years. Fifty percent (50%) of the growth of the human body occurs in the first six years of life, two-thirds (2/3) of the cognitive ability is formed by the time the child reaches six years old. Learning begins at birth and not at age six or seven when children are usually expected to attend formal school. Thus, environmental support and stimulation are most crucial in these first six years of life.

Investing on our very young population through the strategy of setting up and enhancing day care programs has both its short-term and long-term advantages towards the development of a next generation that is committed to developing the self, the community and the nation to the highest potential. This is highlighted in Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which affirms that education should develop the child's personality and talents to the full. These projects are funded by Unicoop Firenze and ARCI Toscana of Italy.

Towards this end, ARCSEA supports initiatives of people's organizations in grassroots communities.

• Indigenous Community of Manobos
  The partnership with Tri-Farmers Program for Community Development, Inc. or TFPCDI started in 2001. From 5 villages in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato, TFPCDI's program on Early Childhood Care and Development for Manobo children has grown to cover more than 50 communities. Currently, ARCSEA is producing for TFPCDI the Manobo ECCD Workbook to support the parateachers in these communities. The workbook aims to each love and respect for the Manobo culture among the children. It is written in three (3) languages - Filipino, Cebuano and Manobo.

• Indigenous Communities of Manobos
  The partnership with Kasama-Rizal is quite new… it started in 2007. It is initiated with the benefit of bringing to fore the more than five (5) years of ARCSEA's partnership with TFPCDI on ECCD among Manobo communities in North Cotabato. It includes the setting up of a day care center and a spring water reservoir, as well as training parateachers from among the Dumagats.
  
  

• Urban Poor Community of Veterans, Quezon City
  A multipurpose center being constructed to house the Busilak Learning Center for the urban poor children of Sitio Veterans, Quezon City. Its second story level will be used as a library for elementary and high-school children of the community, managed by children from the community who are participants and members of the Samahan ng mga Bata sa Veterans.