By Rene V. Caayas
ISABELA CITY, Basilan –
Selected young people from Basilan and Zamboanga converged at Tairan, Lantawan
municipality in Basilan recently and engaged in various art workshops to
express their aspiration for peace in the region.
Miriam L. Suacito, Executive Director of
Nagdilaab Foundation said that the regional youth peace camp was conceived to
showcase young people’s potential to promote peace by channeling their energies
to meaningful activities, especially in the arts.
“They (youth) are the future. They easily
absorb whatever we teach them. And they are also the most vulnerable sector in
the community. If not given proper guidance, they may go astray,” Suacito explained.
She added that young people, with their
innocent minds are aware about the challenges they are facing.
“Addiction (substance abuse) is one major
problem that they have identified aside from concerns on terrorism, kidnapping,
and poverty,” she noted.
“If we see these (issues and realities) at
the same perspective, with proper guidance, in three years’ time, we hope that
peace, understanding, and development will happen in this part of the region,”
she added.
The four-day youth peace camp have engaged
some 100 youths to learn the basics in art making and production, and use the
art forms in expressing their aspirations for lasting peace and development in
the region either through music, dance, visual arts, theater, and “origami”.
Moreover, organizers chose Tairan as an
advocacy showcasing the positive side of Basilan, where first time visitors
would be amazed by how a small community/barangay was able to implement “hard
structures like concrete roads, DSWD and ZOPAD projects, among others that display
the principles of good governance.”
“This is an advocacy, too, about the
situation in Basilan in contrast to what is being depicted in the news,”
Suacito said.
Suacito was grateful for the collaborative
effort of three non-government organizations behind the Zamboanga Basilan
Integrated Development Alliance (ZABIDA) project, namely the Katingban sa
Kalambuan, Inc., Peace Advocates Zamboanga, and WMSU ROOF. She said the project
was funded by Agencia Español and Manos Unidas.
The camp was also made possible through the
support of the barangay officials of Tairan, Lantawan LGU, Team Basilan, and
the Department of Education. (PIA9)