Children-evacuees see life positively despite “war” experience

By Jocelyn P. Alvarez

ZAMBOANGA CITY - Children –evacuees from a recent armed conflict here who are still housed in various evacuation centers still see life positively as they expressed their thoughts and ideas through art.

These children shared joy and laughter as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-9 recently celebrated the Children’s month.

To ease life a bit, DSWD conducted fun filled activities by showcasing creativity of the children. Anchored on the theme, “Kahirapan ay Wakasan, Karapatan ng Bata ay Ipaglaban”, each evacuation center sent in their respective representatives /contestants for categories 3-5, 6-12 and 13-17 years old for the Draw and Tell contest wherein each participant was given 30 minutes to draw and explain their interpretation of the theme.

The children showed their creativity and fluency in the contest. Each piece depicted their experiences during the “Zamboanga conflict” and their views to overcome such a crisis.

The draw and tell output from children-evacuees was impressive because they still foresee their lives positively in the years to come.

For category 3-5 years old , Yolly Alejo from the grandstand evacuation ranked 3^rd place, Richard Repolon ranked 2^nd from Tetuan Central School Evacuation Center while Arwina Wahid from Baliwan Central School Evacuation Center bagged the 1^st place.

For category 6-12 years old, Jeralyn Castro from Sta. Maria Elementary School Evacuation finished as 3^rd placer while Kezrie Hayudini a student representative from East Central School ranked 2^nd and Ferdinand Abdurahman from West High School evacuation center emerged as 1^st placer.

For the 7-17 years old category, Shiela Mae Flores from Tetuan Central School evacuation center landed on the 3^rd place, Joshua Nationales from Sta. Maria Evacuation ranked 2^nd and Bash Idlasan from West High School evacuation got 1^st place. (FPG/JLE/DSWD/ JPA-PIA9)