Tarlac
Many of us may not have needed to walk kilometers to get to school, but many of these children do. Talk about a burning desire to learn!
The children face many hurdles to their education — the distance they must travel, the pressure to work to help their impoverished families, and even when already at school, the teachers tell us that they sometimes hear the sound of bombs going off because of the military exercises taking place in the area. So each day they show up at school is a small victory. Sometimes, free food and snacks serve as a motivation for the children to go to school — as there is sadly little to eat at home.
On February 26, 2019, CANVAS, in partnership with the Provincial Human Rights Office of Tarlac, and with generous support from the Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corporation (MIESCOR), gave away 220 books to the Aeta children of Sta. Juliana Elementary School in Capas, Tarlac.
Their school is inside a military base, and their area is where the New Clark City is targeted to rise.
We were so happy to have Ms. Pia Montalban, the community coordinator of Capas (and a provincial CHR officer of Central Luzon) participate in this book-giving event as she read out pages of Karapat Dapat to the children and discussed some of their rights with them in more detail.
In a time when human rights are seen more as a nuisance than an intrinsic value, it becomes even more important to stand for them — be they the rights of adults or children.
