By Gigo Alampay | Executive Director, CANVAS
We're very proud of our latest children's book: "Karapat Dapat", an original activity book for children based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children.
We've started giving them away, and one of our partners, The Tiny Library Project, was the first to send us a report from the field.
"The Atis of Panay have long sealed their place in folk history. According to legend, ten Bornean chieftains fled their tyrannical ruler and after days at sea chanced upon an area suitable for settlement in the island of Panay. They purchased it from the Atis, the aboriginal tribe, in exchange for a golden hat and jewelries. This deal became popularly known as the Barter of Panay, a story debunked my some as pure myth; however, the narrative of the town of Hamtic, the site of the first Malay settlement, is never complete without this enduring lore. This is our proud past. Moving fast forward to the present, a surviving community of Atis is found in Tina, or Barangay Gen. Fullon officially, which is approximately a 12-kilometer drive along the highway from the town center of Hamtic. Another two kilometers of dirt road mountainward which is easily accessible by motor vehicles during dry days brings you to the heart of this community.
To facilitate an orderly distribution, students were asked to line up according to grade levels. After receiving their copies, most students immediately opened their books. Majority of them never owned a book prior to this. The teachers appreciated the choice of title granted to them, saying that they do talk about the rights of children in class.
According to our team members assigned to hand the books, the very look on the children’s faces revealed excitement and curiosity while patiently and obediently staying in line under the morning sun. Many were hesitant to drop their books when asked to wave to the camera, wary of letting go of the first book they ever owned in their young lives. Experiences such as this strengthen our resolve to use any means possible to bring reading materials to the hands of children in remote areas in the country.
The United Nations reports that indigenous peoples continue to face serious abuses, violence, forced assimilation, or discrimination. In this light, we consider it a rare privilege to bring to this far-flung community United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) through Karapat Dapat and to fulfill Article 42 which states that adults should help children learn about their rights. In educating this young generation of Atis about their rights, we hope to see an informed and empowered indigenous group. This is the future we wish to shape."
We would like to thank the good folks of the Tiny Library Project for their partnership and assistance in helping to bring our books into the hands of the children who need them most.
And we'd like to thank all of you for your continuing generosity and support which helps to make all these possible.
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