Junten Junior High School / Senior High School

Sunday July 3rd, three Junten students attended the JICA forum held at JICA Global Plaza in SHinjuku-ku. The forum is: “Learn, Share and Act! ” and Junten’s ALT teacher Ms.Magono who is from Davao City in The Philippines, took the students to the forum and also wrote a report about the event. 

Ms.Magno’s report in Japanese.

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Japan-Philippine NGO Network Forum:

“The Reality of Children in the Philippines – Learning from former Filipino street children”

 “Learn, Share and Act!”: This was the objective of the forum conducted last July 3, 2016 at JICA Global Plaza in Shinjuku, Japan organized by Japan-Philippines NGO Network in cooperation, ABS-CBN (Phil. TV Network) and Child Labor Network. The forum provided an opportunity for the Japanese young people to learn about the social realities in the Philippines particularly on poor children, to make them realize the need for cooperation in the international community and develop their interest and take action.

Three students from Junten High School attended the said event to know the situation of some children in the Philippines. The said event were participated by three Filipino guest speakers who came all the way from the Philippines to share their experiences as former street children. The speakers are Mr. Jude Natividad, Ms. Marlyn Carpio Richter and Ms. Harriet Escarcha. Below are the profiles of the said speakers.

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Mr. Natividad used to be one of the street children. He says that he found meaning in life by joining Childhope’s street education. He is currently an active leader of the Junior Health and Child Rights Advocate, a youth organization founded and supported by Childhope Asia Philippines, Inc. He actively campaigns for the cause of street children and hopes to help uplift their lives in the future.

Ms. Richter, at present, is working as a social worker at Preda Foundation, Inc., a Filipino CSO which works on helping child victims of sexual exploitation and child prisoners to enable them to develop self-esteem and become independent. She herself was a victim of human trafficking when she was a child.

Ms. Escarcha works for Konkokyo Peace Activity Center Information Office, Inc. (KPACIO) as an office manager. KPACIO mainly assists children, youth and the families of urban poor. She presented the issues faced by children with indigenous roots Mindanao where she herself is from.

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These social leaders from the Philippines are taking action and hoping to make changes in the society and encourage global citizens to lend a hand in carrying the vision to protect the rights of children. During the forum, a number of Japanese students and guests were moved by the speeches given by the three distinguished Filipino speakers. These guest speakers talked about their personal experience as former street children and how such unfortunate reality made them the strong advocates of the abovementioned organizations where they belong. Hearing their narratives made the audience emotional. After the forum, Junten students interviewed some of the speakers and took the chance for group photo inside the hall. It was a productive day for everyone to take part in the forum and most especially to make a step in carrying out the mission of learning, sharing and acting for the benefit of the innocent children.