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Museo Pambata
Roxas Boulevard corner South Drive
Manila, Philippines 1000
Telephone: (632) 523.1797 to 98, 536-0595
Facsimile: (632) 522.1246
Mobile: 0918-382-2212
Email: info@museopambata.org

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rights of the child

An outstanding activity held in the Karapatan Hall, an area in the museum dedicated to children's rights, is the Rights of the Child Awareness Tournament in 1995. It was followed by Mag-ROCK Tayo! (Rights Of the Child Kontest) in 2001-2002. In cooperation with the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), Plan International, UNICEF, Department of Social Welfare and Development, (DSWD), Department of Education (DepEd), and the Manila City Schools, these projects familiarized children with their basic rights as stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

literacy

Former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza's representative Pia Sacro (third form left) symbolically receives the keys of the Mobile Library van from MP's Noreen Parafina with Nina Yuson and Ford Foundation's David Chiel.

Started in 1995, the Mobile Library Program is a reading campaign for the economically disadvantaged children and out-of-school youth of Manila. It aims to impart the value of reading to children through storytelling and book-lending sessions. Six years later, the Mobile Library van was inaugurated through a grant from Ford Foundation Philippines. It is a six-wheeler roving library with over 3,000 children's books and other learning aids for the benefit of the children of Manila and neighboring cities.

In line with the Centennial celebration in 1998, Museo Pambata launched Aklat: Karapatan at Kapangyarihan para sa Kabataan (The Book: The Right and Empowerment of the Youth) or Aklat: KKK. It had two components: the outreach and the in-house programs. Four mini-libraries were turned over to the Manila barangays as part of the outreach component, while storytelling sessions became regular Friday and Saturday activities at the Museo Pambata Library and Resource Center.

In 1999, the Office of Manila Mayor Lito Atienza and Museo Pambata launched Sa Aklat, Sisikat!, a Manila-wide literacy campaign to promote the habit of reading among children in the Manila public schools. This innovative pilot campaign addressed the alarming decline in reading abilities and literacy rate in the country, particularly among public schoolchildren.

health awareness program

These girls learned how to brush their teeth properly in a dental demonstration held at the museum as part of its Health Awareness Program.

The Health Awareness Program was a joint effort of Museo Pambata and the Department of Health to equip young Filipinos with the proper knowledge and attitudes regarding their health and well-being. Issues addressed in this program include sexuality; reproductive health; prevention of physical and sexual abuse among children and youth; Sexually Transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS; responsible parenthood; proper nutrition; prevention and proper handling of common illnesses and communicable diseases; healthy habits; prevention of smoking and substance abuse; first aid and basic life support; and other issues affecting the health of our youth. Storytelling, interactive discussions, games, demonstrations and other creative methods made these subjects interesting to children.

 

children's advocacy program

Museo Pambata's child advocates with Executive Director Maricel Montero

The Children's Advocacy Program or CAP is an alternative educational program that aims to help children understand and appreciate their roles in their families, schools, communities, and in society. It uses the child-to-child approach wherein children advocates serve as mentors who help inspire other disadvantaged Filipino children through outreach activities in schools and communities. Children advocates are chosen from various street children centers and disadvantaged communities and are exposed to workshops, field trips and film showings to enhance their awareness on identity, nation-building, rights and values formation. CAP is a venue for children to learn how to formulate ideas and speak their minds on issues affecting them.

training/workshops for children

Invited artists conduct workshops for the Museo Pambata's young visitors throughout the year. The museum's tour guides also serve as art instructors and conduct art, craft and cooking demonstrations as well as storytelling sessions and simple science experiments.

 

Every summer, children enroll in Art's Cool, workshops that hone their talents and skills in the different arts such as painting, crafts, writing, theater, pottery, cooking, etc. By providing an atmosphere of fun and encouragement where children can learn and express themselves through their chosen art, Museo Pambata has become a popular venue for children's workshops.

 

Breaking Barriers: Building Peace and Love for Country was a two-day workshop for second year high school students and their values education teachers aimed at instilling a culture of peace and national pride among young Filipinos. It was held in Manila, Lucena, Legaspi, Tacloban, Cebu, Bacolod, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga.

A Children's Arts Festival was held at Malate's Remedios Circle, a plaza frequented by numerous streetchildren in Manila, on September 2003. The festival was the grand culminating activity for the participants of "Empowering Children Through the Arts," a joint project of the Museo Pambata and Levi Strauss Foundation. The project offered free art workshops to 110 underprivileged but talented children from welfare centers and marginalized areas in Manila. It aimed to develop these aspiring artists as workshop facilitators in community activities. Classes in arts and crafts, ethnic music and movement, shadow puppetry, and basic drawing and painting were held in the different areas of the museum beginning April until July. During the festival, art workshops, storytelling sessions, puppet and magic shows and a live musical program was held for hundreds of children in the immediate community.