Partner institutions from the Philippines and Malaysia have come together to help bring a brighter future for the children victimized by the siege of Marawi City.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Mindanao State University (MSU) have joined forces with the Embassy of Malaysia in Manila and Kuala Lumpur-based Big Bad Wolf Books to help mainstream the education of children in Marawi City’s torils (madrasahs), Islamic non-formal learning institutions with stay- in learners who are mostly orphans and other survivors of the Marawi Siege. An estimated 20,000 children have been affected by the siege.
“One of DSWD’s major mandates is take care of the children, their social protection and welfare,” said Fatima Aliah Q. Dimaporo, DSWD Undersecretary for Legal Affairs. “Because many died in the siege, many children who were orphaned or whose families were rendered destitute have found refuge in torils.”
Also present during the turn-over are (from left to right) Dr. Abdulcader M. Ayo, Dean of King Faisal Center for Islamic, Arabic and Asian Studies, MSU Main Campus, Marawi City; Atty. Rashid Pandi, Director of the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Office of the President-MSU Marawi; Mr. Andrew Yap, Co-Founder of Big Bad Wolf Books; Ambassador of Malaysia to the Philippines H.E. Dato’ Abdul Malik Melvin Castelino; and Ms. Carolyn Chuaying, Managing Partner of Big Bad Wolf Books Philippines.
However, she noted that while the children in torils were learning Arabic and the Qur’an, they faced an uncertain future in aspiring for higher education and employment since they didn’t know how to speak English (the medium of instruction in mainstream colleges and universities) and employment is scarce for teachers of Arabic and the Qur’an.
“When we went to the torils, we realized a lot of them don’t speak or read English, and that is problematic for the future. So it’s hard for them to find employment because of the limited jobs available for Arabic or Quran teachers. However, the teachers and students we interviewed are open to learning western/mainstream education with the understanding it can widen their employment opportunities,” she said.
Tasked by DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian to assess how the agency can help alleviate the children’s plight, Usec. Aliah pitched to replicate Sec. Gatchalian’s Tara, Basa! Program in the torils of Marawi.
Tara, Basa! is an innovative collaboration between the DSWD and Department of Education (DepEd) that seeks to help and assist college students from low-income families by having them tutor struggling or non-reader grade school learners who are vulnerable, at risk.
The proposed Tara, Basa! Program for the torils of Marawi is a component of the government’s Project Rieaya ( رعاية, an Arabic word for Care) which aims to improve the living conditions of the children in the torils, and teach them how to read in the more mainstream language, in order to prepare them for integration into formal schooling, or future employment.
“Tutors can be youth development workers or the parents themselves. The most important thing about this is engaging the youth development workers. College students who can tutor younger kids and they will be paid through our work for cash program,” Usec. Aliah explained.
College students trained by the DSWD to become tutors and youth development workers, will also conduct Nanay-Tatay-Teacher sessions for parents and guardians on effective parenting, with topics such as understanding the self as parent, dynamics of the Filipino family, challenges in parenting, child development, and children’s rights, among others.
Parents and guardians of struggling or non-reader elementary learners will also receive cash aid for helping prepare their children for learning and reading sessions, assisting them in their after-reading session assignments, and attending parent effectiveness sessions.
With Mindanao State University’s King Faisal Center for Islamic, Arabic and Asian studies help to prepare different Tara, Basa! modules that fit Islamic teachings, the program next linked with the Embassy of Malaysia, Manila headed by Ambassador H.E. Dato’ Abdul Malik Melvin Castelino and Kuala Lumpur-based Big Bad Wolf Books to bring in Islamic books in English and Arabic since these cannot be found anywhere in the Philippines.
“As informal learning institutions, torils are currently not recognized in mainstream academia but MSU is preparing a program to integrate them into their system. So they’re really the best partners for us to seek a greener future for these children,” Usec. Aliah explained.
“Meantime, we are still in talks with the embassy because the Ulamas in Marawi need to understand how a government is properly run, or basically why regulation is not bad, so they need to be exposed to productive Islamic Society like Malaysia,” she added.
(photo by Raphy M. Arcaina)
“One of the things we realized was the torils lack Islamic books in English since they only teach in Arabic which will not support the development of the children especially if they wish to proceed to higher education,” Ambassador Malik said in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the VIP Day Launch for Big Bad Wolf’s Book Sale in Cagayan de Oro on February 1st. “For us the system would also be good if it also teaches Islam in English. So with the help of DSWD, MSU, and the King Faisal Center, we hope to inculcate the use of English reading of Islamic books in torils across Marawi and other areas of Mindanao.”
“So we partnered with Big Bad Wolf and their mission is to change the world one book at a time. I am very to partner with them and its one for Malaysia and the Philippines to work together to develop relations in many fields and also for Malaysia to play a bigger role in the socio-economic development of Mindanao. So this is part and parcel of what we are doing,” the envoy added.
For Andrew Yap, Co-founder of Big Bad Wolf Books, their engagement in the project has an emotional link since he managed to visit Ground Zero a few days after the Marawi Siege ended.
“It was so touching for me because when I had the opportunity to go to Marawi right after the siege, I visited the tents of the displaced people. I offered to give books to the children, but they said what they needed was food because they did not know if they can have dinner or not.”
“The launch today is so heartwarming compared to what we normally do, because this is the first time we had a project like this I felt so close to. Because I was there in Marawi and I could not give them what they needed, but now they are ready,” he exclaimed.
“On top of donating an initial 1,000 books for the project, BBW will also be publishing Islamic Books in English which are very rare and hard to find, because the majority of children’s books are in Arabic. You usually can’t find these at all,” he stressed.
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