Kalamansig Manobo kids get DSWD youth shelter project

KALAMANSIG, Sultan Kudarat --- For 6th
grader Jolito Dalud,a 13-year-old Manobo kid with an inborn physical
disability, going to school is an ordeal.

Jolito, born with crippled left
foot, together with at least 60 Manobo children in a far flung sitios of
Limulan village, has to deal with two hours of trekking hills, risking their
lives in the process for they need to cross rivers, before eventually reaching
school.

Ginakarga lang ako nila kung
magtabuk kami sa sapa o kung kapoy na ko kaayo maglakaw (They used
to carry me every time we have to cross rivers or walking becomes unbearable
for me), Jolito, while holding his crutches, said.Few meters away from school, Jolito
and other Manobo children jostle for space in a small makeshift shanty with
woven bamboo slats at the top of the hill, serving as temporary shelter for them.

Things started to change when DSWD
12, local government unit of Kalamansig and local officials and volunteers of
Limulan have collaboratively worked to address the struggles of Manobo children
of Limulan.

A newly-built Kalahi-CIDSS IP
Youth Shelter Project worth P1.91 million with ameneties is now serving
as a home away from home for Jolito and 60 other Manobo school children in
Limulan village.

Mas ganahan na kami mu-eskwela
kay lami na among estaran ug dili na me kinaghanglan mulakaw adlaw-adlaw (Our
new shelter encourages us to study harder and that we don’t need to trek daily
going to school, Jolito said.

Aside from youth shelter, Manobo school
children are also the beneficiaries of DSWD 12 donation drive dubbed as Summer
to Remember. Through the initiative, they received school supplies, uniforms,
bags, kitchen utensils, beddings, and other necessities to be used while in
school.

The have also received clothes,
shoes, and books and other donated materials that are good for schools from
various individuals and organizations.

Moreover, the agency has also
extended an educational assistance worth P30, 000.00 for 60 Manobo school
children through the aid to individuals in crisis situation (AICS).

The various support extended,
especially the Kalahi-CIDSS IP youth shelter project, are great encouragement
for our Manobo school children who are struggling going to school because of
the distance and the lack of facility to lessen their burden while in school,
Arnel P. Acuña, Teacher In-Charge of FB Concha Elementary School in Limulan
village.

Gemma N. Rivera, the DSWD 12
assistant regional director, said that the agency continues to provide
assistance to various sectors including the Indigenous Peoples, especially in
the remote villages in the region through various programs and services like
Kalahi-CIDSS.

Kalahi-CIDSS is one of the poverty-alleviation programs of the national
government that is being implemented by the DSWD.

The Program utilizes the community-driven development (CDD) approach,
which enables communities in targeted poor and disaster-affected municipalities
to identify their own needs, and collectively implement and manage solutions to
these needs.

For Jolito, the feeling that there are people and organizations that are
rallying behind them in their quest for higher education and despite the
physical disability, going to school now is a far cry of being an ordeal for
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