The issues and challenges facing children and youth in one of Manila’s poorest areas have been captured in colorful photo-stories as part of a unique community-led project undertaken by CFSI’s Park Avenue Initiative (PAI).
The project targeted eight barangays in Pasay City – a crowded inner-city area beset with high levels of poverty and unemployment, where many youth do not attend school and are at risk of violence, exploitation, prostitution, trafficking and the drug trade.
In groups, children were asked to identify the challenges they faced in their daily lives, which included drug abuse, teenage pregnancies and gangs. They then developed stories based about those issues, with each group taking part in a series of photographs that were used to illustrate the words they had written.
The result was the publication of a series of eight comic book-style photo stories portraying issues specific to the area in which they live which went on public display in barangay halls and the Pasay City Hall.
The overall aim of the project was to raise community awareness about the challenges facing youth in Pasay City and children’s rights, and to educate youth about the dangers and potential pitfalls they faced.
“These photo stories provide a unique opportunity to increase awareness of children’s rights and, above all else, to increase empowerment through advocacy,” said PAI Project Coordinator Efren Cabbigat.
English versions of the photo-stories can be downloaded here:
Tagalog versions of the photo-stories can be downloaded here: