Children of "Erap City" create self-reliant Manikako Dolls

Press Release
Children of “Erap City” create self-reliant Manikako dolls

She is an eight-year old princess who lives in a castle, but she has no need for a lady-in-waiting. She cleans her room, dresses up, takes a bath, and eats all by herself. Polite and conscientious, she studies diligently. When she grows up, she wants to help the poor and the underprivileged.
This is the story of a doll named Princess. She was created by 11-year old May-Ann Macasilig, one of the 10 children, who participated in the Manikako Doll-Making Workshop at Kasiglahan Village, Rodriguez, Rizal, March 15. Held at the SALT Payatas Foundation Philippines Day Care Center, this is the first workshop held after the Manikako Ko, Future Ko Fundraising Doll Fair at the Podium last February.
Children in circumstances like May-Ann’s value their education, and place high premium on politeness, courtesy, service to others and the diligent performance of school work and household chores. This is seen in May-Ann’s doll, and those others created by her fellow Kasiglahan Village workshoppers: Daniel Placente, Dannylyn Malana, Maria Velmar Marquises, Anthony Mosende, Roseshiel Asis, Jennifer Sarno, Aaron Bautista, Madeleine Diaz, and Bery Hagos, the youngest participant who created another equally self-reliant doll she named Princess Sarah (for Kasiglahan doll stories and photos, please log on to http://barbingpinay.multiply.com/journal/item/133).
These children found new friends in big sisters and brothers (“ates” and “kuyas”), who helped them weave stories and make dolls from scraps. For the first time since the workshops started as a class project at the University of the Philippines in March 2007, most of the volunteers who served as ates and kuyas came from Y&R Philippines, Manikako’s major corporate partner and supporter.
The children and their kuyas and ates created their Manikako dolls in a village more popularly known as Erap City, a relocation site for families affected by demolitions or disasters (such as typhoons and Payatas dumpsite landslide) from Pinyahan, Payatas and Rodriguez, Rizal. The average monthly household income of the estimated 6000 households in the area is around P6, 400, largely coming from construction work, transport service/driving and vending/trading. Others are working as factory workers, security guards and janitors. Because of the village’s distance from major sources of income, transport expense is a major challenge, and is often unavailable, SALT volunteers disclose. While houses are provided for (average area is 20 sq meters), basic daily sustenance is – more often than not – short for the average family’s budget.
SALT Payatas has been conducting livelihood programs in the community, including food processing, rug making, dress making, slippers making, entrepreneurial development, and capability building, among others. The organization also provides scholarship for selected children, whose lessons and skills are “bridged” and beefed up in the day-care center where May-Ann created her Manikako Princess Doll.
This Kasiglahan Village workshop is the most recent in a series of Doll-Making Workshops for underprivileged and need children dubbed as OTAP (Taong Pinoy/Pinay) Workshops, being held by Manikako, a flagship project of House of Comfort Art Network, Inc or ARTHOC, a non-stock, non-profit organization that believes in the power of art to connect, liberate and transform. This workshop held at Erap City is also the second one with Salt Payatas; the first workshop was held in Payatas with UP students as big brothers and sisters in September 2007.
For more information on Manikako and ARTHOC, please log on to www.manikako.com; www.trauma-interrupted.org/arthoc. For more information and photos on the OTAP workshop and its history, log on to www.barbingpinay.multiply.com.