As part of the Artist for Peace and Communication Team who is usually responsible in creating more awareness through the different forms of art; I typically volunteer in documenting events and sometimes if, given the opportunity, I become a facilitator where I get to interact with the children, parents, and teachers. Nevertheless, to fully utilize my role, I also do collateral materials and assists in bringing creative output for both the schools and communities and the movement’s program itself – as I became the lead artist in some Peace Murals and taught the children how to draw that is part of the SketchPad Project. This SketchPad Project is a visual diary of the children where they get to share their everyday life, and on the other end, as TPBPM leave it to them for (6) months and will be reviewed, TPBPM will be able to trace the progress of their journey as Peace Heroes. One of the significant achievements that I have is when I get to materialize some Peace Education Materials – the I TEACH PEACE Learning Resources like Tara Na Board Game and the Sila Ay Tayo Educational Set which is also my undergrad thesis as Visual Communication student in UP. The Tara Na Board Game teaches about different religions and culture and the Sila Ay Tayo Education Set introduces our Ayta brothers and sisters way of life. In my journey as an Artist for Peace, it motivates me to do more materials, as I see the children not just enjoy but also learn from it. At a very young age, you already give them an appreciation of what Peace is all about and make them apply it in their own lives.
Before I started in my SCPHFP Journey, I began to question the program’s extent of its range – how far it can go and reach since it started only on a few numbers of school. It would then take a while if we want it to achieve on a nationwide scale. But as times go by and with all the volunteers’ efforts, I find it very effective in reaching out to kids, parents, and educators of a different culture from different communities in the country. Whenever I got the communities that we have, I always see familiar faces. They keep on coming back. Hence, made me realize of the SCPHFP’s potent development bridging cultural gaps that bring people closer as they too embrace intercultural, intergenerational and interfaith approach within their schools and communities.
As SCPHFP continuously grow, I hope that it will be able to reach and touch more lives and communities not just in the country but also on the global scale. To the schools and communities that TPBPM serves, I would like to leave them with a message that despite their current situation, may their dreams not be faded away, but remains hopeful in reaching it [dreams].
