Tejanne Zarzoso and her team of cops within the Philippines have taken an progressive approach to coping with street kids who commit petty crimes.
They take them on trips. Why? It’s their way of encouraging them to learn, imagine in themselves, hope and dream.
The senior police officer is the founder Protect, feed and savea project geared toward helping the youngsters of Cabadbaran get off the streets and back to high school.
“Early in my police career, I had already encountered problems in my community in Mindanao, Philippines, where children were in conflict with the law,” says Tejanne Our higher world, a storytelling initiative led by the Singapore International Foundation.
At that point, police and social staff were continuously wondering what to do with these children.
They were arrested, sent to a social welfare center, after which sent back to their parents to reoffend – multiple times.
However, in 3r & d Quarter 2001 Tejanne was chosen to represent her region within the training of trainers for law enforcement and corrections officers in Manila. The training was sponsored by UNICEF, the UN kid’s rights organization.
She remembers one moment from the training that made her aware of the difficult situation of kids coming into conflict with the law: “I met a toddler who went to prison for several years only for stealing 1 kg of fish.”
“It ignited a passion in me to know them higher. [children] and help them Now I see these children not as suspects, but as victims,” he says.
This experience became a turning point in her profession and led her to determine Protect, feed and save community project in Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte Province, Mindanao, Philippines. Since then, the project has modified her life and the lives of street children in Mindanao.
The project provides a series of year-round activities for street children and helps them get back to high school. “After a while, they started behaving well. So we took them on a trip.”
These experiences teach street children to learn, hope and dream.
One of the youngsters whose lives are being touched by the Protect, Feed and Save project is Jorge Manulat. Tejanne met Jorge when he was a glue-sniffing petty criminal living on the streets.
But because of years of advocacy with the Protect, Feed and Save community project, Jorge has grown up and gone on to check criminology on a scholarship. He even desires to turn into a police chief.
“If it weren’t for the scholarship, I would probably still be on the streets or a criminal,” says Jorge about how Protect, feed and save a social project helps him change his life.
“I want to help and protect children living on the streets,” says Jorge.
You can even help and reach out to children, especially through field trips, to plant seeds of hope and values in them. You may help fund the project The Protect, Feed and Save team Here.
Authorship history Our higher world – telling stories about good that encourage motion.
