Summer as a child is spending the long days in the sun — running and playing outside until those final rays slowly creep below the horizon.
The same goes for the boys and girls who we care for in the Philippines. As these survivors continue to take back their childhood, what better way to relax and celebrate this journey than summer vacation?
This year, they went back to visit Stairway Foundation, an organization in the Philippines that offers residential care for vulnerable street children and a longtime partner in the fight against child exploitation. The children spent the day boating, building sand castles, jumping in waves, and just being kids on a beach.
Once daylight faded, the Stairway Foundation treated the children to a theatrical performance. Dr. Gundelina Velazco, Love146 Director of Asia Survivor Care, reflects on the importance of this expressive art form in the recovery of children.
“I believe that theater is therapeutic in many ways. It is a creative activity that can elevate one’s thinking process to an artistic level, thus enhancing and adding to one’s perspective on things. It can also be cathartic as one acts one’s emotions to an extreme or heightened mode, thus dissipating them.
As the actors help create a scene or a story, their sense of achievement and self-esteem are promoted. Potentials are also realized as those with natural abilities and talents are given the opportunity for self-expression.”
