Brief History (page 3)

2004

The animation “Daughter, A Story of Incest” proved its worth during the first year of existence. It was distributed and used widely in the Philippines, and it was translated into Khmer and Bahasa to be used in Cambodia and Indonesia as well. The film also brought attention to the problem of child sexual abuse in other parts of the world, as it won a first prize in the category “Best Educational Film” at one of the world’s largest animation film festivals in Annecy, France. At the same festival, it also received a special award from UNICEF. Stairway’s local campaign against child sexual abuse was further intensified with an expansion of the organization’s network and a long line of trainings and workshops for teachers, social workers, church members, and other caregivers. With more activity on the prevention side, the need for more resources placed into the restoration of survivors of sexual abuse grew. Towards the end of the year, DANIDA promised to support Stairway’s work on child sexual abuse prevention for the next two years. In Stairway’s residential program, a total of 29 children and 7 youth were given assistance.

2003

With over a decade of experience, we decided to take an active part against child sexual abuse and commercial sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines and globally. In 2003, we completed and released the “Daughter, A Story of Incest” animation toolkit. At the same time, we facilitated a series of 14 children’s rights/ child sexual abuse prevention workshops for a total of 225 children and youth. Some of the workshops were facilitated for children in detention and revealed an urgent need to address the problem of sexual abuse in penitentiary institutions for minors. At the residential program, we served a new group of 14 children. Eight of them were released from jail, and six were street children with tuberculosis. All the children with TB underwent medical therapy: the Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS), recommended by the WHO. All children recovered.  

2002

Based on one of the stories from “Black Angels, Street Children Realities”, we developed the storyboard to the animation “Daughter, A Story of Incest”, which was to be a main tool in a campaign against child sexual abuse. The story was tested on a large group of children and further by our partners from the Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse. The animator behind the creation of the characters in “Daughter” was Paw Ravn, who generously volunteered his time and talents at Stairway for 4 months. After seven years of financial support from DANIDA, we diversified our sources of funding and signed contracts with two international agencies: Kindernothilfe from Germany and Leger Foundation from Canada. Further, the Embassy of Finland in Manila agreed to support the campaign against child sexual abuse.

2001

The writing of 11 short stories compiled in “Black Angels, Street Children Realities” was completed, and the stories were tested in classrooms in Denmark, Canada and Egypt. The non-formal education classes at SFI were ongoing. More workshops and seminars were held on issues relevant for the survival and growth of street children. In Denmark, Katrine Nyholm became chairperson after Nich Poulsgaard.

2000

Everybody experienced a "hard landing" after the "Goldtooth" tour. Almost the entire TASK group went on to either work or pursue further education. We constructed a new building with a dormitory and schoolrooms. We opened SFI's non-formal education school and received recognition from the Department of Education. We had the first group of students from the International School come to Stairway for a week of exposure and education on street children and children's rights. Twenty-two endangered street children were admitted into SFI for therapy and non-formal education.

1999

With the musical “Goldtooth” as the main element, SFI launched an international advocacy campaign promoting children’s rights. The TASK group, comprising 17 former street children, performed for over 20,000 people in five different countries. One of these performances was at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Through a very authentic performance, TASK made clear how the reality of millions of children around the world is still worlds apart from the promises of the words in the convention.

1998

Stairway now had a population of around 20 to 25 children and youth. Drama therapy, as an integral part of the musical's development, was the overall focus and core of the program. We hosted a Danish television crew for 2 months, making a film for Danish National Television. The film was broadcast nationwide and viewed by hundreds of thousands of children and families in Denmark and other Nordic countries. The director of the film, Katrine Nyholm, became a close friend and a staunch supporter of Stairway’s work, and later she served as chairperson of Stairway Denmark from 2001 to 2007. “Goldtooth, A Street Children’s Musical” had two preview performances in a theatre in Manila. With an overwhelming response from audiences and partners, the foundation was laid for planning both a local and an international tour for the musical.

1997

Stairway received license and accreditation from the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The idea to create a musical for and with children, “Goldtooth, A Street Children’s Musical,” was conceived. The script and lyrics to the songs were written, and 17 more or less hardcore children/ youth from the streets were recruited as the cast. The initial phase of this project was merely drama therapy, but as the children and the quality developed, the idea of TASK, Talented Ambitious Street Kids, was conceptualized. Over the next year and a half, the musical grew into a remarkable piece of creative advocacy. On the side of Stairway Denmark, Nich Poulsgaard took over as chairperson.

1996

The activities were low during this year due to the absence of the founders, who spent most of the year in Denmark, where Monica received treatment for Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

1995

For the benefit of the victims of the 1994 Mindoro earthquake, Stairway organized a major fundraising concert in Manila, featuring the participation of some of the country's top musicians and artists. To address the high prevalence of diseases in some relocation sites, the overhead was invested in materials for building toilets and septic tanks for 67 families. The program continued with creative workshops and camps for hundreds of children from Manila, and the rupture center was running with a population of around 8-10 children at the time. During the 3rd quarter, the activity level was negatively affected, as one of the founders, Monica, came down with a serious illness, leading to nearly two years of hospitalization.