From Promises to Reality: MERCY Malaysia’s Child Friendly Space Moves to Bayanihan Village and We Met The President of The Country

I woke up gladly today when I received confirmation from the Coordination Camp that our Child Friendly Space has its own big tent which is exclusive and safe for our participating children. I thought this would be a disappointment since I don’t really expect from the promises of government organizations and tend to just wait for the actual day. But this one is good and it happened as promised. On our seventh day of Child Friendly Space, doing psychosocial activities, two things happened today that I was not expecting: first is a Bayanihan Village gave space for our CFS tent and the president of the country, Mr. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., visited our tent earlier, greeting the kids and the facilitators.

So, how did the seventh day of facilitating the children survivors on San Remigio Camp go? Learn more about it through this blog.

Bayanihan Village, a newly established village inside San Remigio Camp, was primarily built for the earthquake survivors who have completely lost their homes and living. Media and national TV visited this village earlier, all coming from various publications, wishing to catch this fresh news of the first-ever village in the country filled with container-van-like shelters as homes for the earthquake survivors who are also living near sinkholes or whose houses were included in the no-build zones.

In Bayanihan Village, the shelters are all made from container vans, while the other village—I forgot the name—is filled with wider white tents donated to the survivors as temporary shelters. Not all were able to acquire units in Bayanihan Village because of the limited number of units, so the rest were placed in the other village.

The construction of Bayanihan Village is still ongoing, and when I arrived in the area, I saw workers and engineers working together to provide sustainable, practical, and above all, safe homes for the people.

Inside the Bayanihan Village lies the space for CFS and Women Safe Space. Behind the first row of container vans is where our tent is located. A placard hung above the entrance says “Child Friendly Space” so that our group and area can be easily found when visitors arrive. I was joyful when I first saw the tent because finally, the kids would be able to play comfortably rain or shine, unlike the previous area which was too open and unsafe, especially when heavy rainfall arrived, interrupting our program flow and consuming our time.

The new CFS tent is wide and comfortable. It is also safe in materials, spacious, and appropriate for children’s space. I thought only fifteen kids would fit in the CFS tent, but by the time I saw it, we could fit at least forty kids at the same time.

The floor was laid with mats to make sure the kids would be safe when doing their physical activities. The mats are colorful and child-friendly since the design showcases the alphabet and even animals the kids could learn.

We didn’t bring the boxes from MERCY Malaysia as instructed because four boxes were provided earlier filled with toys, learning materials, and entertaining storybooks. There were also two tables in the tent equipped with toys and coloring materials we used later in our activities.

We formed a big circle at the start of our program to not make the space chaotic as children ran here and there if we didn’t give instructions. We were still waiting for the other facilitators by the time we made a big circle and we made some conversation with the kids to buy more time. These kids, by the way, are not known to us because they are newly invited and none of the kids from the original group were present earlier.

When the two head facilitators arrived, we immediately told the kids to stand up for a physical stretch and sing children’s songs to stimulate their minds and prepare them for the next activity. We sang a series of familiar childhood songs such as My Toes, My Knees and I Am a Kettle Song as requested by the kids, which brought out the energy in us to entertain them.

After the zumba session, a nametag-making activity happened since all of them were unfamiliar to us—and us to them, obviously. To capture also the creativity of the kids as preliminary notes, we handed coloring materials such as crayons and colored papers to allow them to paste designs on their nametags. I did a demo of how to fold the bond papers, outlined their names for calligraphy, and connected the yarns to their tags. After that, they designed them according to their likings. I encouraged them to be as creative as they could so that later on, during the introduction of facilitators and participants, they would be confident of their nametag designs.

Then we formed a big circle for the introduction with the assistance of DSWD facilitators who are so passionate about their work and open-minded. They also served as our mentors in this camp, teaching us the rules and regulations in an evacuation camp as psychosocial and CFS facilitators.

We first started with the facilitators introducing their names, ages, and the animals or things that represent them. A follow-up question of “why” would then be answered to provide a comprehensive outline to the kids when they got their turn.

Just as we would start the first introduction of the participants, a crowd formed in front of us with an elderly approaching and instructing us to tell the kids how to greet the president of the Philippines as he was approaching our tent. We then quickly oriented the kids and they blew their warm welcomes to the president when he arrived at the entrance. He was not actually a worthy-to-wait person since all of us facilitators are not in favor of him as the president, given corrupt news and projects are surfacing and connected to his name as one of the most corrupt terms in the presidency.

When the president left, we continued our introduction session and made sure everyone got to know each other’s names.

To add some excitement to our introduction session, we integrated the Pass the Ball game, and whoever got caught after the song would introduce his or her name in front of the other kids. My co-facilitators were undoubtedly enjoying it more than the kids, undoubtedly.

And the kids one by one introduced themselves.

When I took a peek outside the tent, I observed there were police at each shelter guarding it, and I guess it was only for show since the president was around the area.

We proceeded to play with toys and activities after the introduction. We divided the kids based on age group—below 6 years old and 7–12 years old—so we could plan and conduct activities exclusively for their age without overlooking the wants of the other group.

I was in the below-6 group of children since no one volunteered to facilitate the youngest ones.

We first played Easy Game with the kids, which requires critical thinking and decision-making as to which tubes would be removed from the rocket-shaped toy without letting the balls fall to the bottom.

They were very keen on applying techniques to lose as few balls as possible by the end of the game. Sticks were categorized by colors and the game can be played by at least four players since we have four colors which decide the player’s turn.

The kids beside me were doing their lego play which required them to build something and show us their works. All of them were 4 and below, more interested in toys rather than the Easy Game play we were having with the 5–6 children. Whilst playing, they secured their nametags on their necks, and it was helpful for me to call the children by their names, which made them feel heard and relevant to us. In return, they listened to our instructions.

On the other side, the seven-to-twelve age group was having a storytelling session with @vivediary. They were reading Si Leon at Si Daga (The Lion and the Rat) which was intriguing to the children. In the photos, you can see how invested the kids were in listening to the storyteller, passionately giving their ears to the wonders of the story.

Beside me was a table filled with big storybooks such as Tatlong Matitipid na Langgam and Isang Magandang Umaga. The storyteller read the books one by one as the kids requested more every time a story ended.

When I came back to the age group I belonged to, the kids requested to play Fold High, which requires good thinking skills and movement when stacking the blocks. We had two rectangular boxes of Fold High made of wood, so it was practical and safe to play with the children. I honestly didn’t know the rules of the game, so my co-facilitator explained them to the kids.

Our closing activity was a song session of Goodbye Everyone to bid farewell to the kids and hope for another chance of meeting tomorrow.

The DSWD facilitators handed me a packed lunch and an apple for me to eat at lunch. They are so generous and they promised to provide us with food and water as long as they can since tomorrow could be their last day—or worse, today.

It was still scorching daylight when I left the camp. The heat index was too performative and it dug to the deepest of my skin. This volunteerism would give me a very dark skin by the end, but still worthy of my whitening products.

Moving to Bayanihan Village felt like another milestone in our journey as Child Friendly Space facilitators—proof that even amid ruins, progress can happen when hope and service meet halfway. The visit of the president might just be a brief moment, but what truly stayed with me was seeing the faces of the children smiling under our new tent, safe and joyful in the space we built for them. The session today marked not just our seventh day in San Remigio Camp, but a new beginning of stories that continue to unfold in Bayanihan Village—stories of healing, resilience, and the quiet triumphs of service.