Stairway Foundation Inc.
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Mission Statement
Stairway Foundation, Inc. (SFI) constantly strives to reach and protect more children through direct services, through training of care givers and through advocacy for the protection and the promotion of children’s rights. It is always our aim to come up with new strategies and programs that will further enhance our status as a mostinnovative and effective Child Rights NGO. SFI is a non-stock, non-profit, Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) located in the Philippines. It was established in 1990 by Lars C. Jorgensen and Monica D. Ray as an alternative strategy to meet the needs of neglected and abused children. A quarter of a century later, SFI has grown and expanded into a Resource and Learning Center with a large array of programs and activities aiming to promote and protect children’s rights in accordance with the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Children.
About This Cause
Programs Stairway started out as a direct service program for street children coming from Manila. From years of working directly with neglected and abused children, we realized there was an urgent need to systematically address sexual abuse and exploitation of children, which was a total taboo even amongst professional care givers. While we engage in a number of programs to uphold and promote children’s rights, the prevention of child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSA/E) has become the main focus of the organization. Today, Stairway is widely recognized as a major resource in the prevention of CSA/E throughout the Philippines and extending into several other Southeast Asian countries. Stairway’s programs include: Advocacy and Capacity Building: • Production of Creative Advocacy Materials • Development and Training of Local and International Child Protection Network • Advocacy Theatre • Grassroots Training in Aftercare Treatment of Sexually Abused Children • Individual and Group Counseling • Creative Therapy Residential Family Home • Temporary Shelter • Creative Therapies • Education and Skills Building • Tuberculosis Treatment Community Assistance Program • Crisis Intervention • Educational Assistance • Indigenous School Feeding Program • Environmental Awareness Youth for Change Program • Camps and Workshops • Leadership Trainings • Local and International Performances and Presentations Volunteer and Placement Program • Skills-based Volunteer-ship • Internship for Child Care Professionals Advocacy and Training Program The main objective of the trainings and workshops offered is to break the silence around the issues of child sexual abuse and to have relevant organizations and institutions put prevention and safety from abuse on their agendas. Depending on the specific needs of an organization or a network, we can offer tailor made trainings, or we can deliver one of the standard trainings listed here below: • Children’s Rights / Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Orientation • Training of Caregivers • Training of Trainers on Child Sexual Abuse Prevention • Para-counselors Training • Personal Safety and Protective Behavior Training • Technology-related Crimes Against Children • Child Sex Trafficking Awareness Training Training Partners The Philippine National Police (PNP) Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Department of Education NGOs Animations Starting in 2002, SFI has developed 3 animation toolkits confronting child sexual abuse and exploitation. “Daughter, a Story of Incest” (2003), “A Good Boy, a Story of Pedophilia” (2005) and “Red Leaves Falling, a Story about Child Sex Trafficking and Child Pornography” (2009). Each toolkit comes with a DVD, a users’ manual, and a picture/story book version. The 3 animations make up the backbone of all our CSAP trainings, allowing for interactive sessions and meaningful discussions with the participants. As of now, the animation films have been translated into 8-10 different languages and are being used by thousands of people and organizations, mostly within South- and Southeast Asia. Treatment of Sexually Abused Children The Stairway Center in Puerto Galera has received referrals of sexually abused children from the local government for several years now, and we are the only counseling and therapy service available for children and youth in our local community. Residential Family Home Program Millions of street children in the world constitute a silent but constantly growing minority. Some of them are orphans, but most of them are forced away from their families because of violence and abuse. Their childhood becomes a ruthless game for survival on the streets, where sex, drugs, gangs and crimes are part of the daily routine. SFI serves as a temporary home for children who have long been on the streets. We work with children who have serious health problems, familial problems, drug dependence, are in conflict with the law, and have been victims of physical and/or sexual abuse. We also accommodate street children with tuberculosis, to give them the necessary medical therapy along with a healthy environment to heal. Each year, we invite 12 to 15 boys to become part of a 1-2 year program. They are usually between 10 to 14 years old. While at Stairway, they are engaged in non-formal education, creative therapy, psychosocial interventions, livelihood skills training, and sports and recreation. Youth for Change Program Stairway’s first Youth for Change Camp was held back in year 2000. Since then, an increasing number of students from international schools and universities in the Philippines, Egypt, Singapore, India, Korea, Denmark and the USA have come to be part of these extraordinary camps. The international students meet up with the Stairway boys, who are all former street children, and most often we also bring in children from poor indigenous communities. Community Assistance Program Since the inception of Stairway back in 1990, we have reached out and assisted our local community. However, it was only in 2002 that we formulated and formalized a Community Assistance Program. Educational Assistance Program Over the past decade, hundreds of local, low-income families from Puerto Galera have benefited from our Educational Assistance Program. Each year, potential scholars are screened to ensure that they demonstrate a high level of financial need, as well as a strong interest in continuing their education. Chosen scholars receive tuition fees, school supplies, transportation allowance or school bus service, and for some there is also an allowance for food. In addition to the financial assistance, SFI aims to train all scholars in valuable life skills to further empower and encourage them to become leaders in their communities. Local Crisis Assistance Stairway is always open for community crisis intervention, which includes therapeutic counseling for victims of child sexual abuse, inter-agency referrals, general counseling sessions, emergency transportation assistance to person/s that need to be brought to a hospital, financial assistance for those that are in urgent medical crises, and other related issues such as burial assistance. Assistance to Local Indigenous People In 2011, we extended our community outreach to include a remote settlement of indigenous people in a village called Baclayan. Our overall vision for the indigenous project is to break the perpetual cycle of poverty amongst the Mangyan people, eliminate discrimination towards this minority, and mitigate teen marriages and early pregnancies; all through a sustainable and environmentally sound community development plan. Our main strategies to reach these long term goals are to enhance the quality of education and to increase the number of children attending school. Organic Farm The Stairway organic farm helps in supplying vegetable for the school feeding program. In the long term, we envision the farm as a training model, which eventually will capacitate families to grow their own organic kitchen garden, anticipating an outcome of increased nutrition and wellness within each family unit. Environmental Awareness for Children and Youth (EACY) This, our latest initiative conceptualized back in 2012, aims to inspire and educate the local population of school children to better appreciate and protect the beautiful and vulnerable environment that they live in. We hope to help develop a generation of children and youth with new values and sincere appreciation for nature, who will demonstrate an active concern for environmental conservation.