Type of mission

3-Step Humanitarian mission

Step 1 | 28 Oct – 5 Nov, 2015

Step 2 | 14 – 18 Mar, 2016                           

Step 3 | 24 Oct – 4 Nov, 2016

Where

Legazpi City

Partner organization

Tiwala Kids

Art Therapists

Ms Sruthi Sriram, Karen Peakin

Beneficiaries

• 65 children (7-12 years old)
• 23 caregivers/mothers
• 14 Tiwala staff

Donors

Daniel Polner          

Background

Legazpi is a mixed city with some very rich but a lot more disadvantaged communities. The population is 182,000 and 59 sq miles. The particular communities we worked with were highly disadvantaged slum areas. Sanitation was poor and many families lived in cramped housing which is prone to flooding in typhoon season.

There is a lot of social issues such as neglect and abuse in these communities as reported by the partner organization.

The Red Pencil provided group sessions for exploration of creative art-making and non-verbal self expression.

Train new beneficiaries in using art as therapy in their work.

Type of mission

Humanitarian mission 29 August – 2 September, 2014

Where

North Cebu

Partner organization

CHARIS, Yolanda Village, Bogo, North Cebu

Art Therapists

Soong Suk Lin

Beneficiaries

• Around 100 children (ages 2-12)
• 25 teenagers
• 80 mothers. All faced the typhoon, experienced loss, lost their house and some of them, family members too

Daniel Polner       

Background

The aim of this trip was for the children to express their feelings about the trauma (lose of their house and family members) they have from the Typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippines on November 2014.

The purpose of this mission was to create bonds within the new village, between families who do not know each other.

Type of mission:

3-Step Humanitarian mission

Step 1 | 5 – 9 Dec, 2013

Step 2 | 16 – 22 Jun, 2014                          

Step 3 | 7 – 12 Oct, 2014

Where

Ormoc, Leyte

Partner organization

Singapore Red Cross

Art Therapists

Mesha, Sally, Laurence Vandenborre, Yenn Ang, Loh Wan Ting, Sandra Bauser-Poirson, Sruthi Sriram, Valerie Popowski, Paulina Parra.

Beneficiaries

5 Dec – Delores | 100+ children aged between ages 3-10+ and the elderly

6 Dec – Caboan-an | Children Primary 1 & 2

7 Dec – Bagong | Food relief

8 Dec – Nasunugan | Food relief

9 Dec – Bagong | Primary 1 – 6

Donors

Daniel Polner      

Background

On 8th November, 2013, Philippines and parts of South East Asia experienced the strongest, most lethal tropical cyclone to be recorded in local history, referred to as Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda.

The Typhoon destroyed 550,928 homes completely and brought about par+al damage to 589, 404, according to the official report (Unlad Kabayan, 2014). Although most students did not suffer loss of family, they lost their homes to the devastation and had to rebuild them from scratch. In addition, a few children were also indicated to have witnessed violence in their homes as a result of family feuds.

In this juncture, The Red Pencil (International), in collaboration with the Singapore Red Cross, reached out to render short term arts therapy interventions in the province of Leyte, to children and teachers (primary & secondary schools), families and a women’s shelter. The outreach to these sections took place across 3 steps, each covering a finite duration, achieving onsite trauma relief and recovery efforts

Addressing the trauma caused by the natural disaster, often characterized by intense fear, helplessness and horror, the purpose of the humanitarian mission was to employ creative tools for self-expression and emotional regulation.

As well as providing a setting where they could go on with their daily ritual.

The staff focused on supporting the children's positive internalisation of their personal journey.