February 19-20, 2015 ‘Peace Lies in Our Hands’ The helping hands of Boracay

Babies of Boracay Centre (B.o.B), Boracay Is., The Philippines

During the two day peace education workshop for pre-schoolers under the lead of Olive Beauman Head of Education at B.o.B, a collective painting using symbols and words for peace was painted while exploring every-day expressions of peaceful interaction within families and communities. Christoph Band travelled from Vienna to Boracay for the UNESCO Club Vienna to unite the hearts and minds of children through his art performance „making the invisible visible – we are one!‟ with Eugen Ramos playing traditional flute music.

The Babies of Boracay Centre (B.o.B) was approached by the UNESCO Club Vienna to collaborate on the project because of its history of direct community engagement. The founder of B.o.B, Chelsey Hall explains: Read news article

On arrival in Boracay, it became very clear to me that there was a definite need for the kids in the local villages to have access to a basic education, and even more importantly, daily nutrition. 3 months of working on feeding programmes (where the children get fed once a week in different villages) with local members of the community led us to the site for our first B.o.B day-care centre. This particular feeding programme was hosted in an old shack that served as a shelter for the children. Shortly after typhoon Yolanda struck, locals and friends alike started to rebuild the shack. Every block laid and every piece of bamboo is a step closer towards ensuring a brighter future for the next generation. The completion of the first B.o.B in the village of Tambisaan has given a pre-school and community centre, ensuring a safe environment, basic education Monday to Friday and at least one meal a day for children aged from 0-5 years. This will give the kids a foundation for the bigger school after they have turned 5. The structure of B.o.B is unique in the sense that we have 7 volunteer mommies from the village that are the cooks and carers of the children. In turn, they receive a small donation from B.o.B for their help. On top of this we have volunteer teachers from across the globe to implement basic education every day.”

Pre-schoolers: Jerome Adomer, Jhamaica Badian, Maerel Joy Bernabe, Micvairon Bernabe, Mary Ann Cahilig, Jaren Capnao. Juliana Marie Capnao, Justine Capnao, Jessa Mae Casiano, Jhon Mark Casiano, Amietasyst Colesio, Clouie Colesio, Daryan Azeah Dalupang, Riana Domingo, Ricco Glen Domingo, Rogelyn Domingo, Jasmine Escuadro, Gillian Estampador, Shannas May Estampador, Nathan Galiano, Nazyl Norren Galicano, Ahleah Maximo, Darwin Maximo, Waren Maximo, Fritz Nicole Monding, Jhon Glyde Monding, Brenze Andrew Moreno, Angel Plarezan, Bonifacio Jr Plarezan, Ragne Talagon Alamis Jl Troy, Inzy Lei Tumolak and Sean Jerven Tumulak. Local volunteers Monica Bernabe, Erlyn Casiano, Connie de la Cruz, Jonebie Manuel Dina Maximo, Genelyn Maximo, Sherly Maximo Volunteers from abroad Nicole Batten, Abi Unwin-Smith and Ksenia Zujeva.