Give books for the kids of conflict-torn Marawi

Rebuilding the city of Marawi, especially the most affected area or ground zero that was reduced to rubble during the May 2017 siege may take years or even decades. Starting over for thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who are still in evacuation centers, transitional shelters and host communities may take even longer as their future remains uncertain.

But the horrible and traumatic experience of the survivors, especially the children, may last forever and affect their process of moving on.

To enable healing and promote peace through literacy, PBSP mounted a campaign called the Gift a Gift of Reading Project. Together with its member-company The Bookmark, Inc., PBSP produced four children’s storybooks that highlight the Maranao culture, identity, resilience and community values.

The storybooks were based on actual experiences of affected residents of the 2017 Marawi conflict. From the video interviews of the survivors, renowned authors translated these real-life accounts into fiction to make them more age-appropriate for Kindergarten to Grade 3 kids. Written in both English and Maranao, the stories were brought to life by professional illustrators. These will be donated to the Department of Education-Marawi to improve the reading skills of children as well as for peace education and trauma healing.

“iREAD4PEACE”
The Marawi Storybooks will be launched on November 8, 5:30 p.m. at the Ramon Magsaysay Center in Malate, Manila. The event aims to raise awareness on the present situation of the children in Marawi, inspire participants through stories of hope, unity in times of difficulties and resilience during the siege, and provide them opportunities to help by donating storybooks for the children of Marawi.