Protect young girl survivors of sexual abuse

Project extended to our global Rehabilitation Program girl survivors of sexual abuse 

The construction of our shelter in Negros has been completed in 2019 and we are glad to announce you that the center is now fully operational and welcomes 30 girls aged 5 to 17.

We are now extending this project to the global rehabilitation program of CAMELEON, covering our 3 centers in Panay and Negros Island (Western Visayas, Philippines).

80 girl survivors of sexual abuse currently live in our 3 centers at Passi City (Iloilo) and Silay city (Negros). They are referred to CAMELEON by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) of the Philippines. The girls stay at the centers for approximately 3 to 4 years, during which they benefit from medical care, education, psychological and legal support. 

After they have been assessed by the social workers and the psychiatrists, as ready for reintegration, the girls are then transitioned to the After-Care Program. In this phase, the girls are placed back into their communities, to their families (if it is safe) or foster families. They can stay at the Iloilo CAMELEON Dormitory during their studies or in a boarding house rented by CAMELEON. The Post-Residential Care Program prepares the girl survivors for independent living and nurtures them to become key members of the society. We currently help 54 girls in this program. CAMELEON continues to guide them until they graduate college and find a job.  

Some of them become CAMELEON Youth Ambassadors for Children RIghts and advocate to make a better society, more caring and protective for Children. The girls become leaders in their community and themselves actors of change. 

Repairs after the floods in Negros center

Last January, severe floods hit our Negros center and part of the land and buildings was damaged. Thanks to the generous donations received, we were able to achieve the following repairs: 

- Expert analysis of the damage and verification of the solidity of the foundations of our center

- Building of a temporary wall while waiting for the strengthening of the riverbanks

- Cleaning and repairing damaged buildings in our center

- Repairing the homes of beneficiaries and staff

- Providing food stocks and basic necessities for affected families

- Purchase of materials  to replace our damaged equipment 

The girls are now safe and protected in the center, however some works are still to be financed and realized:

- Consolidation of the banks of the river with a cement infrastructure 

- Rehabilitation of the land eroded on 1780m2 

- Building a new perimeter fence as soon as the banks are consolidated

- Planting of trees and giant bamboos to avoid soil erosion

We would like to thank all the people who supported our emergency appeal as well as the Filipino volunteers who generously helped to build the temporary fence. 

School breaks and recap of the school year

This year, the holidays will start on July, 3d for the girls until the end of August. In response to the pandemic crisis, the classes continue to be done online with all the disadvantages that this entails in a country like the Philippines, where not everyone has easy access to the internet or a computer at home. At CAMELEON, we had to adapt and hire teachers who are teaching everyday courses by level in our three centers. For most of the girls who are living with their families, the school year 2020-2021 was online and our local teams keep doing everything possible to help them with e-learning, internet connection and the acquisition of computer equipment to ensure good learning. We hope that for next school year, the schooling conditions will be better for our children and youth.

Recreational activities in our centers

In the Philippines, the Enhanced Community Quarantine remains (since March 2020 already!). Engaging activities are organized in the CAMELEON centers to motivate the girls and help create a positive atmosphere amidst the isolation caused by quarantine. Due to the restrictions, the girls are no longer able to see their friends in school, visit their families, and see their loved ones. The disruption in their normal daily routines affected their mental and emotional wellbeing. To address this, CAMELEON continues to involve the girls in several different types of activities (arts, sports, circus, gardening, cooking etc).

The month of April started in the Philippines with the celebration of Easter. Egg hunts and egg painting were organized in our centers. This was an opportunity for the girls to enjoy a nice activity on this important date for the Filipinos. The teams try to offer joyful and new activities to the girls who have little contact with the outside world due to the health situation in the country.

In May, with the help of the House-Mothers who look after them on a daily basis, the girls learned how to make manicures and pedicures. A former beneficiary, trained in aesthetics, came to share her knowledge.

Away from their homes, the girls celebrated Mother's Day together with group activities that included music, poetry, dance, gardening, cooking and discussion.

Moreover, the girls continue their weekly circus training. Circus is a therapeutic tool for girl survivors of sexual abuse. It’s a mean of self-expression, where they can develop a positive image of themselves, regain control of their bodies, and nurture trust with their fellow girls.

“Before I entered CAMELEON, I was always sad and all I could think about were my problems. But now that I’m here and I’ve joined in the sports activities and circus, all my problems seemed to disappear. I am now able to focus in the present, to enjoy my life here in CAMELEON, and to learn how to manage myself even without the support of my real family.” - Helena

Our beneficiaries also practice other sports that help them build their self-confidence, character, athletic skills, as well as learn values of respect, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork: 

• Badminton • Basketball • Rugby • Swimming • Volleyball • Wall climbing • Dance 

Discover the Jerusalema Dance Challenge by Passi girls: https://youtu.be/xkNRNAhcJSE 

Recreational activities for the after-care girls  

In the Post-residential care program, the girls were placed in different locations where they would be most safe during the quarantine. Some of them stayed in the Passi center, others returned to their families, and some girls remained in the CAMELEON Iloilo dormitory where social workers watched over them. To keep the girls occupied and continuously motivated, online activities were organized weekly, including discussion and reflection on values of self-awareness, personal goals, decision-making and stress management.

They as well continued to benefit from educational support, skills development and leadership trainings, health care, psychosocial intervention and legal support.

A gardening activity started last May at Iloilo dormitory for the girls of the Post-residential care program. Under the watchful eye of a House-Mother, the beneficiaries created their own vegetable garden. They are delighted to discover gardening and to be able to adopt a healthier lifestyle. And since they are the ones who cook their meals, in a few months they will be proud to be able to cook the fresh vegetables and fruits from this garden.

They also have the opportunity to do weekly zumba and relaxation sessions : https://www.facebook.com/cameleonphils/videos/599758358085933/ 

Start of our sponsorship campaign. Target: 55 new individual sponsors ! 

CAMELEON offers the opportunity to sponsor the girls, financing their education and exchanging letters with them. This is a long term and individual sponsorship, to offer a chance to a girl survivor of sexual abuse to heal and build herself a future. We are now looking for 55 new sponsors to accompany the new girls who will be sheltered in our 3 centers as well as the underprivileged children we accompany in the surrounding villages. If you are interested, do not hesitate to contact us at parrainages@cameleon-association.org or visit our website : https://www.cameleon-association.org/je-parraine-un-enfant/?lang=en 

“Sponsoring is not only fighting for a cause I believe in, but also create strong links with a child. And I think that having a real exchange with letters allows us to see who we're helping and for the project to make sense and be really meaningful for me.” - Lucile, sponsor since 2015

Links:

• I want to sponsor a girl
• I want to give for the repair works at Negros center
• I want to visit CAMELEON's Facebook profile in English

Despite the floods and COVID 19, the girls and staff persevered.

Our center now shelters 26 girls! 6 new girls were integrated in our center in 2020, aged 9 to 17.

• Destructive floods took place in January 2021

After typhoon Phanfone and the earthquake that hit the Philippines a year ago for Christmas, the country was again hit by torrential rains and floods on January 1 and 8, 2021, especially on the island of Negros where our new CAMELEON center is located.

The exceptional floods and mudslides caused considerable damage. In the province of Negros Occidental, the latest total death toll is two dead and more than 70,000 people evacuated.  In reaction, the local authorities of Talisay, Silay and Victorias declared a state of natural disasters.

At our center in Silay, the girls and staff are fortunately safe but frightened as the river running alongside the center overflowed, washing away part of the 80-meter long surrounding wall and completely flooding the garden and offices. The foundations of the remaining wall are very weakened, as the erosion of the bank extends 20 meters into our grounds. In total, the erosion has swallowed up 1780 m² of our land!  

The violent floods also washed away the building materials that were stored in our center. The administrative buildings and the electrical installation were also severely damaged. An expertise of the land is in progress to evaluate the other damages.

In addition, several families of the children and CAMELEON staff had to be evacuated urgently and end up with heavily damaged housing. One of our beneficiaries and her family have been temporarily accommodated in an evacuation center. In order to regain acceptable living conditions, their partially destroyed home must be repaired. However, the family does not have the means to finance the cost of the work.

To help the rebuilding of our center : Emergency aid after floods in CAMELEON center

• A temporary fence already built

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, electrical and plumbing repairs were done and a temporary fence was built by Filipino workers and volunteers. The girls are now kept safe while the works are in progress on the riverbanks. Unfortunately, the repair do not prevent the ground’s flooding as the water keep stagnating when it rains. CAMELEON’s team continue to mobilize to ensure the girl’s comfort and help the beneficiary families.

• The girls and staff dealing with the COVID-19

Because of COVID 19, the start of the school year has been postponed in the Philippines. However, in order not to fall behind, all the girls attended a daily tutorial session in anticipation of the opening of classes on October 5. This prepared them for the new normal learning which is a modular mode of instruction. Until now, the hired teachers still help them out in accomplishing their modules.

While the oldest girls were consolidating their knowledge in Mathematics, Science (they studied about solute and solvent.) and learned about parts of speech in English, the smallest ones learned about colors and shapes. They also familiarized themselves with alphabets. 

In the Philippines, the schools are still closed and the teachers send modules to be completed. That is why at CAMELEON Negros center, hired teachers continue to come and give classes. The housemothers are there to help the girls with their homework.

• Girls studying  

In January, girls in elementary and high school levels were preparing for their summative tests, while one girl began her 2nd semester in college. The girls have shown significant improvement in their reading skills. On top of their modules, they also have a daily reading time.

The housemothers support the girls in their school career and help them overcome their difficulties. For example, they created an activity to encourage two dyslexic girls to draw to elicit responses from questions such as “what is that?” ; “why did you draw that?” ; “who is the person in the drawing.” Through these questions, the girls were able to share about their experiences with their family, how they lived, and their relationship with their family members. This was the first time that they were able to convey their stories well since they have difficulties of speech. 

“I am happy to help my younger co-girl learn how to read. Because together we are discovering life-lessons that we get from the stories”

• Therapy via Arts 

Art and artistic activities help the girls express themselves and help each other. The social worker conducted a group dynamics activity entitled: “Identifying emotions” and “I am the one I should love.” The girls were grouped in two and were given terms (i.e. usual emotions such as happy, sad, angry, etc.) and they would reenact it. This aims to help them understand the importance of knowing their emotions.

For their Values Formation activity, House mother facilitated the activity entitled “Songs of my life’ where they shared their life’s theme song. They also enjoyed a time of singing. Girls were able to share about their favorite songs with their fellow girls. They also learned that songs can be a form of therapy. 

They also took part in the drawing competition for children's rights on November 20th organized together with CAMELEON France.

• Christmas in CAMELEON

This year, the girls had to spend Christmas in the center of Negros.17 girls had 1-day Home Visits to their families since they were not allowed to go home for Christmas due to COVID-19 restrictions. They were accompanied by the House Mothers and Social Workers.

•     A Parent Effectiveness Seminar was conducted. The parents were very participative during the seminar. Family Day was conducted in the afternoon wherein games were prepared for the family to enjoy. Prizes were given to everyone. Girls were also recognized through awards like Most Neat and Clean, Obedient, Industrious, etc.

“In the past I used to be so strict and often did not give my children the place and the freedom to express their thoughts at home, which I now regret. Now I am very wiling to learn new ideas and techniques on how to help my daughter and my other children”

  On Christmas Eve, a dinner was prepared by the girls, together. They enjoyed a night of parlor games and songs !

Links:

• Emergency aid after floods in CAMELEON center