Barefoot Philippines is a non-profit student-led organization by young Ateneans who envision a country where children are able to enjoy their rights and have a bright future within caring and protective families and communities. In support of and inspired by UNICEF, Barefoot seeks to provide an avenue for the holistic development of children in safe and inclusive environments. As a child rights advocacy organization, Barefoot patterns its work on the 5 pillars of UNICEF Philippines: help children develop to their full potential, get children in learning centers and schools, create a safe and protective environment, prepare children and communities for disasters and help build their capacity to respond, ensure that children’s voices are heard and counted. With Barefoot’s work being patterned after UNICEF, envision a country that protects child’s rights and helps them realize their full potential. As Champions for Children, our purpose is to establish sustainable and contextualized assistance – both structural and formative – for children in rural communities. Through community empowerment, we aim to build thriving environments that focus on each child.Â
In celebration with the National Indigenous Peoples Month, Barefoot Philippines will be holding a virtual popup on Facebook from October 12 to 30. It features social enterprises that are Indigenous Peoples (IP)-centered and either support or are affiliated directly with an indigenous community. Participating brands include: Tagpi, HOME Plush Toys, Kinwa Etnika, Ibah Bags, NIñOFRANCO, and Artisanat Handmade. Selected partner businesses will be featured in two talk shows to be hosted by the Barefoot Goodwill Ambassadors. Discussions will revolve around their respective advocacies and social entrepreneurship. This will be held on October 17, 2020 from 3-5PM and sign-ups are still ongoing. A portion of the proceeds will go to the funding of storybooks for the children in our partner community – Katutubo Village, an Ayta community located in Porac, Pampanga. In this way, an alternative community engagement will be provided in order to continue the children’s structured and formative learning despite the current situation. Through this initiative, we aim to raise awareness on the significance of empowering the Indigenous Peoples, especially through supporting social enterprises that support or work directly with the community.
The UN emphasizes the significance of the empowerment of Indigenous peoples. They hold unique languages, knowledge systems and beliefs as well as possess invaluable knowledge of practices (e.g. sustainable management of natural resources). They also have a special relation to their traditional lands and hold their own diverse concepts of development, based on their traditional values, visions, needs and priorities. However, Indigenous peoples often experience lack of political representation and participation, economic marginalization and poverty, lack of access to social services and discrimination. Despite cultural differences, the diverse indigenous peoples share common problems also related to the protection of their rights. They strive for recognition of their identities, their ways of life and their right to traditional lands, territories and natural resources. https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/5session_factsheet1.pdfÂ
During National Indigenous Peoples Month of October, join Barefoot Philippines in empowering them and helping their children develop their full potential. The organization has strived to find ways to provide an avenue for the holistic development of children in Katutubo Village despite the physical constraints of this pandemic. Barefoot wishes for your support as it pursues raising awareness on the significance of empowering Indigenous Peoples through attending the virtual pop-up, listening to the live talks, and supporting featured businesses.Â
Interested in being Barefoot’s partner business? Or a talk show attendee? Register here: http://bit.ly/DagyawSignUps
Like and follow Barefoot on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BarefootPhilippines/Â and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/barefootphilippines/.
