ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 24, 2013) – The San Antonio Ma. Claret Parish on Thursday celebrated its feast day with hundreds of children who are temporarily sheltered at the Tetuan Central School.
The children were mostly refugees who were displaced along with their families affected by the fighting in September between security forces and separatist rebels.
The Zamboanga-Basilan Integrated Development Alliance or ZABIDA, a consortium of four organizations, also joined the celebration dubbed as “Dia de Solidaridad,” and distributed goodies to the children.
The consortium is composed of Peace Advocates Zamboanga, Katilingban para sa Kalambuan Inc., Western Mindanao State University-Reach Out to Others Foundation and the Basilan-based Nagdilaab Foundation Inc.
ZABIDA members engaged the children on stress debriefing through visual art and origami making.
Spanish-born missionary and Claretian priest Angel Calvo, who heads ZABIDA, also spoke to children at the school. Calvo has been active in community development and Christian-Muslim peace and reconciliation work in the southern Philippines for many decades now.
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