MANILA AND ZAMBOANGA KIDS, A WORLD APART

Here's a letter I wrote to friends whose help I am soliciting to build Zamboanga's first Christian-Muslim Peace Library. Do read it and pleace also pass it on to your relatives, friends and loved ones.Abu


Dear Friends,


Manila kids are lucky. They only worry about grades, tutorials, concerts and where to go for vacation this summer. The growth of a pimple is magnified to the level of cancer.

However, strife-torn kids in Zamboanga City, Basilan and Sulu worry and pray that they at least get one meal a day; and that the kidnapping and military operations will stop so their schools will open.

Christian children worry about being kidnapped on the way to school. Their Muslims classmates, who are suspected to be children of Abu Sayyaf, pray that they not be abducted by Christians to force their fathers into releasing their victims.

This situation will worsen as extreme poverty drives more people into criminality. Kidnapping there is so common that ransom money is down to P9,000.

Seeing my mixed Christian - Muslim community turn into an Abu Sayyaf lair, I’ve decided to help stop Abu Sayyaf kids from taking after their fathers’ criminal activities.

For seven years now, I have been bringing books and holding medical missions in Barangay Manicahan, Zamboanga City. Manicahan is about a mile away from Sacol Island, where three teachers were kidnapped recently.

The only effective way to stop war and kidnapping is to provide poor Mindanao kids with good education so they will grow up to become productive citizens.

Thus, I enjoin you to help me build the first Kristiyano-Islam (KrIs) Peace Library to give poor students a place to read; learn the use of computers; undergo tutorials; and arm themselves with basic livelihood skills.

For inquiries regarding your donations, please contact me at cell. phone numbers 09195897879/ 09178127932 or at Tele-Fax numbers 3393732/ 7992745. Please check out our book-donation program at my blog: www.sattisfaction.blogspot.com.

MANY THANKS,

Armand Dean Nocum
President/ CEO
Dean & Kings Legal PR

(The picture above is that of my youngest daughter Ashia Mari Nocum, a Grade 2 student at the School of the Holy Spirit. She's a member of the Junior Golf Foundation of the Philippines).

SHOULD WE SHOOT OR SAVE MUSLIM CHILD WARRIORS?

Muslim child warriors are on the rise!

Weeks ago, the military showed video footages of the MILF training young kids for war.

Last Monday, several peace advocates were kidnapped in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan and the police claim it was the handiwork of 10 ``minors’’ believed to be members of the Abu Sayyaf Group.

``What is alarming is that there were young boys, as young as around 12 years old. They (victims) estimated their ages as between 12 and 19, or teenagers,’’ Philippine Navy Spokesperson Lt. Edgardo Arevalo said of the incident.

Unfortunately, me and my wife Annora, a Tausug Muslim, no longer find the matter ``alarming.’’ You grow up with guns, what do you become? You grow up with the culture of hatred, violence, distrust and ignorance, what do you become?

So, what do we do to children who grew up thinking that the future depends on how they handle their guns? What do we do to children of war who grew up with guns and not books and better education? Kill them all?

For those of us who have teenage children, this is a very hard question to answer. For me and my wife, this piece of depressing development in Basilan only emboldened us even more to step up our efforts to flood Mindanao with books through our ``A-Book-Saya-Group’’ book donation project.

Please help make our ABSG fight the righteous fight not only against the ASG but the MILF, the MNLF and Christian vigilantes groups as well. Help us expose poor children in war-torn Mindanao to books in the hope that they grow up to be professionals and peace-makers.

Please be part of our ``group'' and help us disseminate our ASG project to the public through your newspaper column or through your E-Groups in the Internet. Please pass this message to as many people as you could.

Initially, we have designated our Satti Grill House outlets in SM Fairview Food Court and at the corner of MH del Pilar and Padre Faura as drop-off points for the books. Later, we hope to tie up with newspapers and private firms to help take in the books.

Thank you for taking time to read our letter of appeal.

Armand and Ann Nocum
Concerned parents of 2 Christian-Muslim children

Donors may contact us through Nos. 7992745/3393732 or 09175208013/09195897879 or at www.sattisfaction.blogspot.com and
zamboyo66@yahoo.com

(By the way, the picture above is that of my 13-year-old daughter Arizza Ann. She was the first Christian-Muslim to graduate valedictorian at the School of the Holy Spirit, Quezon City. She's now studying at the Philippine Science High School.)