MUSLIM KIDS AFFECTED BY KIDNAPPINGS COPE UP WITH SCHOOLING IN KRIS LIBRARY

Zamboanga City – Hundreds of Muslim students whose studies were disrupted by the kidnappings in Zamboanga City are coping up with their lessons by reading and meeting up with their teachers in a library built for them this summer.



Following the soft opening of the Kristiyano-Islam (Kris) Peace Library in Barangay Manicahan here last April 6, kids from Manicahan and Sacol Island have been converging at the library to read up and learn basic computer lessons.



Teachers in Sacol Island have refused to return to the island after three of their colleagues were abducted by suspected Abu Sayyaf men on January 23. The three public school teachers remain in captivity.



“We miss school and we miss our teachers but we are happy to see them and catch up with schooling in the Kris library,” said Sitti Abdulwahid, 8.



The Kris Library was put up by a Christian and Muslim couple, Armand and Annora Sahi Nocum, through the A-Book-Saya Group (ABSG) book-donation project. The ABSG advocacy is aimed at flooding Mindanao with books to counter the gun culture; and to give Muslim children in perceived Abu Sayyaf lairs the option to pursue peaceful career over kidnappings and banditry.



To entice poor Muslims and Christian students to visit the library regularly, ABSG had offered free computer lessons; the free use of its computers; and dangled scholarships to 50 students who will visit the library at least 25 times this summer. Those visiting less frequently will receive old used books, school supplies, and other educational materials.



But the enticement was so effective that over 200 students have signed up to take computer lessons and who visit the library regularly to read up, play with educational materials and meet up with their teachers, some of whom are themselves regular patrons of the library.



With the increasing number of poor students visiting the Kris Library, the Nocums have appealed to people in Metro Manila to donate more books, school supplies, toys, and old but usable computers and printers.



Donors may drop donations at the Satti Grill House in SM Fairview or call 7992745, 3393732, 09175208013, 09195897879, or check out their blog at: www.sattisfaction.blogspot.com.



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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).