HISTORY
The Share A Child Movement, Inc. was founded by Atty. Esperanza G. Valenzona, a retired government lawyer and one of the first child rights advocates in Cebu. Her active involvement with social issues began when she was still a young girl. Having been orphaned at the age of 8, her development work gravitated towards the concerns of disadvantaged children.
In the 1970s, as a government bank lawyer, she was deeply involved in a bank program for young people, “Study Now, Pay Later”. Realizing that the program provided funds for basic education needs only and failed to address many other needs of the students enrolled in the program, she started to organize orientation sessions and monthly meetings with young people to enable them to air their concerns and challenges. During this time, Atty. Valenzona was also president of the Cebu Chapter of the Federacion Internacional de Abogadas (FIDA) and one of her projects under FIDA brought her to the Cebu City Jail where she encountered children detained there and incarcerated in cells with adult criminals. The situation of children inside the jail led her to set up the literacy and values education projects within. These two experiences left a profound impression on her which made her determined to take action that would tackle the combined issues of children in need of special protection and education as a tool to help them improve their lives. She founded The Share A Child Movement Inc. in 1982, together with some friends, and actively campaigned to raise funds from members of the community which were used to start an educational assistance program for very poor and marginalized children.
More than 25 years after it was established, education for children in need of special protection remains a core project of The Share A Child Movement Inc. up to this day. It has three other programs that seek to promote the welfare and well-being of children and their right to be respected and valued as citizens of the community. These programs, Children’s Rights and Child Protection Advocacy, Family Development, and Livelihood Development, are all aimed at improving the understanding and application of children’s rights, using the strategies of advocacy, capacity building and community empowerment. The Share A Child Movement, Inc. currently serves communities in three cities of Metro-Cebu, namely: Cebu City at the urban center and in mountain villages, in Mandaue City and across the bridge in Lapulapu City.
Because children have to live with their families in safe communities, the Share A Child model operates under a rights framework based on two assumptions: first, that child abuse and neglect affects the community and is therefore everyone’s business; and, second, that children’s well- being is everyone’s responsibility, not the sole responsibility of parents or social welfare agencies. The heart of our work is therefore community participation. Because of this, we recognize the need to recognize community capacity and a sense of connectedness and belonging.
