Isabelle Lee, ABS-CBN News
MANILA – The metamorphosis of a butterfly. The long, winding walk home. The girl in the midst of a storm.
These are just some of the powerful images mounted at “Obra ni Nene,” an art exhibit by Cribs Foundation, a home committed to the healing of sexually abused girls.
Composed through the collaboration of 26 girls, the exhibit featured 92 acrylic paintings displayed in Palma Hall of the University of the Philippines. Paintings were priced at P5,000 (14×16) and P10,000 (20×30) each, and proceeds were divided between the artists and the foundation’s programs.
Activities coordinator and teacher Josephine Ordaniel said it all began as a dream until they decided to make it happen. With the help of Maris Roxas, a retired architect and an active volunteer, the exhibit was mounted in a span of a month.
Under the tutelage of Roxas, the girls religiously practiced for two hours a week. And what began as simple drawings evolved into elaborate paintings.
In the exhibit, 17-year old Nadia (not her real name) proudly showed her artwork, all depicting a theme of hope.
“Kahit na ang dami ko nang napagdaanan, ako pa rin ito,” (Even if I went through a lot, I’m still the same person), Nadia said as she described her artwork, “Same Old Me.”
In “Going Back Home,” she depicts a woman who has weathered and conquered many storms.
Nadia had just graduated from the Cribs rehabilitation program and is preparing to leave the shelter.
Cribs social worker Crystal Mae Ronda said the exhibit has been beneficial to the healing of the girls. Art therapy, she explained, is an effective avenue for child sexual abuse survivors to express their pent-up emotions.
Meanwhile, the works of Kat (not her real name) were painted with a more somber mood. Ordaniel confirmed that Kat was in the middle of a court case when she was creating her works.
In the Philippines, Kat and Nadia are just two of the 2,147 cases of child sexual abuse reported to the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the first quarter of 2016 — a staggering contrast from the 4,374 cases reported for the whole of 2015.
These figures are from the Policy Development and Planning Bureau of the DSWD.
DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo urged Filipinos to be more vigilant against such abuses and more proactive in reporting sexual abuse incidents.
For Ronda, child sexual abuse should not be a sole problem of select foundations and government institutions, but rather of the country as a whole.
Ronda said part of their reason in putting up “Obra ni Nene” was to neutralize the stigma that surrounds child sexual abuse.
Despite the rising figures, there is still optimism that the hope expressed in Nadia’s paintings will transcend the melancholy illustrated in others.
Source: http://news.abs-cbn.com/life/05/13/17/exhibit-depicts-abused-girls-troubles-healing