Youth Leadership in Action: 26 Child Leaders Drive Rights Education Across 44 Barangays in Dulag

Twenty-six Child Leaders gathered in Dulag on December 20, 2025, for a Reflection and Recognition Activity following their engagement in the rollout of “Karapatan Mo, Laruin Mo!”—a community-based initiative that brought children’s rights education to scale across the municipality.

Over four consecutive weekend sessions, these young leaders supported FundLife in delivering play-based learning activities in 44 barangays, directly reaching 1420 children and youth. Their role was focused and time-bound: to help co-facilitate structured sessions on children’s rights and responsibilities, using games and interactive dialogue as core tools for engagement.

During the session, participants shared insights and key learnings from their involvement in play-based initiatives, reflecting on challenges, successes, and lessons from working with peers and younger children. 

For many of them, it was their first experience stepping into a formal facilitation role.

“At first, some of us felt hesitant and even doubted ourselves if we could really perform our roles as child leaders during the rollout,” one participant shared during the reflection. “But in the end, it made us feel happy and warm, especially in teaching our fellow children about their rights and responsibilities.”

Across the four weekends, the Child Leaders helped create safe, dynamic spaces where younger participants could identify their rights, discuss their responsibilities, and understand how to seek support within their communities. The play-based methodology proved critical in ensuring high participation and comprehension.

“For us, playing games was the best approach in engaging with the children in our community.” another leader explained. “We related it to the topics and made it enjoyable for them to learn.”

The scale of the rollout—44barangays within a single month—required coordination, confidence, and adaptability. Working alongside facilitators, the Child Leaders supported group management, explained activities, shared personal reflections, and modeled positive peer leadership. Their presence strengthened relatability and encouraged active participation among the 1420 children and youth reached.

The December reflection space allowed them to process both the impact and the pressure of that responsibility. Participants spoke candidly about initial nervousness, the challenge of speaking in front of groups, and the fulfillment of seeing younger children engage meaningfully with rights-based discussions.

They also offered practical recommendations for future engagements, including clearer pre-session role assignments and additional visual materials to support learning. Their feedback underscored a growing understanding of program delivery and community engagement.

The activity concluded with formal recognition of the twenty-six Child Leaders for their contribution to the successful implementation of “Karapatan Mo, Laruin Mo!” in Dulag. The acknowledgment affirmed their role not as symbolic youth representatives, but as active contributors to community-level child rights advocacy.

As one child leader declared, “Children are not just children, but also beacons of hope for a brighter future. In just four weekends, these young facilitators demonstrated that when children are entrusted with responsibility and equipped with the right tools, they can help scale rights education across entire communities. The impact of reaching 1420 children and youth in 44 barangays is measurable. The growth in confidence, voice, and leadership among the twenty-six Child Leaders is transformative.