Kyabaan works to support indigenous youth in the southernmost island of the Philippines, Mindanao. Mindanao is a site of historic and ongoing counterinsurgency warfare aimed at suppressing local movements for autonomy and suspected communist insurrections. Since the War on Terror, the U.S. has been a growing presence in the region providing military training, advising, and counterintelligence to the Philippine armed forces. According to Kyabaan staff, U.S. assisted counter-terrorism operations have resulted in “extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and community dislocations” and have “been rampant and worse under the present regime.” Those who suffer the most are children, driven into the “hinterlands” by the fighting and stripped of their daily routines including regular schooling.

Kyabaan has been working among these children since 2005 and will be receiving funding to launch an education, nutrition, and health program for 50 children between the ages of 12 and 17. These youth will participate in student-centered educational activities, food producing neighborhood gardening, and periodic healthcare services. Kyabaan’s objectives are to restore a minimum level of routine to these children’s lives through activities that will enhance self-esteem and increase the capacity to cope with stresses related to armed conflict. Kyabaan also envisions these youth becoming advocates for positive change in their communities and society at large in part through sharing stories that bring to light escalating human rights violations against indigenous groups in the region.