DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 15 May 2026) — For one afternoon at the Holy Cross of Davao College Theater Hall, children often ignored or reduced to “shadows along the street” stood beneath stage lights and addressed an audience directly: they, too, have stories worth listening to.

Through acting, live singing, choreography, monologues, and projected backdrops, around 20 children under the Tambayan Center for Children’s Rights Inc. transformed their lived experiences into theater in Kadalanan sa Paglaum (“Street of Hope”) on May 14.

The production was mounted under “I Dream of Light” (IDOL), one of the Tambayan Center’s long-running initiatives for children affected by poverty, abuse, displacement, and other forms of vulnerability. Founded over 30 years ago, the NGO works with street children, abused children, trafficked children, and children affected by the “war on drugs” and other forms of child rights violations.

According to organizers, the children underwent training in acting and scriptwriting with the help of a theater technical team. The material for the production was also drawn from the children’s own experiences.

“So, they’re coming from barangays 21, 22, 23, 76-A,” Luz of Tambayan said after the performance. “The material came from their own stories, and then gitahe, gitahe, gitahe, ug gihimo’g (stitched together and turned into a) script.”

The production blended dramatic scenes with music and direct audience address, allowing the performers to speak both as characters, and as children reflecting on hope and survival.

One of the organizers shared that one of the children performing was also among the survivors of a recent fire in Barangay 23 last May 9.

“Because we’re giving hope to these children through theater and many other interventions that Tambayan is doing,” the speaker said.

Audience members responded emotionally to the performance, with several sharing their own experiences during the open forum that followed.

“I was touched,” one audience member said. “You may never know it, but it really touches and inspires each individual here in the theater.”

Another speaker, who identified himself as a former street child, said he saw himself reflected in the performance.

“I was one of you guys na naa sa (on the) streets,” he said. “So, ato na-touch ko ug naka-relate ko (I was touched and could relate).”

Throughout the presentation, the children alternated between scenes of hardship and moments of humor, friendship, and resilience. In some of the performance’s most affecting moments, the children spoke directly to the audience, insisting that they were more than what people saw on the streets.

The production ended with applause, photo opportunities, and messages of encouragement from audience members, social workers, students, and community advocates.

For Tambayan Center and the children behind Kadalanan sa Paglaum, the performance was an act of visibility that asked audience members to listen, to bear witness, to understand, and to look beyond stereotypes often attached to children in the streets. (Bea Gatmaytan/MindaNews)